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We Have Arrived

Indio, California: Dave and I woke early in Bakersfield to watch the New York Marathon. What a fun finish to see Shalane Flanagan break the tape... and our old friends (no pun intended) Abdi and Meb finish so well in New York! Congratulations to all finishers. New York is the King of Marathons.

The drive from Bakersfield to Indio is the worst day of our commute from Portland. The roads are SO BAD. They are crowded with truckers and plastered with potholes the size of small cars. Mountain passes. Curves. Steep down hills. Tragic railroad crossings. Winds turn a 45-foot motorhome into a sailboat. Awful tacky advertising signage with questionable spelling and grammar. Litter. So much litter! Expensive diesel. Occasional Joshua trees.

Throw in a little fog to make it so much more fun climbing a mountain pass.

The Tehachapi Pass was a frightening task on this fog-filled morning. Very limited visibility. Too easy to creep-into a slow moving trailer situation. So happy DT is skilled and patient.

I just close my eyes.

Around three o'clock, we arrived to our Perfect Paradise at the Motorcoach Country Club. Maricela and her crew had tidied our campsite with a pressure washer. Fresh yellow pansies had been planted. Our transition was simple.

Super simple in fact. On Friday, I phoned the local cable company and asked them to re-start the internet service (it has been "on hold") to our casita in Indio. DT had labeled all the television and internet connections, and when he reattached all the cords and cables... well... mysteriously... we had Wi-Fi, and the DirecTV system from our motorhome transferred instantly to our casita television. Like Magic. No late-night phone call to a help center. No on-line chat session. Nothing Googled. It just worked.

Three years ago, we updated our casita with sliding glass doors on the north (windy) side on the casita. Two years ago, we added awnings to block the afternoon sun. Last year, we had no home improvement (except for Dave's meniscus tear repair).

This year we have added the most amazing pillow as our "home improvement" for the 2018 season:

The Most Awesome Duck Pillow Ever... and seriously cheaper than sliding glass doors.

Before we left Bakersfield this morning, I started pizza dough and let it multiply all day in the refrigerator. It turned into a wonderful cheese pie.

We will spend the next few days getting ourselves organized.

Until my next update, I remain, your Indio correspondent.

RV PARK:  The Motorcoach Country Club