I’ve always heard about Quartzsite, Arizona… January sees this place go crazy with RV’s. The commercial campgrounds fill up, and hundreds of acres of desert are host to thousands (!) of “Dry Camping” RVs. There are hundreds of vendors selling anything and everything. Anything related to RVs, or the people who use them, or anything that anyone might ever be tempted to purchase. We were a couple of weeks early, but there were already a lot of folks setting up shop. It’s a crazy event.
The picture of the sunset was the prettiest part of our stay in Quartzsite, by far!
We just stayed overnight in Quartzsite, then moved on to Indio, California, near Palm Springs. A very different vibe here! The campground was gorgeous, with pools, clubhouse, green lawns and lots of flowers.
The real reason for our visit to this desert paradise was to see my sister Lori and her husband Tom. We don’t get to see them often, and this was a nice treat. They have a winter retreat here, and it is super nice! Lots of room, a nice yard, and a park even prettier than the one we are staying in.
Lori was brave enough to come with us to an airplane museum. She would give Cherryl someone to talk to as I wandered around… It turns out the museum was really great – not only lots of interesting planes, but a tremendous amount of history to go with them. A really nice place to visit.
In between exhibits of mostly warbirds, there was a big section on Walt Disney. He was an aviation fan, and had one of the early Gulfstream Jets. They had mockups of the interior, the phone system, the menus… and this picture of Walt and crew posing with the Gulfstream.
A couple of the planes we could enter, and even though they are in bad shape, it’s amazing to contemplate flying one of these huge birds!
I’m politely sparing you the history of all these planes, because as I type this I am in a location with very sporadic internet service. And because I don’t remember enough of it!
Roush is a company that modifies already cool cars to make them even cooler. In honor of the P51 Mustang fighter aircraft, they created a P51 Mustang automobile out of the popular Ford. A very rare car, there are three in this museum.
Joshua Tree National Monument
When I was a kid, Joshua Tree was a favorite family camping trip. Lori and I loved climbing on and in between all the huge rock in the Jumbo Rocks campground. Cherryl and I decided to make a quick trip out there from Indio… and allowed far too little time! Next time we will plan on a couple of days at least!
I went to school with a nice girl named Debbie… maybe since first grade? Deb and her husband Jim now live in Palm Desert, not far from Indio, and she graciously invited us over. She made a great dinner and we had a great time getting caught up. Thanks Deb!
We ended up the week, and the year, in Potrero Park, just north of the Mexican border. We met up with friends Jeff and Marilyn, and had a peaceful quiet weekend. I left our elaborate Christmas decorations up though New Year’s Eve…
Baja 1000
So… we finished out the year… and hope to start the new year by doing the Baja 1000. No, not the race that was so popular when I was in college, but our own version… We hope to spend roughly 1,000 hours in Baja California, Mexico. That’s almost 6 weeks, and should give us time for a nice trip down the peninsula and plenty of adventure! Jeff and Marilyn will be our tour guides, and we hope to have a great time exploring this part of the world! Come back next week to see if it works!
Well it looks like you were not too far from us when you were in Indio! We were in Desert Hot Springs for the month of December. We will be spending January in Indio. Hope your adventures to Baja go well. Have fun!
Jim and I had such a great time with you and Cherryl. That pasta I made was the worst and thank you for not mentioning it in your blog. But the apple pie made up for it right?? 😉 have fun in Baja.
I enjoyed seeing faces I recognized from Orangewood Academy days, your sister Lori and Debbie. I think Lori was in the same grade as my brother Bob.
That was a wise move, taking Lori along as company for Cherryl at the aviation museum. A few decades ago, my hubby, Rolf, and I were visiting our California relatives near Sacramento. Rolf loves trains about as much as you love planes, so my cousins took us to the train museum in Sacramento. From the minute we entered, Rolf disappeared. I’d spot him once in a while – or rather his posterior sticking out from under a locomotive. He flipped out over the “Big Boy”, couldn’t believe he was actually seeing the real thing. I thought it was awfully big, but a machine is a machine in my book. I was glad for my cousin’s company that day.
You got some very nice shots of Joshua Tree!
Happy new year. We will see you when get back to Tucson and we return from our South America cruise.
Enjoy your cruise! See you later.
‘Glad you had such a good time with the planes. We had hoped to go to the Fountain of Youth in February, but it seems that has fallen apart for this year. We plan to be home. Continue having fun!!