Made Our First Trip Home Reservation Today

Next Tuesday morning, we’ll be pulling out of the Sands early and heading west on I-10 towards Los Angeles.  On the eastern edge of LA, we’ll swing north thru Pasadena and Burbank before we connect with Hwy. 101 at Thousand Oaks.  A little over 4 hours after leaving the Sands we should arrive at the Pismo Coast Village RV Resort where we’ll be staying for 3 nights.  We are beginning to get excited!

We’re looking forward to a change of scenery

Unlike a lot of snowbirds who spend the winter down here in the desert, Paulette and I never regret having to head home.  Heck, if we did, I suppose we’d stay longer.  But, after 4 months away from Vancouver Island, we’re looking forward to trading the sandy desert floor, the brown hills and the bone dry Palm Springs River for our home and the charging waters of the Cowichan River, the lush green rainforests and the mountain trails we so much love to hike.

Can’t wait for our hikes along the Cowichan River

Our next stop after Pismo Beach will definitely be on the Monterey Peninsula again for 3 nights.  From there, we’ll wander up the California coast on Hwy. 101 and follow it up along the beautiful Oregon Coast.  Somewhere, we’ll turn east and head for Portland and the Dalles area.  Paulette has a few favourite Quilt Shops to check out and I’ve got some Columbia River exploring to do.

The River Walk complex in Rancho Mirage

In the meantime, we’re trying to make the most out of our last week here in beautiful Palm Springs.  It was in the high 80’s again but the winds were strong enough here in Desert Hot Springs to cancel an afternoon golf game with my friend, Mel.  I guess we’ll try again on Thursday.  Mel and Deb are leaving this Saturday for their home in Edmonton, AB.  They may get a rough welcome there as the last we heard it was cold and snowing (hint:  move to Vancouver Island). 

 

Even though the wind was blowing it didn’t stop me from heading up to the pool for a swim Wednesday afternoon.  With the temperature around 86F, the wind was hot so the pool was the perfect place to cool down.  Back at our rig, we set up our loungers in our shady spot by the rig which also blocks the westerly winds.  It’s a perfect place to sit outside in the afternoon and read or simply relax.

About 5pm last night, I started thinking about all those great places to eat I featured in my Wednesday blog post.  I knew Paulette was going for a perimeter hike at 6:30pm with a few friends so not having a whole lot of time I suggested we hop in the truck and take a quick drive over the 5 Guys Burger place at the River Walk in Rancho Mirage.  She agreed as this would be our last 5 Guys until next year!

The River Walk is a fairly up-scale mall in Rancho Mirage that has many different restaurants along with some specialty shops.  The restaurants range from expensive to regular joints like 5 Guys, Pizza places, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.  There’s also a really big Cheesecake Factory there as  well.  I would have loved to check that out but we ran out of time – just as well.

By the time Paulette got back from her walk, I had finished writing this blog masterpiece and we just settled in for a quiet night of watching a few TV programs.  No plans yet for Thursday, but we’ll see – something interesting usually comes up.

Have a great Thursday, and thanks again for visiting.