Day 10- Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Oxnard, California

Today started out cold and rainy - 55 degrees when we got up this morning.  The plan was to relocate to the Point Mugu Naval Air Station RV Park, which we did about 10 AM when the rain subsided.  The RV park is right on the Pacific Ocean and it is quite windy here and still cool - 57 degrees as I write this. I thought California was warmer than this.....brrrrrrrrr.

After setting up and eating lunch, we drove around the immediate area to get some pictures and of course "Speedy" and the girls went with us.  We saw many varieties of water fowl as well as seals in the immediate area surrounding the RV park.  Not far from the park, on the beach, there was a wedding getting ready to start and we managed to get a couple of pictures - a it was a nice setting for a wedding.  By then the sun had come out and I was glad for the bride and groom that is wasn't gloomy as it had been earlier in the day.

We then drove to Hueneme ( pronounced: why-knee-me)  Naval Base to seek out our first lighthouse - the Point Hueneme Lighthouse.  As it turns out, it is not actually on the Naval Base as all the books say, but just off the base.  While we were on the base, we were taking pictures and Jim went to get "Speedy" out of the truck to take his picture, and he was missing!  AWOL on the Navy base - or so we thought!  So we abandoned our lighthouse quest and back-tracked our travels and found him still sitting on the beach near the RV Park - waiting patiently for our return!  We just knew we would never find him!  So now we really do have to put a leash on him so he doesn't go missing again! 

Soooooooo as a result of "Speedy's"  great adventure, we will attempt to once again track down the Point Hueneme Lighthouse and a few others tomorrow.  The hunt may be somewhat of a challenge as we are finding out  that several of the lighthouses we wish to see are now on private property, and a couple involve 3-5 mile hikes!  We will see!

On our way to the Hueneme Naval Base, we passed through an agricultural area where they grow Dole fruits and veggies. There were also many sod farms and more strawberry patches than you can imagine!  The migrant workers were busy picking the strawberries, and there were oodles of trucks at the ready to deliver them for processing! We were going to stop and get some fresh strawberries at a roadside stand on our return back to the RV park, but we got sidelined with a more important mission and didn't get to stop!  Hopefully the stand will be open tomorrow as we both love strawberries!  For you guacamole lovers, avacados are sold here 15 for $5 - fresh picked!  That's approximately 33cents each!

May all of you have a spiritually uplifting and joyful Palm Sunday!

Views from outside the "Turtle! We are less than 100 yards from the Pacific Ocean!

"Humpfffffff" 

(This is where "Speedy"spent his afternoon - the beach just down from the RV park)

The girls and one escape artist enjoying the cool weather!

Seals sunbathing near the RV park!

Pelicans and seagulls

Preparations for a wedding on the Beach

Dole Plantation

Strawberry Patch

Migrant workers picking the strawberries

Sod Farm - I took this picture for my friend Carolyn Kamm!

Navy Sea-bees art sculpture - Hueneme Naval Base

Day 9 - Desert Hot Springs California - Oxnard, California

Today we started out by letting the dogs play in the dog park one more time before we left Desert Hot Springs.  They really enjoyed that dog park......

We left Desert Hot Springs around 9 AM and drove for four hours to Oxnard, California which is south of Ventura and west of Thousand Oaks, CA.  Speed limit for vehicles towing trailers is only 55 MPH which is why it took us longer to make the short trip!  It was nice to finally get out of the desert! I would like to say the ride was uneventful, but in reality, it was very stressful for me.  Jim, who was driving,  seemed to take it all in stride.  Eighty-one miles out of Los Angeles, the smog rolled in!  It was horrible and my eyes would not stop watering.  It didn't seem to affect the California drivers!  The traffic was horrible on I-10, Hwy 210, and Hwy 101!  I guess the most amazing thing to me is that there are so many drivers on the California highways with the cost of gas being so expensive in this state!  Well over $4 a gallon! There is no way you can stop on any of these highways safely unless you are actually taking an exit!  And switching lanes ?  I just closed my eyes and prayed! Crazy, crazy, crazy! 

We are spending the night at the Evergreen RV Park in Oxnard, but will move to an RV Park at  Point Magu Naval Air Station in the morning. (One of the benefits of being retired military!) We will stay there two days and make day trips to the lighthouses in the area.  We will move further north on Monday.

We treated ourselves to dinner out this evening, and had dinner at Friday's (TGIFriday's).  I had the best salmon I have ever eaten (bar none, and I eat a lot of salmon!) and Jim had ribs which he said were pretty good as well.  It was a nice change from our standard RV fare, that is for sure! 

We didn't get very many pictures today, the smog was just to dense. However, there were some wildflowers on the side of the road that we thought were pretty, and we did take a few picture of them (as we passed by - again, we couldn't stop.....).  Hopefully we will have more pictures to share tomorrow!

It appears there are quite a few people following our blog, and several have called and stated that they have left comments, but we are not receiving them.  Please make sure you hit the "post" button after you have written your comments, then we should receive them!  Thanks for your support!  We are excited about being able to share this journey with family and friends!

The beginning of the smog........eightyone miles out of LA

You can hardly see the mountains for the smog.......

Wildflowers on Hwy 210 - taken on the fly!

Different from Texas wildflowers, but still beautiful!

I took this picture for my Granddaughter Candace -

she loves the color purple or any variation thereof...



"Speedy" playing the ever gracious host!

 It looks like he has red shoes on, but those are flowers on the bush surrounding the sign!  

Day 8 - Joshua Tree National Park & Twenty-Nine Palms

Today started with play time for the dogs at the dog park!  Both dogs met new friends who wanted to share their toys with Lacy and Penny.  Penny didn't mind, but Lacy wasn't too sure about the "sharing" thing.....

After lunch we headed to the Joshua Tree National Park - about thirty miles from our RV setup.  What a treat that was!  The Joshua Tree stands out as an oddity in this part of the Mojave Desert since it is not really a tree, but is closesly related to the century plant.  It is the short-pointed sharp leaves that give it the botanical name Yucca Brevfolia.  The flowering season is just ending so there weren't that many trees in bloom, but we did see some.  What was really amazing about the park were the geological formations of rock!  Unbelievable!  They are a testimony to the tremendous earth forces that has shaped and formed this land. 

On the way to the park, we observed thousands of wind turbines at the base of the mountains.  Thousands!  Some with three blades and some with two blades.  Some that were tall, and some that were short.  We have never seen so many wind turbines in one area! We are guessing that these particular wind turbines provide energy to Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, and perhaps beyond!.

After visiting the Joshua Tree National Park, we headed to Twenty-Nine Palms.  There is a Marine Base there that Jim had been stationed for six weeks while working in radio communictions while in the Air Force.  He simply wanted me to see how desolate and out in the middle of nowhere it was!  Obviously since it has been years since Jim was there, a lot has changed and the area is not as desolate as it once was - but it is still in the middle of nowhere!  Living in the middle of the desert is not my lifestyle choice! 

 We ended the day the same way we started it - a trip to the dog park for the dogs to get some more exercise before we hit the road again tomorrow!  Should be on the coast by this time tomorrow!  Enjoy the pictures!

Where we are currently staying - "Speedy" likes it!

Wind Turbines along the way.....

"Speedy" Says "Welcome to the Park"!

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree with Full Blooms

Speedy taking a break?  How did he get there?

Joshua Trees come in all sizes!

Various rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park

 Again? "Ooooooouch!  I can see we need to keep a leash on Speedy too!

Day 7 - Casa Grande, Arizona - Desert Hot Springs, California

On the road at 7 AM this morning and had a pleasant surprise as we pulled out of the RV Park - there was a hot air balloon just taking off - it was beautiful to watch, but I'm not sure I would want to be in it at that time of day as it was 47 degrees at the time! 

In order to avoid the early morning rush hour traffic in Phoenix, we took the by-pass which put us about thirty miles out of our way, but was less stressful.  As it turned out, by doing this, we got to go through a Seguro Cacus Forest.  Millions of them, and no two alike!  Some were comical in nature as their arms twisted and turned in every direction!  Others were tall and majestic! 

The ride was uneventful until we got within 100 miles  of Los Angeles, then the traffic really picked up.  Crazy drivers and crazy gas prices ($4.47 a gallon) !  The Mohave desert is full of interesting cacti and lots of sand! Tonights shower was WONDERFUL!

And of course, we got to add another state sticker to our "where we have been" map which now gives us stickers from coast to coast! 

We are staying at Desert Hot Springs, California at an upscale RV Park called Sands RV and Golf Club! It's the only place we could find that was reasonably priced! Very fancy place indeed!  There are a lot of motorhomes and park models here, but they do have a section for those that are short-timers such as ourselves.  One thing this park has that we haven't seen in five days is grass!!!!!!!!  They even have a 1 acre fenced in dog park where you can exercise your dogs off leash!  Penny and Lacy had a great time playing and meeting new friends there.  They are both crashed now - but they really needed to be able to run and play after being in the truck for so long! 

We are either going to stay here two nights so we can visit the Joshua Tree National Park or move on  to be closer to the coast so we can start our lighthouse visits.  We haven't decided just yet - we aren't on any strict schedule, so we just take each day as it comes.

Tomorrow is another day!  It is also Pastor Carl Westbrook's Birthday! (Pastor of our home church, First United Methodist Church)  Happy Birthday Carl!  May your day be filled with many Blessings and much joy!

Early Riser!

 Cacti - Seguro Cactus Forest, Sonora Desert

 Cacti - Mohave Desert

Sand and ....

More sand........

Entering California one must pass through the Agricultural Inspection Station

Snowcapped mountain and LA smog - I bet it would have been a pretty picture without the smog!



Day 6 - Relaxing in Casa Grande, Arizona

Today was a laid-back day of sorts.  We cleaned "house", did laundry and took the dogs for some exercise,  Then we headed to Wally World to get supplies.   This Wally World was the biggest one we have ever seen!  I mean it was huge and this store sold things our Wal Mart in Port Lavaca would not even consider selling!   Close to Wal Mart was another "adult" RV park which housed at least 1,000 RV's!  I have never seen so many RV's in one spot!  This area is definitely Senior Center USA!  This is not somewhere I would want to live seriously, I'm just sayin'! LOL  We did find gas for $3.73 a gallon which was a bargain!  Most gas in the area is going for $4.00 a gallon!

When we returned to the RV, we decided we would go and check out the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument which was about 16 miles from our RV site.  We are glad we did!  Casa Grande Ruins National Monument preserves remains of an ancient Hohokam farming village as well as their enigmatic Great House.  The Great House is Four stories high and 60 feet long.  It is the largest known structure from Hohokam times.(300 Common Era time)  Early Spanish explorers determined the house was a mystery as its walls face the four cardinal points of the compass.  A circular hole in the upper west wall aligns with the setting sun at the summer solstice.  Other openings align with the sun and moon at specific times.  It is guessed that the Great House builders,  knowing well the ways of the land, would gather inside to ponder the heavens.  Knowing the changing positions of the celestial objects also meant knowing times for planting, harvest and celebration.  In 1892, the Casa Grande became the nation's first archeological reserve.  To this day, the Great House keeps within its walls the secrets of an ancient people.  It was all very interesting and we got some good photos to share (Look for "Speedy" he had a great time too!).  You will see in the pictures that the National Parks Service has built a protective cover for the ruins to protect it from the elements in an effort to preserve what remains of the ruins. The cacti in and around the ruins were unbelieveable! For more information on Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, go to www.nps.gov/cagr

Tomorrow we hit the road again - hoping to reach Palm Springs, California. 

Til next time..............

Where we are staying (Speedy left the RV site for this photo op - do you see him?)

Our RV site

Cacti in the RV Park

"Ouch"  (Do you see Speedy?)

Gateway to the Ruins

Cacti at the Ruins

Casa Grande

Walls surrounding Casa Grande

"Speedy" at the Ruins