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| Indio, California |
The Pacific Ocean
From LasCruses we poked along US101 at a steady 60mph on an economy run to Indio, California. The New Mexico and Arizona air was as cloudless clear and as crisp as I remember from our previous trips as we powered through the two states. As usual it was late and close to darkness by the time we pulled into Indio looking for the Riverside Community Park where there was supposed to be some RV sites. There were none. The Park was torn apart for re landscaping. What to do? There was no Wall Mart in town but there was a nice treed public parking lot next to the park and adjacent to the police department. At that time of the day one has no energy to go looking for another campground miles away so we stayed under the sodium vapor lights and beneath some mature trees. It actually was a fairly private and well landscaped parking lot so we did not feel too deprived. The police never bothered us although I found it hard to believe that they would miss a 25’ silver tube and truck next to their station.
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Joshua tree
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Next morning the rising sun lit up the surrounding rounded mountains a deep rusty violet red that lasted for only a few minutes until the siennas bled through.
After JoAnn talked with Cristy and Hugh by phone last night we decided to take a side trip to Joshua Trees National Park to see some of the oldest living trees on earth and lots of train sized boulders stacked by the shrinking away of soils. The sky was blue and we enjoyed a brisk hike within Hidden Valley, about a mile in circumference with only one entry. It was a self contained desert hideaway surrounded by rock walls.
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| Hidden Valley |
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| aluminium and stone |
We pushed on non stop towards the Pacific Ocean until there it glittered and spread! After over 15,000 miles we were back on the West Coast. We headed for Topa Canyon State Park in the foothills of Simi Valley and contacted Jo’s nephew Casey and his new wife Chelee for a get together in the morning. But first thing in the morning we discovered a flat tire with a nail. I could not get the spare to drop so we would have to take the flat off and bring it in to town and still keep our rendezvous. Casey and Chelee to the rescue. They came out in two vehicles to the Canyon and brought us and the tire into town. Leaving the flat at Just Tires we had brunch at an egg place that because it was Sunday morning was jammed with people waiting outside. After fixing the tire they took us back out to Topa Canyon and we agreed to stop by later in the day to see the house they bought and were remodeling. Casey is an amazing young man, very focused. A former eagle scout who earned money for his flying lessons by buying and selling antique tractors and buying enough time to solo before his mother even knew about it! As a graduate in aeronautical engineering he got a job at Boeing as a virtual employee doing all his work from home computers as well as holding another job as a helicopter systems inspector banking over ten thousand dollars in flight time in only 7 months. The guy has a great head for facts and figures as an engineer should. It was a very illuminating evening but time came to say adios to Casey, Chelee and their two terrier mutts Piper and Cessna.
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| Chellee, Casey & Jo |
We pushed on non stop towards the Pacific Ocean until there it glittered and spread! After over 15,000 miles we were back on the West Coast. We headed for Topa Canyon State Park in the foothills of Simi Valley and contacted Jo’s nephew Casey and his new wife Chelee for a get together in the morning. But first thing in the morning we discovered a flat tire with a nail. I could not get the spare to drop so we would have to take the flat off and bring it in to town and still keep our rendezvous. Casey and Chelee to the rescue. They came out in two vehicles to the Canyon and brought us and the tire into town. Leaving the flat at Just Tires we had brunch at an egg place that because it was Sunday morning was jammed with people waiting outside. After fixing the tire they took us back out to Topa Canyon and we agreed to stop by later in the day to see the house they bought and were remodeling. Casey is an amazing young man, very focused. A former eagle scout who earned money for his flying lessons by buying and selling antique tractors and buying enough time to solo before his mother even knew about it! As a graduate in aeronautical engineering he got a job at Boeing as a virtual employee doing all his work from home computers as well as holding another job as a helicopter systems inspector banking over ten thousand dollars in flight time in only 7 months. The guy has a great head for facts and figures as an engineer should. It was a very illuminating evening but time came to say adios to Casey, Chelee and their two terrier mutts Piper and Cessna.
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