Sat-Sun 12/4-5

Sat-Sun 12/4-5 8pm

So now, it's Sat about 12 or 1. I set off for Quartzsite. About 50 miles out, I called the RVW woman who'd said she was there for the winter. She lives in a deeded lot sort of place, not a regular park, but she called a few and the prices were high. So I said thanks anyhow and kept driving to the Flying J at Ehrenberg AZ / Blythe CA. They have a WEndy's inside, not a restaurant, so I would up with a half-Baja salad and a baked potato. Not too terrible. Once again, went to bed about 8pm and slept till about 7am (6am Calif. time).

I'm still traveling I-10 because there's not a lot of choice out here for crossing the desert. Route 66, for example, was subsumed by I-40 for the most part. Anyhow, I went inside to get some coffee and they had this wall of different coffees, like Sumatra and Ethiopia and French Roast, and cute little creamers with flavors like caramel and macchiato but also half & half. It was great.

So I started off for Thousand Palms CA (not too far from Palm Springs) for the Flying J there (about 120 miles). While I was gassing up, this older woman accosted me in a very genteel way and wanted to know if I was interested in a free weekend at one of the Western Horizon Resorts in return for considering buying a membership. I decided to do it, knowing full well I'm not buying anything.

Anyhow, she led me about 5 miles out of town into the desert, into an area which is pretty much all RV parks of one kind or another -- Desert Hot Springs, it's called. So I'm now cozily ensconced in a full hookup site until Wed. morning. And right off, I saw Flo Hurlburt and Cindy Williams of RVW, and they said there are several other RVW women here, nearly all of whom have done their free stays and are moving to other parks tomorrow.

It's an okay park, though it's a glorified parking lot like most of them are in snowbird and tourist areas. Fair amount of vegetation, though. There's a rec building with a pool, billiards room, card room, e-mail room (no wifi in the park so you have to haul your computer up to this room to get access), hot-tubs at three diff. temps that have water from the natural springs in the area (Cindy says the jets are pretty useless). And there's no cable tv, so if you don't have your own satellite, you don't get much. I'm watching football -- why, you ask? because all the other channels I'm pulling are in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, or Italian.

But it's a deal for free.

Will arrive at Ken and Caroline Robinson's midday Wednesday 12/8.