Hello again. Our last episode
concluded on Friday, May 29th when we left Indio, California and
arrived at the Silent Valley RV Resort in the San Jacinto Mountains
south of Banning, California. This is a private resort operated on a
time share model. Since it is located on leased Forest Service land,
you buy” an undivided portion of the lease and improvements and
then pay a yearly fee. You get to use the resort up to 120 days per
year at no additional cost and most of the sites are full hookup and
50 amp. Since it is at 3,500 feet elevation it is also 15 to 20
degrees cooler than the Coachella Valley. We first bought in when we
still had the house in Indio and a much smaller RV and we got quite a
bit of use out of it, although we rarely stayed for more than a week
or two. After we went full time we started using it 30 days at a
time, the most you can stay without having to leave for at least 10
days. The first few years we were getting at least 60, sometimes 90
days in a year. However, as time has gone by we are spending less
and less time in Southern California and have been spending less and
less time here despite we fact we like it when we are here. We are
considering selling our interest just because we no longer get our
monies worth from it. Our first day here we just got the basic set
up completed and then relaxed.
Saturday, May 30th, we stayed up on the
mountain. Our general pattern here is that we will stay on the hill
for three or four days, then go down the hill to shop, eat, go to
movies and geocache. Of course, a lot of that activity is still
somewhat limited due to the COVID lock down orders. I did spend a
couple of hours outside getting decorations put out, the BBQ set up
and making the place look like home. We did hamburgers on the BBQ
for dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Just for information, the
peak temperature today up here was 79 degrees and it was 102 in
Indio. Yea! Sunday was another stay at home day. Unfortunately,
there are no newspapers available up here, so when we are here we
have to forgo our usual Sunday Paper ritual. We took a walk, relaxed
and just enjoyed the day. We had country ribs in the crock pot all
day which we had for dinner. Watched TV and went to bed.
Monday, June 1st, wow, already? We
decided to go down the hill today so we left the RV park about noon
and drove down to Beaumont for lunch. One of our favorite Mexican
places, La Casita, has reopened for dine-in service. Yea! We both
had the chicken taco salad, which is the best restaurant taco salad
anywhere. I even got to have a beer with lunch. After lunch we did
a few geocaches in the area, getting three new finds. We then drove
back up the hill and relaxed for the rest of the day. Tuesday was a
stay at home day. We went for a walk, did some chores and generally
relaxed for the entire day. Wednesday was another stay at home and
relax day. It was a little warmer today so we stayed inside for most
of the day. Did some fish on the BBQ for dinner, watched some TV and
went to bed.
Thursday, June 4th, our coaches 15th
anniversary. We closed on the house on June 4th, 2005, took the
check to the bank, got a cashiers check for the coach and made the
deal. We picked up the coach the next day. Today we decided to get
out of the house for a little bit. Around 11:30 we left the RV park
and headed to the mountain community of Idyllwild, about 16 miles
south and 2,500 feet higher. We found that none of the restaurants
up there were doing dine in service yet, but the Lumber Mill Bar and
Grill had an outside, covered patio which they were allowing people
to sit in. You had to order the food “to go” but when they would
deliver the take out food to you if you were sitting on the patio.
We had a nice lunch, then walked around the small main village area
of town. I was surprised that most of the small gift shops were
open, so we actually got to do some browsing. While we were in town
we also got one geocache. After a couple hours we headed back to
Silent Valley and spent the rest of the day and evening in the coach.
Friday, June 5th, we had a stay at home
day. There was a cold front moving into Southern California and it
brought cool temperatures, fog and light rain to Silent Valley. We
stayed inside for the entire day. I made a nice pot of chili for
dinner, we ate, watched some TV and went to bed. Saturday we woke up
to light rain and even cooler temps. We actually turned on the
furnaces for a while. Although it cleared up a little in the late
afternoon we still had a stay at home day. Got a few chores done,
relaxed and played games and watched TV. We did a pork roast in the
oven for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.
Sunday, June 7th, we left Silent Valley
after lunch and drove down the hill to do some geocaching and to do a
Walmart run. We were able to get four new finds, and one DNF, in a
fairly short time, then went to Walmart to shop. The store was
really crowded, but by 3:30 we were done and back on our way up the
hill. After we got the groceries put away we just spent the rest of
the day and evening relaxing. Monday was a stay at home day.
Although it warmed up a little, the wind picked up and it was pretty
breezy. We just relaxed at home for entire day and evening. Jackie
made a nice meatloaf for dinner. Tuesday was another stay at home
day. Did a few chores and relaxed. Had leftovers for dinner.
Wednesday, June 10th, we left the coach
about 11:00 and went down the mountain, headed west to Menifee,
California to meet some friends for lunch. We arrived at the
Applebees and met with Suzie Babcock. Suzie and her husband Ray were
some of our best friends and over the years we spent a lot of time
traveling together. Ray died this last January and Suzie is still
dealing with the fallout. Shortly after Bev King arrived. Bev and
her husband Jerry were also Rvers, although Jerry died about five
years ago. Jerry and Ray were both retired fireman and knew each
other. We were supposed to have been joined by Gary and Ramona
Wilson, also old RV friends that have sold their rig and gone off the
road. However, they sent word through Suzie that they would not be
able to make it. Gary is also a retired fireman, but for a different
department. The four of us had a very nice lunch and did a lot of
catching up. We haven't seen Bev in a couple of years, Suzie we saw
just a few months ago. After lunch we went to Suzie's house nearby
and sat and talked for another couple hours. The Babcock's daughter
Wendy was there as she is staying with Suzie for a while to help out.
We left their house about 4:00 and headed home. On the way home we
stopped at the UPS Service Center in Romoland, not too far from
Menifee, to pick up our mail that we had delivered there by our mail
box service in Pahrump. We arrived home about 5:30 and spent the
rest of the evening relaxing. It was nice seeing old friends today.
Thursday, June 11th, we had a stay at
home day. Got a few chores done but mostly just relaxed. Our
friends Bob and Gloria Baron brought their motorhome up to Silent
Valley and are parked right across the street from us. They have
been members here even longer than us. We did some steaks on the BBQ
for dinner as well as some grilled corn on the cob and scallops. We
watched some TV and went to bed. Friday we left the coach about
11:30 and drove down to Banning and the Sun Lakes Country Club. We
came down to visit an old friend, Marianne Connor who lives there.
We met Marianne and her husband David back in 1999 when we joined the
Indio Elks and their RV travel club, the Desert Drifters. We went on
many outings with the Drifters from 1999 to 2005 when we sold the
house and went full time.
Dave and Marianne were actually our
first real “travel partners” in 2006. They also had a diesel
pusher, a 40 foot Beaver that was also made by Monaco and was very
similar to ours. We met up with them, as well as several other
Desert Drifters, on the way to Minot, North Dakota, for our very
first FMCA Convention in August 2005. We traveled with this group
for about a month and a half, including the before, during and after
the rally. We left the group in September in California and we
headed east along I-10. We spent our first winter full timing in
Florida and in March 2006 we went to Branson, Missouri for a rally.
Dave and Marianne were also at the same rally, as well as one other
couple from the Elks group. After the Branson rally we traveled with
the Connors for about three months, up through the Mississippi Valley
and into the Northeast. We finally split up in late June when they
went into upstate New York and we went to Massachusetts. They full
timed for about two years before David's health got too bad. He died
in 2008 and Marianne continued to use the motor home with the Elks
group for another couple years before she sold it. She has been
living in the Banning/Beaumont area ever since. We see here once in
a while, although it has been two and and half years since the last
time we saw here. We visited with her at her house for a while, then
drove into Beaumont to a Mexican place called Marla's for lunch. We
were joined by Bob and Gloria Baron, who had also been in our Elks
travel club. We had a very nice lunch, although the food and service
could have been better. Nonetheless, it was still great to be able
to visit with old friends. We left Marianne's around 3:30 and went
to Walmart for some supplies. We then drove back up the hill and
spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach watching TV
and relaxing.
Saturday, June 13th, we had a stay at
home day. I got some chores done, including fixing the front steps
again. Every three or four years I have to fix something with the
automatic steps. Twice before I had to replace the motor, this time
it was a broken bolt on the linkage, which required I order a whole
new tie rod because the bolts were part of the tie rod. We had
cocktails at 5:00 with the Baron's and another couple from the Indio
Elks travel club that we haven't seen in years, Tom and Joan Bolaris.
They are also members of Silent Valley and are camped not too far
from us. We did some fish on the BBQ for dinner, watched some TV and
went to bed. Sunday was another stay at home day. We just relaxed
for the entire day. Monday we went down the hill for lunch and to do
some shopping. We went to Patsy's Country Kitchen for lunch. This
is a breakfast and lunch cafe that we really like and it has now
reopened for dine in service. We had a great breakfast, omelet for
Jackie, machaca for me. After lunch we ran some errands, stopping at
a beauty supply store, Walgreens and then an RV supply store. After
our shopping errands we stopped at a Great Clips so Jackie could get
a haircut. After the haircut we headed back up the mountain. We
didn't do any caching because we have pretty much cached this area
clean. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for the rest of the
afternoon and evening.
Tuesday, June 16th, my eldest daughter
Tye's birthday. Happy Birthday Tye! We had a stay at home day. Did
a few chores and some office work, but mostly just relaxed. We did
some Cajun chicken on the BBQ for dinner. Wednesday was also a stay
at home day. Thursday we left the coach around 11:00 and went down
the hill again, heading back to Menifee and the Babcock house. We
arrived there around noon and picked up Suzie to go to lunch. This
time it was just the three of us. We went to BJ's Brewhouse for
lunch and had a very nice meal. After lunch we drove out to where
their motorhome was stored. The Babcock's had a 2006 Monaco
Diplomat, which was very similar to ours with basically the same
chassis. We traveled with them many times and spent a lot of time in
the coach. The coach was always Ray's baby, so Suzie doesn't know
anything beyond the basics about the coach. She never drove it and
doesn't want to learn. She has it up for sale at the moment. She
took us out there to go through the storage bays and take any
accessories that we wanted. They really don't add anything to the
value of the coach and she doesn't need them around the house. We
got a voltage regulator for use in campgrounds with wonky electric
power, a couple of lawn chairs, and a few other small service items.
After we got back to the house we went through some stuff she had in
the garage from the coach and got a couple of other little things.
We then left and drove north to Moreno Valley to go to Costco. After
the Costco run we headed back to Silent Valley, getting home just
after 5:00. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. One thing I
did have to do was reprogram most of our satellite television
programs. Because of action, or actually inaction, on the part of
Congress, satellite TV providers are no longer able to allow
customers to get network programming, IE., ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW,
that does not originate from their local market, which in our case
would have been Las Vegas. For 15 years we had a special package
that gave us both New York and Los Angeles network feeds. Yesterday
they cut off those feeds. I was able to get Direct TV on the line
and we got our local programming turned back on. I also changed our
“service address”, which is where we actually are, to the address
of Silent Valley, so we at least got the Los Angeles network stations
turned back on. However, we were recording most of our network shows
on the New York feed because they came on earlier in the day, so I
had to change almost everything to the Los Angeles stations. I got
it done and we now have network coverage again, at least from the
west coast. Hopefully they won't do anything more to screw things up
for us.
Friday, June 19th, Juneteenth, another
new holiday, although it did show up on my Google calendar as part of
the “U.S. Holidays” download. However, Flag Day didn't, which I
found distressing. Oh well. Today was another stay at home day.
Got a few chores done, some office work and some relaxing. Had the
chicken we bought at Costco yesterday for dinner, watched some TV and
went to bed. Saturday was another stay at home day. I spent a
couple of hours cleaning up all of our outside decorations, getting
ready for our departure from Silent Valley on Monday morning. Sunday
was our last day here in Silent Valley. I finished up getting ready
for travel tomorrow and checked all the fluids in the coach as well
as the batteries and the tire pressure. We are now ready for travel.
While I was outside checking various things on the coach I noticed the Shade Pro service truck pull up to one of the RV's parked behind us. When the guys got out I recognized Ryan, our service guy from Yuma who installed our new shades a couple months ago. I had to go over and say hi. We also had to take a photo with Jackie so she could send it to Peggy, who also had a bunch of work done in Yuma by Ryan. We had cocktails with the Baron's who came back up today after being
gone most of the week.
Monday, June 22nd, our first travel day
in nearly a month. We were packed up and pulling out of Silent
Valley about 9:30 heading north on a fairly short 80 mile trip to
Adelanto, a small town on the west edge of Victorville. The toughest
part of the trip was climbing the Cajon pass out of San Bernardino.
Because we left early we beat the worst of the heat and got to the
summit without any overheating. We arrived at the Adelanto RV park
about 11:30, got checked in and parked for a one night stand. Since
we got in early we did unhook the car and drove into town to have
lunch and do a Walmart run. We ate at a little taquaria near the
Walmart, then went shopping. After we got back to the coach we put
everything away and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Tuesday, June 23rd, another travel day,
this time about 120 miles to Bakersfield. We again had a grade to
climb, this time the Tehachape Summit. We were out about 9:30 and
got to the Shady Haven RV park in Bakersfield about 12:30. We got
checked in and parked, then relaxed the rest of the day. We didn't
even unhook the car. Wednesday we were again on the road after a
very hot night in Bakersfield. Yesterday afternoon, after we were
parked, the temperature hit 102 and the A/Cs were working to keep up.
We were out by 9:30 headed west on the final leg of this trip, going
about 130 miles to Santa Maria, California. Since it was really hot
in the valley even in the morning we did have to make one stop on the
way up the grade over the coastal range outside of Maricopa. The
coach got very warm and I to pull over in a wide spot and let it cool
down. Strangely coincidentally, just as I stopped the coach and put
the parking brake on the coach started a little wiggling motion. It
was not real strong, but definitely there. I told Jackie, “ooh,
earthquake.” At first she said no, it was movement from the coach
idling, but I said no, I know it was an earthquake, probably big, but
far away. Since we were parked anyway I got on my phone to the
recent earthquakes site and sure enough there was a 5.8 that just
occurred in Lone Pine, California, about 135 miles northeast as the
crow flies. A few minutes later the “quake alarm” on the phone
went off. Had we still been driving we probably wouldn't have felt
it. After a ten minute stop we were on the way and made it over the
top without further problems. We arrived at the Santa Maria Elks
Lodge about 1:00, got checked in and parked and spent the next couple
hours setting up for our two week stay here.
Our arrival here in Santa Maria marks a
good point to close out this chapter and get it published. Until
next time ponder the words of author Gayle Forman, “Sometimes you
make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” See ya soon.
