Week 281-282 - Tour 2012 Begins - 01-08-2012

Tour 2012 Begins

When we left home on August 15, 2006, we knew that, we wanted to see America. But, we really had no plan.

In 2006 we spent four months on a test run through 11 states.

2007 was our East Coast swing, covering the remainder of the 48 continental states.

In 2008 we stayed in the West for Emily's wedding at our home in May and our first SOWER's ministry San Diego in November.

2009 was the highlight of our travels, off to Alaska and our 2nd SOWER's camp in Fairbanks.

July 2010, Melissa is married at our home and the beginning our our Pickleball Tournament tour and our 3rd SOWER's commitment in Phoenix.

And 2011 was lots of Pickleball and a trip to Kentucky for a new engine. Whew!

So, having covered 50 states and five Canadian provinces, all we know now is that we spend the winters in the Southwest.

So after a nice Christmas with the family, we headed to Palm Springs.

Every day that we travel, we like to take a road that we have not been on with the Mothership. The only road left out of town was Highway 58. It starts in Santa Margarita and ends up in Barstow. So Highway 58 was our final frontier. 1) Highway 101 meets 58. 2) The town of Santa Margarita.

1) As usual Mandy is totally into our trip. 2) Not advisable for trucks with trailers, but okay for motorhomes; let's go!

Many of you have probably been on 58 between Bakersfield and Barstow, on the way to Las Vegas. That section is a four lane freeway or highway. But the section from Santa Margarita to Bakersfield is a two lane road with plenty of scenery. Another nice-to-do-once-in-the-Mothership road.

The final turns before you drop down into the San Joaquin Valley and McKittrick.

At last, downtown McKittrick.

Passing through Bakersfield, we spent New Year's Eve on the city streets of Tehachapi across from the the Apple Shed restaurant. In the morning, we headed out past the Wind Farm and onto Barstow. California City, a small town with a big name!

Here is the four lane section of 58 heading to Barstow.

In Week 273 we commented that Algondones needed a sign ordinance. This intersection of Hwys 58 and 395 needs to apologize to Algodones.

The end of the road for Hwy 58 stops at Barstow Heights right at a Chipotle restaurant, our favorite. Sadly, they were closed on New Year's Day. So, we moved on the Hesperia Elks and met our friends and Pickleball partners, Gordon and Karen.

The new year started for us in Palm Springs. We came here to play in the 2nd Annual Mission Hills Pickleball Tournament. Last year Ellen got a Bronze in Women's doubles and Pete got a Gold in Men's. We came back to defend our honor.

Palm Springs on $5.00 a day; this is the 82nd Elks that we have camped at.

A tour of Palm Springs took us to the Convention Center and the very nice Post Office. Palm Springs is located just east of the San Jacinto mountains. The mountains provide shade sheltering the town from the hot sun in the summer afternoons. Conversely the mountains provide a buffer from the cold winds coming from the west during the winter, giving Palm Springs a very nice climate during the winter season.

In the 1920's many of Hollywood's well-to-dos established second homes in Palm Spring's Las Palmas neighborhood. You can pay for a bus tour to see "not much" or drive your scooter for free. Most of these homes are no longer owned by the rich and famous and very few of them can be seen from the streets.

A fabulous view of Palm Springs can be seen from the Tramway. The base of the tram is at 2,643 feet as shown below.

But take the tram and in twelve and one-half minutes you are at 8,516 feet on top of the San Jacinto Mountains. The tram was built in 1963 using the original cars shown above. The current cars hold 80 passengers and rotates twice on the trip up and down. It is the largest rotating tram in the world. During certain times of the year you can go from enjoyably warm weather in the city to snow covered sled runs at the top.

The old downtown area of Palm Springs has hundreds of shops and restaurants. Unfortunately during this economic downturn, many of the shops were permanently closed.

1) After a wonderful week, we attended the church service at Glory to God Ministries next door to the Palm Springs Elks. 2) Sunday afternoon we headed to Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet. This is a park we had visited every year to play sand volleyball, prior to becoming Pickleholics.

Speaking of Pickbleball, we did compete in the 3.5 skill level of the 2nd Annual Mission Hills PB tournament. Ellen and her partner Deedee got a Bronze medal in Women's Doubles. Pete and Gordon got the Gold in Men's Doubles. Ellen and Pete followed with a Gold in Mixed Doubles, beating Gordon and his partner by only two points in the final game.

Next week we will mosey on over to Arizona to prepare for the Tucson Senior Olympics 6th Annual Pickleball Tournament.

Happy to be on the road and to have you with us.

Love, Pete, Ellen and irrepressible Mandy.

Photos from Jan 2012