STILL HERE IN FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH RV PARK   Dec. 30, 2013

It is hard to believe that we are here for over two  months already.  We are so busy most days  that we don't know what day it is.  But here we are and tomorrow is New Years Eve.  We are going to a dance here at the park to celebrate, with music and dinner.  I hope I can find something to wear that fits me, that is a problem right now.  After all the eating out, pot lucks, and just plain laziness in the last year and a half since I retired I have put on more lbs.  I must get them off, so I joined a stretch and strengthen class three days a week here.  It is an hour and a half class and we stretch and use weights and  lots of exercises for all areas of the body.  The first day I went, I couldn't move the next day, today was my 3rd class and I feel much better.  Today we had 58 people in the class and 12 of them were men.  I walk to the class and that is about a 1/4 mile uphill so that helps too.  I am bound and determined to wear my old clothes.  I am eating less too and not much bread, which is my downfall.  Joel is in very good shape, and he walks a lot and goes to the class too. 

On new years day we are invited to a Tamale Party (oh no more food) and I will try to be good, but after that,  oh no on Saturday is the all you can eat pancake breakfast.  I will start cutting back next week I promise. 

I got rave reviews on my performance in the xmas play and today went to the drama club to start rehersals for our next show.  It will be in February and is "Gilligans Island" the musical.  It is a funny show and lots of songs.  I will have the part of the movie star, hm hm.  Looking forward to strutting my stuff on stage, got to get into some slinky dresses.  I got my hair done last week and goodbye brown, and hello blond streaks.  Everyone didn't even know who I was and I got lots of compliments from the men and women alike. 

I am going to try and play paddle tennis, which is a smaller court tennis, with doubles.  I hope it doesn't conflict with my ping pong club.  Joel and I love to play ping pong.  He plays regular tennis almost every morning from 7-9 am.  I am still rolling over in bed at that time.  I am also going to go to the water zumba classes.  That will be a lot of fun.  Anything with music in it I love.

Well, want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

STILL IN NILAND, FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH RV PARK

Isn't it funny how time flies when you are having fun.  Here it is the 17th of December and we have been doing so much since we came here on Oct. 29th.  Our activities keep us pretty busy, the ping pong club, tennis, atv-ing, drama club, talent nite, karaoke, and of course all the pot luck dinners which keep beckoning to me. 

Tonight we are going to the Howl, a once a month activity sponsored by the Atv club, we roast hot dogs, everyone brings a covered dish and coffee and tea are served.  After which we sit around and gab and admire the gorgeous sunset.  Then after that I am singing a song in the xmas show tonight and I am wearing my elf costume for it.  Then next Sunday is our xmas pageant and I have a lead part in that. 

Last Sunday, joel and I took a ride to box canyon, which is about 35 minutes away, you will enjoy the pics I took of it.  It is a very popular hiking area and dirt bike and atv riding mountainous area.  Afterwards we got off at the chiraco summit, an exit  off I-10.  We had lunch at a cute café, walked around at an old fashioned gas station, and then walked over into the George Patton Museum and learned a lot about how he had a huge military training camp right near us.  Took some pics there too. 

Next week is the xmas feast and lots of pot lucks, oh my, I guess I will have to start my diet after the new year. 

Last Friday night we went with our neighbors to celebrate a birthday in Indio at the Augustine Casino, which was having a seafood buffet.  Before we went there we went to a small rv show and looked at lots of diesel pushers and I liked mine better.  Joel was glad to hear that.  Then we went to the buffet and Joel went to look at the food.  He never makes a big deal over food but he came back and said it looked awesome.  You could order off the menu too but when I saw the buffet, we all had the buffet.  I won't tell you how much I ate, it was sort of like feeding time at the zoo, according to Joel.  There were lobster tails, king crab legs, fresh oysters, every kind of shrimp know, lobster ravioli, filet mignon in wine sauce, all the usual salads and veggies and for desert, well I will tell you that I topped off my meal with 2 ice cream bon bons, chocolate cheesecake, and crème brulee.  All of this for $27.95, we will be sure to go back.  It was a great evening.   I was glad to read your post and was sad you were not coming here, but I guess you will have a great time in  Florida, maybe next year you can make it out here.  Guaranteed a great time at the Fountain of Youth Spa.   Want to wish you, Ron, and little boy a wonderful xmas and happy new year.  Look forward to hearing from you.  Sincerely, Esta and Joel


Had to throw in this gorgeous sunset

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning of our Box Canyon Ride, it is almost 15 miles long

 

 

 

Lots of curving roads

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful scenery

 

 

 

Perfect for hiking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statue of Patton in front of Museum

 

 

 

 

 

Joel enjoying all the history

 

 

 

 

Another gorgeous sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec. 10, 2013 FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH SPA RV PARK IN NILAND CA

Had a nice thanksgiving, ate far too much and had a new treat, a corn bake, delicious.  The people in this park make the best potluck foods.  I will have to wait till after the holidays to lose some weight so that my clothes will fit me again.  The weather has changed to real chilly,  50's during the day but hot sun so it is really tolerable.  The nights are in the forties but our heat pump keeps us nice and warm.  It if gets much colder we will have to turn on the furnace.  Yesterday I was cooking using the electric fry pan and the toaster oven and then put on a small electric heater in the kitchen area just to warm us up a bit.  Bad move, I blew a breaker somewhere in the coach, because of all the heating appliances.  No tv, no outlets, no fridge, oh dear.  We checked the breakers in the bedroom and they were all ok, the gfi in the bathroom was ok too, so we checked the fuses and ok too.  Then Joel went out to the bay with the inverter and lo and behold the inverter has a breaker too and it had popped.  One click and we were good to go again.  We learned a valuable lesson , too many heated appliances.  It seems the kitchen works off  the inverter, duh, didn't know that until now.  Glad we learned another interesting bit of info about our coach.  I guess all Monaco and holiday rambler coaches are made like that.  Today we stuck around the coach and our neighbors came in and visited us.  I think the main reason they come is to play with our cat Peanut.  They used to have cats and they love them.  Then we went to the Café for dinner tonight.  I got my days mixed up and thought the special for tonight was Pork Loin.  Tonight was liver and onions which I love, but Joel unfortunately doesn't love it that much so he had fried shrimp.  It was good not to have to cook all the time.  I have been taking advantage of the fresh market that comes here two mornings a week and have been buying lots of fresh veggies.  I now make sautéed spinach and squash and eggplant, and I will be branching out into brussel sprouts this weekend.  I have been putting more effort into my cooking and it has been beginning to show.  I and Joel are eating a healthier menu, lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains.  Well, the weather man said we will be warming up this weekend.  Lots of activities coming up for xmas, the parade, the xmas pageant which I have a very big part in, xmas singing show, I also have a song, ping pong pot luck dinner, and other pot luck and block parties.  Something is always going on around here.  Well, y'all stay warm and will post again soon.

NILAND, CA, FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH SPA AND RV PARK, Nov. 28th, 2013

Well, we are here for 4 weeks now and enjoying this beautiful climate.  Days warm and sunny, about 65 to 70 degrees and nite dips to about 64.  We are enjoying so many of the activities here.  Joel and I are both in the ping pong club, reliving our childhood.  Joel is playing tennis, billiards, doing comedy at the talent night and atv'ing.  I am starting paddle tennis soon and next month watercolor painting lessons, as well as playing mahjong, karaoke nite, talent night and I have a great part in the xmas play.  So many things to do,over 88 different activities here.  Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we are having a huge pot luck in our big clubhouse, turkeys and all drinks will be provided for us.  Me being the fabulous cook that I am, ha ha, am bring a huge salad.  I will miss my family at the holidays but I speak to them everyday.  Last sunday we went to a folk art attraction here called Salvation Mountain.  It is a mountain built entirely of hay bales and wood and adobe mud covered with all different colored paint, and a man named Leonard Knight chose to make it a tribute to god and for 32 years lived in a truck on the desert and people from all over brought him paint and he worked.  All these pictures tell the story.  You will also see an area called Slab City, used to be a marine base in the 50's and was abandoned and all kinds of folks brought their rv's there and live for nothing on the desert.  It is amazing to see how different folks make their way in life.  Enjoy all the photos, I will post more after the holidays.


This is the truck that he lived in for all those years, painting his mountain, no heat, elec. or water.

 

Mountain from a distance is 50 feet tall

 

 

 

Standing among all the great colors  and objects

 

 

Joel climbed to the top and took a picture looking down

 

 

 

Slab City

 

 

 

Inside of Salvation Mountain

 

 

 

 

A paint and adobe mud garden

 

 

 

Very spiritual and peaceful place

 

 

What a creation in slab city

 

 

Couldn't resist putting this in, our cat peanut enjoying our new fleece blanket

 

 

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH SPA IN NILAND, CA

We have been here almost 2 weeks now and enjoying activities.  Joel plays tennis every morning and we have joined the drama group and will be participating in the xmas play.  Next week is karaoke and pizza on Thursday nites at the café and then tues. talent night.  I am going to join the painting class and crafts too.  Joel has been enjoying atving with the residents and they go into the desert on Wednesdays.  Here are some cool pictures of the park and of the desert and the atv's.

Just getting ready to go in to the desert.

 

 

About 6 to 8 atv's

 

 

 

 

 

The desert is so beautiful

 

Joel is wearing helmet and goggles, lots of dust and chilly out there

 

 

An oasis among all the sand

 

 

 

Lots of unexploded ordnance around

 

 

 

Our pretty park in the chocolate mountains

 

 

Look at our huge site

 

 

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH SPA RV PARK IN NILAND, CA  WED. OCT. 30/13


We came in yesterday after only getting lost once and having to go on a road which would shake anybodys teeth loose.  We got a great site and did not have to unhitch and have the rig, trailer and car on our huge site with room to spare.  It is cool at night requiring the use of the heat pump but the days are very warm and sunny.  We don't have to worry about the electric bill because the site is $649 a month including full hookup, cable and electric, and no taxes.  This is the most inexpensive place we have ever been and it is great.  The  folks here are very friendly and in a month there will be 2,000 of them here.  There are so many activities you won't believe it including, thermal hot springs, gorgeous pools, theater club, crafts, so many clubs, massage on grounds as well as café and beauty salon, I am in heaven.  Go on foyspa.com and check it out, they even have square dancing lessons and clown school.  There are probably 88 different activities and I and Joel will try to do as much as we can.  It is in the middle of nowhere, between the chocolate mountains and the salton sea.  About an hour and a quarter from Palm Springs, nurse practitioner is here for emergencies.  This place has been here for more than 35 years.  Joel especially liked the steam rooms, try and find that in an rv park.  I will be taking pictures this week and then will post them.  I am so glad to be out of the bone chilling weather of San Diego.  The desert is for me, no humidity but some dust of course.  We will keep you all posted.

OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA

We have been at Paradise by the Sea rv resort since early September, 13.  We will be here till Oct. 29, at which time we will be going to the Desert Springs, Ca area where the temps are warmer.  The weather here at night has been in the 50's and in the daytime it is in the low 70's and windy, so a little too chilly for us former Floridians.  In the desert area the nights will be cold but the days will be at least 10 degrees warmer.  However, it is remote and about an hour from the nearest large town.  This resort we will be staying at is called "The Fountain of Youth" and has hot mineral springs will come from deep within the earth and are supposed to be very rejuvenating and is for arthritis and other ailments.  They have a full activity schedule for the winter, including bingo, theater group, yoga, so much, too many to name.  They also have a beauty and nail salon and masseuse and restaurant on the premises.  We will stay a month and see how we like it.  They don't take reservations because it is such a large park.  Of course, being in the desert, no grass, and dirt sites.  It is in between the Salton Sea and the desert area. 

Since we have been here, I went to a beauty school to have my hair cut and colored, nuff said, and we have been to quite a few car shows.  The beach is 1 block away.  The pacific ocean is much colder than the atlantic and it is enjoyable watching the surfers, very large waves.  We have eaten out at quite a few nice places and all stores are close by.  We will keep everyone informed when we move to the new place.  I hope to be kept very busy there.  Signing off for now.

LEFT VEGAS AT LAST

Sept. 7, 2013  LAS VEGAS 

Well, we did some more sightseeing, even though it was 110 degrees.  Went to the Hoover Dam, had my doctors appt. on the 5th and all is well.  Then on the 6th my brother Joel and his wife Roberta came over and picked us up to take us to Sams Town,  we went to Billy Bob's Steakhouse for dinner.  Sams Town is one of Vegas's original casinos and they really liked it and the dinner was superb.  We all shared crème brulee for dessert, oh the waistlines.

Sat. Morning we pack up and headed for Hemet, Ca. to the Golden Village Palms rv resort.  We got in about 3:30 pm and it was pouring down rain, power was out, but the rain cooled off the area.  We got settled in an extremely long pull-thru probably 85 feet, very comfortable.  It is a very secure gated park.  The town is really nice with loads of restaurants, walmart of course, we ate out a lot.  We will be here for 3 nights and then head down to Oceanside, Ca, where the temperature is about 75 degrees, a welcoming relief from all this heat.  The pics I am posting are a few places we went, enjoy.


This pic is from the brunch at cousin marvins house, Joel and Roberta look full and rested.

These pics below are of the Hoover Dam, the dam is very low right now because of lack of rain and global warming.  The pic of Joel in front of the welcome to Arizona sign , the dam is on the border of Nevada and Arizona.

 

 

 

 

This is Peggy Sues fifties diner and well worth the stop in Yermo, Ca.  It has a great café as well as a gift shop and dinosaur park with ponds and ducks in the back, good food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This duck looked like he was wearing a toupee.

 

The beautiful San Jacinto Mts, in Idyllwild, Ca, a short ride from Hemet, Ca. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Café Aroma in Idyllwild.  We had a great lunch there.

 

 

 

This is another look at the San Jacinto Mts.  Somebody actually took a recliner and placed it out on that rock to look at the view, amazing.