A Quick Trip to the Coast

Hi there, glad to see you are back. Our last chapter ended on Saturday, April 15^th, when we left Camp Verde in Central Arizona and traveled south to Buckeye, a western suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Sunday was Easter morning. Happy Easter. We got a Sunday paper and had a relaxing morning. We then went out to do some geocaching in the area. We were able to get nine new finds before we stopped because it was getting a little warm. Normally warm wouldn't bother us that much, but the air conditioning in our Jeep Grand Cherokee quit. Again! This makes the ninth time the air has stopped working in this car. It has literally been an annual event until this time, it lasted exactly two years, the length of the warranty of the part. It is very frustrating, but Jeep corporate has no interest in making us happy because the car is nine years old. We stopped and had lunch at a very nice Chinese restaurant. We had checked a couple other places, but they were closed or closing early. After lunch we went home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach, in the A/C.

Monday, April 17^th was another travel day. We were packed up and on the road by 10:30, heading west to Ehrenberg, Arizona, on the Colorado River right across from Blythe, California. We got into the park and got set up, and then we stayed in the rest of the evening. For dinner we had the rest of the great Chinese food we had on Sunday. We are going to be here for three nights. We stopped here because Jackie has a doctor's appointment in the Coachella Valley on Wednesday. We didn't want to take the coach to the valley because we are headed to the California Central Coast, Santa Maria, after we leave here, and I will not drive through the Los Angeles basin during the week. We will drive the car into the Coachella Valley from here and then go north out of Blythe to Interstate 40, thus avoiding the LA area.

Tuesday, April 18^th, we went across the river into Blythe about 11:30 and had lunch at one of our favorite places. There is a little Mexican place called Garcia's in downtown Blythe that has wonderful homemade Mexican food. We have to hit it any time we are in the area. After lunch we went back to the park and did our laundry. There is a nice laundry in the clubhouse and the park is nearly empty this time of year, so there is no competition for the machines. We finished our laundry about 4:00 and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the coach.  You have heard of sock monkeys?  Benji is our sock kitty, this is he on the bad as I was putting away my socks.

Wednesday, April 19^th, we left Ehrenberg, in the car, about 8:45 and headed west for the hundred mile or so drive to the Coachella Valley. Jackie had a follow up appointment for her knee today. We arrived with time to spare, and the drive wasn't too bad with no air because it was still fairly cool that early. Jackie got in to see the doctor and talked to him about the on and off pain in her leg. It is not so much the knee now as it is the muscles. The doctor didn't have too much to offer except to say keep exercising the leg and taking anti-inflammatory. At the very end he did suggest another cortisone shot, which he gave her right in the knee.

After we left the doctor's office we stopped and both of us got haircuts at a Great Clips in Rancho Mirage where there was a guy working who had done Jackie's hair a couple months ago. She really liked the haircut. I had my first haircut in about four or five months. We then drove to the Cactus Jack's in Indio and had lunch. By 2:30 we were on the road again, headed east toward home. We arrived back at the coach just after 4:00, not even an eight hour day. The cats never even missed us. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Thursday, April 20^th, a travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:30, heading north to Needles, California. Within the first mile of the trip we crossed the Colorado into California, the first time the coach has been out of Arizona since January 15^th. The trip was about 100 miles, but U.S. 95 is a bad road, very curvy with lots of dips, in very bad shape, and, to top it off, the wind was blowing pretty hard. We arrived at the Needles Elks Lodge about 12:30 and I was glad to be off the road for the day. This Elks has full hook up, 50 amp sites, but Needles is not exactly a tourist destination. We didn't even unhook the car as we are on the move again in the morning. We did a minimal set up for the night and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the A/C.

Friday, April 21^st, we were on the road again about 9:30, heading west on I-40 to Newberry Springs. It was 120 miles, most of it on freeway, so other than some gusty winds it was an easy drive. We arrived at the Newberry Mountain RV park around noon and quickly got parked and settled in for another one night stand. Today we decided to unhook the car and go do some exploring. Newberry Springs is an unincorporated community of about 3,000, although in our exploring I would be hard pressed to say where most of those people were. The bulk of the buildings, which line the National Trails Highway, the two lane road running parallel with the freeway, were vacant and falling down. This two lane road used to be a part of old Highway 66, the Mother Road.

We had lunch at a run down, but VERY interesting diner called the Bagdad Cafe. It seems that in 1988 this was the location of a movie called Bagdad Cafe, a German made comedy. The inside of the place is covered in money, tee shirts, cards, stickers, placards and other memorabilia. We actually had lunch, a couple of cheeseburgers that were OK, but while we ate there were a dozen people who just came in, looked around, took some pictures and left. Apparently the film is a bit of a cult culture hit, especially with European tourists. After lunch we did some geocaching along old 66, getting five new finds, and one DNF, before deciding it was getting too hot to drive around with no air conditioning. We went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day.

Saturday, April 22^nd, we were on the road about 9:45, continuing west towards Bakersfield, about 120 miles away. The drive was pretty routine, no wind, just a bit of a grade up and down over Tahachapai Pass. We arrived at the Desert Palms RV Park about 12:30, quickly got parked and set up for our last one night stand for a while. We didn't unhook the car today, so we just stayed in the coach the rest of the day. Sunday was the last travel day for this sprint to the coast. We were on the road about 9:30 heading west 130 miles to Santa Maria, California. We arrived at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge about 12:30 and got parked in our spot. We did the initial set up then went out and got an In and Out for lunch and did a Walmart run. After we got back to the coach we finished getting set up and then relaxed the rest of the evening. Our primary purpose for coming here is to see Jackie's Aunt Donna, who is 91 and lives in Pismo Beach, just north of Santa Maria. We will be here for a week.

Monday, April 24^th, I headed out about 7:30 and took the Jeep to the local dealer to get the air conditioning fixed. The service rep told me that his A/C guy had a couple of other jobs ahead of me and that it would likely be after lunch before they had a diagnosis of the problem. I had the shuttle take me back to the coach and we hung around the coach the rest of the day. We did a few chores and played some cards. About 4:30 I got a call from the dealer that it was, in fact, the condenser again, the same issue as the last seven times. He also said I had a minor oil leak in one of the rear axle seals. I gave him our extended warranty information and he called back a little later to tell me that the office for the warranty was closed and he couldn't call until tomorrow. Since it made no sense to pick up the car tonight just to drop it off again first thing tomorrow, I told him to keep the car and get on it first thing in the morning. We checked to see if Jackie's Aunt Donna and her grandson Corey wanted to come over and visit, but Corey said Donna was not feeling like going out. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Tuesday, April 25^th we were stuck in the coach with no car. The dealer called in the morning and said that the extended warranty company had approved the repairs and that they would get the part that day. However, in the mid afternoon the service guy called and said the part had just come in and it was not likely that the repairs would be done before the end of the day. We spent the rest of the day playing cards and relaxing. Wednesday the dealer finally called about 1:30 and said the car was fixed and ready to pick up. The shuttle came and picked me up a little while later and by 2:30 I was in the car and traveling with air conditioning. It only cost the $250 deductible and I plan on writing Chrysler Jeep again to try and get that refunded. I stopped at KFC and picked up some chicken for dinner and then went back to the coach, got Jackie and we drove over to her Aunt Donna's in Pismo Beach for the first time this trip. Regular readers will remember that she lives in a very nice house on the hill overlooking downtown Pismo Beach and the pier. A great view of the beach and the ocean. We had a very nice visit with Donna and Corey, her grandson who lives with her and is her caretaker. Donna is 91, soon to be 92 and is doing pretty well for her age, but she is still frail and needs someone to watch over her. We had the KFC for dinner and left about 7:30 to head back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Thursday, April 27^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to San Luis Obispo to do some shopping. We stopped at Dick's Sporting goods because for the last couple of months Jackie has been wanting to get one of the patio rocking chairs that sit flat on the ground and have shock absorbers on the back legs so you can rock the chair. We have checked a couple of places before, but everyone was out of stock. This store had a bunch of them, so we were able to get her one. Yea! We then did a Costco run since the stores were right across the street from each other. After shopping we went back to the coach and unloaded our stuff. About 5:30 we drove up to Nipomo, the next town north, to go to Jocko's for dinner. Jocko's is a local steak house that is, as far as I am concerned, the best steak house anywhere. Corey and Donna met us there and we had a great meal, with lots of leftovers. After dinner we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Friday, April 28^th, we were invaded by dogs. The Elks is hosting a dog agility competition this weekend in the park area between where we are parked and the Lodge building. There are all kinds of RVs coming in and people setting up tents and shelters as well as the obstacle course that they run the dogs through. This is the second or third time we have been here when this dog event is going on. We left the coach about 1:30 and drove up to Donna's to spent the day with her and Corey. We just sat and talked, had some cocktails and snacks late in the afternoon, and just had a good visit. We left a little before 7:00, went back to the coach and had a light dinner. We then watched TV the rest of the evening.

Saturday, April 29^th, was a stay at home day, although we did make a quick run to the grocery down the street for a couple of things. Corey and Donna came over around 1:30 to spend the afternoon. Jackie's cousin Pia, who lives nearby in Grover Beach, also came over. We pretty much just sat and talked, although Corey and I did go outside for an hour or so to watch the dogs on the agility courses. They had everything from Chihuahuas to German Shepherds running the obstacles. The only thing is that for the little dogs the jumps were lower. Corey brought over a lasagna and we had that for dinner with the five of us. Everyone left about 6:00 and I spent an hour or so cleaning up so we could leave tomorrow. After that we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, April 30^th, another travel day. For the next four days we will be back tracing our route over here to Santa Maria. Today we traveled 130 miles to Bakersfield. We got into the RV park about noon for our one night stay. We didn't unhook the car, so we just stayed in for the day and chilled. Since we have now completed all of our winter travel and our spring family visits. As of today we are officially starting our 2017 Summer Tour, which will take us all the way across the country to a series of rallies in the Midwest in July and then on to the far Northeast part of the U.S. We are working to cover the eight states in the continental U.S. that we have not been in, all in the Northeast. From today until we arrive back in Pahrump in November we will have traveled almost 10,000 miles if we stick to the current plan. All of this means that this is the perfect place to close this chapter and begin the first of many episodes covering our summer odyssey. Until next time I leave you with this very apropos quote from Robert Louis Stevenson. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” See ya soon.