February 1997

<<< Saturday, 1 February 1997

The final leg of the return trip to the US was some 260 miles to the border town of Nogales. On the way, we had the usual police checks and at the US border which we cleared in about five minutes, most of the questions were about what if any fruit did we have.

After two months in Mexico, it was almost a culture shock on crossing the border to find wide well paved roads, clear road signs, drivers sticking to speed limits and housing which was modern and in a good state of repair. We stopped for the night in the Walmart car park at Green Valley but George's good feeling of being back in the US was quickly deflated when he had to spend some 40 minutes trying to get a connection to send some Emails.

Sunday, 2 February 1997

Two of the RV's departed at 6 pm and about two hours later we set off with Bill and Bev. Coon for Quartzsite, where we plan to boondock for a few days and experience what we have been told is a unique gathering. Quartzsite is at the intersection of the I10 and I95 in West Arizona and for most of the year has a population of less than 1,000, however, during January and February, some 500,000 RV's arrive and camp in the desert around the town. We were certain that it could not be true but were amazed when we drove over the brow of a hill and saw RVs as far as the eye could see, all spread out across the valley floor in every direction.

It is possible to camp almost anywhere in the desert and despite there being so many RVs there are numerous places where one can camp without being near a fellow camper. Much of the desert is managed by the BLM who charge $10 for a week's camping, which compares to $20 a day at most campgrounds. Camping in the desert is where the self-sufficiency of an RV comes into its own, so we ensured we arrived with a full fresh water tank, empty grey and black tanks as well as full LPG and fuel tanks to run the fridge and heater as well as the generator. One thing we forgot was to bring a good supply of wood for campfires but we should be able to buy some nearby. While we were settling in for the evening we were treated to spectacular colour changes in the evening sky as the sun set behind the mountains.

Monday, 3 - Friday, 7 February 1997

Quartzsite has turned out to be a fascinating place. RV's of every type and make, from the humble to DIY through to many costing over $0.5 million, are all camped out in the desert as far as the eye can see. Some are snowbirds camping for several months, making themselves at home by placing a sign with their name along the trackside and some even create a driveway effect with small rocks! The desert is a vast mainly stony area lying between several lines of hills, however fine dust covers everything and it is easily lifted by passing vehicles or the occasional breeze. The area has virtually no rain but the numerous dry gullies can be quickly filled by flash floods which occasionally occur when stormwater rushes down the hillsides.

Normally the town is just a few buildings on a crossroad but after a few months, it becomes one of the largest flea markets in the world. Quartzsite originally started as a gem market and today is the biggest gathering anywhere for buying and selling rocks, gems and prospecting equipment. Rocks and gems of every colour, size and shape are available either just as they come out of the ground, or sliced, cut and mounted. With so many RVs there is also a major exhibition for RV accessories, solar power and digital satellite TV systems that appear to be the in thing this year. We were amazed when we run into a couple we had previously met twice before, once in the middle of nowhere on top of some rocks in Utah and again at a campground in West Virginia, it certainly is a small world. Talking of a small world by coincidence the CompuServe RV Forum which George occasionally logs onto was holding a rally no more than 200 yards from where we were camped.

Saturday, 8 February 1997

After two months of travelling together, we said a sad farewell to Bill & Bev. Coon who were heading east to Florida, for our part we continued our journey west towards Los Angeles where we will be meeting Kevin and June on the 17th Feb.

We drove about 200 miles mainly through a sandy desert, near the snow-covered peaks of the Little San Bernadino mountains dramatically changed the scenery. Shortly afterwards we passed through Palm Springs which we had previously visited during the blazing summer heat of 1993. Today it was much cooler (65F) and the thousands of wind generators all over the hillside were all still as there was hardly any wind. On passing through the customs post into the state of California we moved into Pacific time which meant that we had an extra hour which we used for shopping during the afternoon, mainly to obtain additional bedding etc. in readiness for our visitors.

Sunday, 9 - Sunday, 16 February 1997

We spent several days camped below the snow-capped San Bernadino mountains, which is a pleasant area but as temperatures drop to below 40F at night the furnace is getting plenty of use. Other than mountain views the area does not have much to offer unless one needs shopping facilities since most of the national chains seem to have a local outlet. We have put some of the shops to good use as George decided that Valerie should have a satellite TV system and Valerie decided that George needed a new pair of jeans!

On Thursday we moved to Long Beach which is on the west coastal end of LA and has a very large port and an upmarket business centre. We choose this area as it is the only RV park within a sensible travelling distance of LA International airport in one direction and Disney in the other.

Even though the campground is less than six months old and well laid out we were both disappointed since it is located in what is currently a major construction area. In six months it should be ideal as the construction is a waterside development which will include tourist-type shops.

The Queen Mary is moored about one mile along the waterfront, which is now a hotel and has a wedding chapel where one can get married for $800 upwards. The ship is losing money so there is talk that it may be moved to Japan.

Friday was mainly devoted to sorting out the junk which has accumulated in the external lockers and having a full service carried out on the car. Several visits were made to Camping World which has endless supplies of everything one might need when camping and the RV was serviced during one of the visits.

We ended up spending several days obtaining suitable car seats for the children as well as seat belts, sleeping bags and the like, then rearranging our possessions to create space for our visitors.

Kevin & June - Part I

Monday, 17 - Wednesday, 19 February 1997

The guests have arrived! After a long journey (13.5 hours in all) we arrived - to rain...

Tip of the Day: Stay awake! Jet lag will leave you wanting to sleep as soon as you land. Don't give in. Fight sleep until as late into the evening (US time) as possible.

After not too much sleep, as we are still in UK time, we awoke to beautiful sunshine. A decision had been made the night before to visit Knotts Berry Farm which is a theme park aimed at all ages - Snoopy and Charlie Brown being the main characters. George & Valerie introduced us to "Funnel Cake" which is a sort of deep-fried worm-looking mass covered in Boysenberry fruit, absolutely delicious! One of the rides was a parachute cage, where you were placed in a cage with a parachute above. You are slowly lifted 170ft in the air and then parachuted at speed to the ground. Kevin, Valerie and Claire-Marie all went on this whilst George, Robert and I decided to go to less daring but far greater heights in the Sky Tower - which rose 180ft.

***Weather***

So far ranging from "just right" to hot

Advert on US TV - a woman has been buying her pharmaceutical products from her chemist Dick for years but decided to shop elsewhere, she then realises that she doesn't get such good value - end caption "after all this time Brenda realises that she still prefers her Dick"...

(Kevin decides he is going to add a tip of the day)

Tip of the Day: Sleep in! You will wake up early (US time) but don't get up. Turn over in bed and force yourself to sleep longer. Do this and your body clock should be on US time. And don't worry about a late evening that same night, Dad & Valerie normally retire at about 10:30 pm (you will learn to appreciate this).

The next day the weather once again excelled. Today's outing was to Universal Studios. Although Kevin and I had both been there before we were quite surprised as to how much it had changed.

Tip of the Day: Mind your head! Dad & Valerie will warn you, but you always end up learning the hard way anyway.

Thursday, 20 February 1997 already - moving day.

Claire-Marie and Kevin went for a dip in the hot spa while the rest of us got ready for the reasonably short journey to San Diego. De Anza Harbour Resort is a lot quieter than the campground in L.A. and seems to be full of very wealthy retired folks. George, Valerie and I went to the supermarket. One of my main concerns so far is what to feed the children other than hot dogs and fries. Food seems to jump from "low in fat, sodium, cholesterol" to very high in sugar - even the baked beans have added brown sugar.

Tip of the Day: Wear a hard hat! If you are unlucky, you'll probably hit your head again before you learn the lesson. Claire-Marie just learnt the hard way, walking into the part of the RV that pulls out after docking.

Friday, 21 February 1997

Hot bright and sunny and we make the five-minute journey to Sea World. Once again this is our second visit but I could go time and time again. The shows are all excellent and the animals are beautifully kept. Theme parks like Sea World have suffered a lot of criticism over the past couple of years and this was quite noticeable all around the park where it was constantly pointed out that the animals are well looked after and suffer no distress for not being in their natural habitat. Claire-Marie and Robbie were enthralled by the Killer Whale and Dolphin shows, especially when spectators stupid enough to sit in the "soak zones" literally got soaked!

Tip of the Day: Leave at least 12 minutes 36 seconds after the hot water was last used by anybody before you take a shower!

Tip of the Day: Bring a crushed ice maker for Margaritas!

Tip of the Day: Wet your Margarita glass with lime juice before dipping it into salt!

Tip of the Day: Dress casually when going out (unless you are getting married), all the Americans do!

Saturday, 22 February 1997

My 40th birthday! The weather is warm and as the Brits would say "just right". We began our visit to the Zoo by taking the tour bus around the park. Although none of us a admitted it I think we were all a little disappointed. The World famous San Diego Zoo was somewhat "dated", the animals are still kept in fairly small concrete enclosures and showed obvious signs of boredom and stress. The park is full to overflowing with all sorts of plants, trees and bamboo reaching 50ft and the smell of frangipani and eucalyptus is quite overpowering. The trip was completed with a trip on the Sky Safari (an aerial tour of the park).

As it was a special day - well on my calendar anyway - we decided to eat out in the evening. Nothing spectacular but I remembered from our last trip that a good value meal can always be had at Denny's, so Denny's it was. The waitress (typical US) "Hi, my name's Allie, I'm your waitress for the evening, I'm new here but I'm doing really good and I don't think there'll be any problems" - as we would say "famous last words". Kevin received his starter 10 minutes after we had finished ours. The children were starving. When the main courses arrived mine was cold. However, we were not the only ones to complain and we did receive ice cream "on the house".

Sunday, 23 February 1997

This weather is too good to be true. Originally the plan was to travel today but the "boys" wanted to visit the Space/Science Museum and we had been told by some fellow RV'ers that a visit to Cabrillo Point was a must. So, Valerie, Robbie and I went shopping in the Gaslight District - Horton Plaza - for the morning while the men and Claire-Marie went to the museum. The shopping plaza (I remember having visited there before) was five floors high and was mainly clothes shops. There was a huge Barbie shop with every possible Barbie toy and accessory ever made. One shop, however, had a huge sign in the window saying "Gary's Island - Dick's Last Resort".

After meeting the boys we went to the Cabrillo National Park. The views of San Diego Harbour were quite spectacular and although we had been told by numerous people that during January/February you would be able to see the Grey Whales swimming down from Alaska for mating and breeding we were not in luck - did we think we would be? So we settled for a film show instead. Grey Whales were once an endangered species but because it is now illegal to kill them they are thriving once again. They are not the prettiest of animals but you cannot help but become quite attached to them when you see how they have been treated in the past.

Monday, 24 February 1997

We make the long "uphill" journey through the mountains to the Salton Sea. The trip showed us some spectacular scenery of mountains, deserts and a completely different side of the US than is normally seen by tourists. Once we had passed through the mountains we came to very flat, dry land with virtually no plants or trees except cacti. The roads were surprisingly good, long, straight and full of trucks. The road took us along the Salton Sea with the Chocolate Mountains on the opposite side of the sea. The sea was as blue as blue can be and the mountains ranged from deep brown to what I can only describe as "mint chocolate chip ice cream".

Our destination was the Oasis Park Campground which turned out to be quite splendid. The campground is fairly new and is very well-kept. The sites (or as we would call them pitches) are laid out in a citrus grove and we can reach out of the windows and pick lemons from the trees. There are oranges, lemons, grapefruit and tangerines in abundance. We can pick as much as we like and George has been busy making bottles of freshly squeezed juice. There is a beautiful swimming pool here which is heated to around 86F and a hot spa which is very hot. The owner of the campground is "June" and would you believe her maiden name was "Garner"!

Tuesday, 25 February 1997

Tuesday was very very windy but warm and sunny - this part of the holiday has been dedicated to R&R. Valerie and I spent the morning catching up on the washing and then we all went on a quick visit to the Borrego State Park (more desert) before returning to a BBQ at the campground. According to G&V, it is quite a common thing for the Campground Managers/Owners to hold a BBQ where they supply the meat (steaks etc.) and all the campers take a dish (salad/rice etc.). The steaks were quite superb and there was quite an array of different dishes - however, I'm not too convinced about the "marshmallow salad".....

Wednesday, 26 February 1997

A "just right" day with the weather. Kevin and George decided to go off-roading leaving Valerie and I with the children. It is really lovely seeing the children playing outside, a healthy glow on their faces once again. Valerie and I spent the whole morning reading - I finished my book - peace..... We had a swim, went for a walk and picked some more fruit. Then after a BBQ dinner, we sampled George's Cherries - I should have known better when they broke the table trying to open the jar! George has been marinating this huge jar of cherries in a litre of Brandy and Rum for about 10 days talk about mind-blowing...

Well, tomorrow we're on the road again. It will be a shame to leave this oasis as it is quite peaceful here with the spectacular colour-changing mountains and the abundance of fruit alongside the deep blue of the Salton Sea which isn't a sea but a man-made lake, but never mind who cares - have another cherry...

Thursday, 27 February 1997

The day dawned black and wet but we were on the road so it wasn't such a bad thing for us passengers. Unfortunately, Kevin had chosen a particularly bendy, uphill route for the driver but we got there in one piece and nerves still intact. Sandpoint Campground was rather crowded and as we were parked literally on the cliff edge poor Robbie was confined to the RV. The views of the Colorado River and the mountains surrounding were once again quite spectacular. It had been quite a long journey from Oasis to Lake Havasu so we spent the rest of the day catching up on chores.

Friday, 28 February 1997

Kevin and I had decided to get married while we were in the USA. We didn't know where or when but we had finally decided that Lake Havasu was high up on our list of possibilities - this we confirmed was the ideal spot once we had visited London Bridge. An abridged version of the history of London Bridge is as follows: London Bridge was bought by the Americans in the '70s and was rebuilt stone by stone across the Colorado River at Lake Havasu. Rumour has it that the Americans thought that they were buying Tower Bridge...

Anyway, Lake Havasu City is now a prosperous town with the London Bridge Resort being the main attraction. The resort (at the moment) is quite peaceful and rather nicely landscaped, however, I think that the Americans will no doubt go OTT on the "quaint old English" bit and the whole place will become exceeding "tacky" within a few years.

After a long chat with "Mimi" our wedding specialist, the wedding was arranged for Sunday 2nd March at 2.30 pm on the banks of the Colorado River alongside London Bridge. Once the venue and date and time had been set there was a list of chores that we needed to carry out. Valerie needed her hair permed. I needed some blue boot polish - not for my "something old, something blue etc." but because Robbie had ruined the toecaps of his new shoes and I just had to do something with them! Claire-Marie needed some sort of decoration for her hair and Kevin just had to buy a new remote control for our TV at home. So we spent the entire day rushing to and fro. >>>