This is our first trip in tandem with another Rv’er so I guess this might be classified as an Adventure. When we were with Nancy K in Quartzsite, she expressed interest in traveling with us as she had never been to the East Coast. As a solo women, she was a little reluctant to tackle that trip alone. Nancy is a real trooper and willing to try almost any new experience. She is a runner, a skin diver, a horse owner, and a real cowgirl (her family had a cattle ranch as Nancy grew up). Another item I might mention is she is a daily blogger so if our family and friends want to hear about our travels, I suggest you check Nancy’s blog every day. www.kissackadventures.blogspot.com.
We began our adventure leaving Fresno, meeting up with Nancy on Hwy 99, and traveling to the FMCA Golden Spike Rally in Fullerton. This was Nancy’s first time driving through central LA and I think it might just be the last. We made it without incident, checked in to the very nice (and very expensive) Orangeland RV park. We joined about 20 ‘Spikers’ for the Tuesday Knott’s Berry Farm Chicken Dinner Buffet. It was delicious. There was fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy. There was also a full turkey dinner complete with dressing. Yes, I did have a very small piece of boysenberry pie.
It was good that we came down on Tuesday because on Wednesday the strongest winds to hit the LA area at this time of year started. In the park it blew down trees and an information shelter.
The rally was very well planned by Ed and Anita Price assisted by Dan and Betsy St John. They were so organized they had all the members volunteering in one activity or another. We were busy every day:
And in between all these fun activities, we fit in a delicious breakfast every morning, a business meeting, happy hours, a soup potluck, a regular potluck and a business meeting.
While we were at the Orangeland RV Park Tom ordered a new air cleaner for our rig and I picked it up on Friday. When Tom began to install it he discovered it was the wrong size (right number in the book – go figure). It was too late to order the right one and it could not be delivered on the weekend. We decided to move to the less expensive Garden Grove Elks Lodge RV Parking area. It is an easy in and out, super friendly camp host, and also close to Disneyland. We called our niece, Denise, to see if she could sign us in to Disneyland, but she got sick and was not working on Monday. We then called our friend, Justin, and he graciously signed us in. Both Denise and Justin are Pyrotechnics at Disneyland, but there are only fireworks on the weekends during the off season. 
We made up for that loss by having the most scrumptious dinner at the Blue Bayou. My Portobello mushroom over corn risotto was the best I’ve ever had. Nancy and Tom’s dinners were equally outstanding.
Tom got the new air cleaner installed and we were on our way to the Salton Sea State Park. Of course we had to stop at the Morongo Casino for lunch. When we parked at the beautiful state park we were almost alone. The sea was a beautiful blue, the birds were flying and the weather perfect. Other than the trains that rumbled by until midnight blowing the whistle at the nearby crossing, it was a perfect 3 day stop. We ate at the lovely Shields Date Café then went shopping at Costco where Tom bought 4 new deep cycle batteries for DA PAD. The old ones were at least 7 years old and were struggling to maintain their voltage overnight. We even had to jump DA PAD with DA TOAD the last time we boon docked.
The next day we took Nancy to the unique sights around the Salton Sea: Salvation Mountain and Slab City.
We drove south on Hwy 111, turned on dirt roads and arrived at the Mud Pots of Salton Sea.
Then skirted around the south end of the lake then up the west side to Borrego Springs to see the incredible Borrego Springs Sculptures of Ricardo Breceda.
We were treated to see the sculptures that were in storage and not accessible to the public, but the plant employee said he “did not see us go in” and he smiled and walked away. We then drove into Borrego Springs to have lunch and it turned out to be one of the most delicious Mexican lunches we’ve had in a long time. On our way home we visited several more of the 127 sculptures here.
We left the Salton Sea yesterday and stayed overnight at the pristine Saddle Mountain RV Park, did 2 loads of laundry, found 2 geocaches and drove to the Verde Valley, Nancy at Thousand Trails and we at Clarkdale Elks, today.
For many more details on our travels, be sure to read Nancy’s Blog.
And we are shamelessly influencing Nancy on Geocaching.
