Tuesday, January 31, 2012 -- Our weather is unbelievable. This is our third year out here and we have the warmest and best weather.

Enjoyed our tour today to learn about all of the Wind Turbines, referred from now on as Windmills. It is funny, years ago when my Dad was alive but couldn't talk he seen a picture of all of these windmills. He was showing Bob and pointing to them and to the field behind his house. LOL We still believe he wanted to put windmills on the farm. By what they say here, he would have still been a farmer.

We have been gone from home for five weeks. We were thinking today that we have maybe had a couple of days or so of 60's, otherwise manly in the mid to upper 70's. They say normal is 71 degrees.

Friends that we met two years ago left today. But we will meet up with them again on March 8 in Casa Grande, AZ. Our last stop before leaving for home.

Many many windmills. There is 41 windmill farms. They call them farms, because they plant these windmills and harvest the electricity. A farm is actually an individual plot of land that is owned by a company with their windmill. They have around 3000 windmills.

These are solar panels on the ground. They will tip toward the direction of the sun. So if they have a lack of wind, I doubt that would happen for long, then the solar panels will kick in. California has a law that requires them to have 20% renewable energy and by 2030 they have to be 30%.

This is two different types of windmills. The one on the left is about 20 years old, it is actually a noisy. They are being replaced with the new ones that are really quiet. To repair the old news, you must climb up the outside to the top. The others you climb from the inside. But the inside is very hot during the summer time, but you don't have to deal with the wind on the new ones.

This is our drive down the hill from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It was such a beautiful drive down the hill.

Monday, January 30, 2012 --- We went to Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. So the next few pictures are from our trip there.

This and the next two pictures are of the tram going up the hill. The elevation starts at 2,643 ft and goes up to 8,516 ft. We didn't take the ride up, Bob is very uncomfortable with heights. But it was interesting to go up to see the Tram.

This was on display in the parking lot. The ones they use now are a different color, I don't know if there is any other difference.

This is the parking lot to go to the tram. It was a chore to walk up this incline and really downhill coming back. The picture doesn't do justice for the downgrade of the lot.

Sunday, January 28, 2012 -- Beautiful weather we are having. No wind and 77 degrees, really nice. Every once in a while we have windy weather. They will give us high wind warning when that happens. The one we had for Friday was 25 - 30 mph with gust at 60. We had those warnings on Friday. One of the towns, Desert Springs, had 90 mph winds a week ago and had a lot of damage. Sure don't want to be here during those winds.

We are traveling in most of the same places we were in last year, so not as many pictures this year. Spending time with friends we've met other years and making new ones this year. Duke and Donna will be leaving on Tuesday morning, but we will meet up again at our last resort. This is our third year of meeting up with them at different resorts. It is funny you make up your schedule send it to each other and it is always surprising when you realize you will actually be able to see them at different resorts.

We are at Desert Hot Springs earlier this year that we were last year. Enjoyed seeing the blooms on the cactus last year, but too early for them to be in bloom this year.

We have scheduled to go on a "Windmill Tour" on Tuesday. This sounds interesting.

Thursday, January 26, 2012 -- Started the day out by taking the truck, yes I took the truck girls, only went 1/2 mile down the road. Went to get my hair cut, never quite sure what to expect by having a stranger cut your hair. This place charges $20.00 for a hair cut (trim), which includes shampoo and blow dry. I only needed a trim, but got the shampoo anyhow, I went back to trailer to do my own. Hair cut was fine.

Then we went tire shopping. Dang I hate buying tires. Bob meant to do this before leaving home, but just never got to around to doing it. Soooo we bought tires for the truck today. Shopped at Sam's and back to resort for Happy Hour.

Now to report (kids say "did we ask") the temperature today was a high of 84 degrees and beautiful sunny day. So enjoying the weather very much.

This is Cathedral City, CA. The mountain was so big looking down the street.

We are back in Desert Hot Springs, CA. We were here last year. Beautiful area. This area has numerous wind turbines. The area is prone for windy weather, except for today. We didn't have any wind to speak of, in fact the wind mills were hardly moving.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 -- We have arrived at our next stop at Desert Hot Springs, CA. We will be here for 12 days.

Met up with our friends Duke & Donna. Had happy hour with them and some other people. Duke & Donna are like magnets. They have met up with so many people over their travels that different ones are there for happy hour. We knew two other couple from other places we have been.

With crossed fingers I have an appointment to get my hair trimmed. It is never quite the same going to different hair dressers.

This is a very nice resort and the warmest temperatures. It is to be in the high 70's and low 80's for the next seven days. It got to 81 degress today. Very windy, but temperature was so nice. The winds are to calm down.

I guess we found a lost bird. Took this picture out our back window of the trailer. This is a Roadrunner. Looking this bird up it is the state bird of New Mexico and we are in California.

Almost to the resort. Great mountain. Our resort is on the road.

See the snow on the top of the mountain. Took this picture on our way to the new resort. After getting to the resort it is viewed from our campsite.

Monday, January 23, 2012 --- We have arrived at Indio, CA our next resort. We are only here for a couple of days. Needed a place to stay in between long term stays.

While at Winterhaven, CA we still go by Mountain Time (Arizona). With the location being so close to the State Line and every time you go to town, you go to Yuma, AZ. So this morning we got up at 7:00 a.m. Mountain Time, by the time we got on the road it was 7:01 a.m. Pacific Time Zone. So it was only 9:45 when we arrived at campground.

We drove today in a area we haven't traveled before. We'd never seen the Salton Sea. Seeing a lake in the desert is very interesting and surprising to have it so big.

We are getting cloud cover from the northwestern storms coming into Washington and Oregon. No rain and wind here, but there is cloud cover. The clouds are beginning to leave the area.

Another picture of Salton Sea. The next picture tells how this lake came to be years ago.

This is a picture of the Salton Sea, southeastern part of California. The area that is now the lake was a salt-covered sink or depression about 280 ft (85 m) below sea level until 1905 – 06, when diversion controls on the Colorado River broke below the California-Mexico border and floodwaters rushed north, filling the depression. In 1907 a line of protective levees was built to prevent further deepening of the depression. The lake has an area of 344 sq mi (890 sq km). Its surface is now about 235 ft (72 m) below sea level, and its salinity is similar to that of seawater.

In the desert and here is this body of water.

Such a beautiful mountain.

At the inspection site this dog walks around your unit, with his master. So maybe he can smell Mexicans. I know he is used to smell drugs.

Had a border inspection on our way to Indio, CA. The joke is they just motion us through, no questions. You know these big RV's could store a lot of Mexicans but no one checks.

We seen different areas that they have planted palm trees. So very pretty. Still wish I could have one in my front yard. Okay, maybe just for the summer. LOL

Saturday, January 22, 2012 -- Went into town to have lunch at Yuma Landing Bar & Grill. It was a great place to have lunch, watched the first half of the AFC Football Game. Finished the game back home. Big screen TV and many others. Was surprised to see they had a betting window for horse racing too.

We were going out for dinner, but the AFC game starts here at 4:30 and Bob wanted to be home to see the whole game.

We will be leaving in the morning for Indio, CA. This is a little to the west (about 40 miles) and then straight up north. It will take us about 2-1/2 hrs. Will be there and then move about 1/2 hr to the west for 12 days. In between these two locations is Palm Springs, CA. Palm Springs is the place that Bob Hope had is golf tournament.

Weather has been very nice. It gets cool at night, because of the clear sky's. But warms up ok by noon or so.

After the fourth time to get a good picture of the California sign, here it is. LOL LOL -- Bob stopped for me to get the picture.

This and the next picture are about the following. We had a beautiful day here. We went out to a flea market (new & used stuff). Nice day to walk around outside.

While there the winds picked up at about 3:00 p.m. This was the site on our way back to the trailer. Bob guesses the wind would have been around 40 mph. It doesn't take much for the wind to blow the sand/dust around and cause this kind of a look. We knew they had called for windy weather, but was so surprised when it started because it was so clear, sunny, and warm until 3:00 and then the wind started blowing. Today we heard on the news that Palm Springs, CA (near where we are going for the next two weeks starting tomorrow) had 90 mph. This is where the PGA Tournament was held this week. Can't imagine the winds that high, and DON'T WANT TO SEE IT EITHER.

The is another picture of them picking broccoli. But we were able to see that as they pick they box it and puts it right into the truck that runs along side of the equipment.

Thursday, January 19, 2012 -- First of all -- Happy Birthday to my sister, Carol.

Thank you Mark for this great sign at the front of our trailer. It is great. Mark made this sign from a old piece of wood from the farm with his sign machine.

We are having beautiful weather, 70's and sunny.

Yesterday they had a yard sale at your campsite. Had the afghans that I make out there on the truck tailgate. I had so many "aren't they pretty". That doesn't buy more yarn. LOL

Can you believe this is a field of celery. Next pictures shows an up close picture.

I had never thought where they grow celery. The other day we were driving around a seen this field. Wondering what it was, we returned today. I got out of the truck with my camera. Yup, celery.

We are going to the US Army Yuma Proving Grounds. This is a little north of Yuma. We will be touring the museum at this location. I didn't take any pictures inside the museum.

The next pictures were on display in an area along the roadside.

Monday, January 16, 2012 -- What a beautiful day. Bright sunny weather and suppose to get to 72 degrees. Beautiful day to celebrate our 47th Anniversary. Can't believe it has been that long. We won't ask Bob. LOL

Spending day at trailer and outside reading. Took a long walk around the resort. Our friends, Duke & Donna are leaving for their next resort. We will see them there in a little over a week. They are great friends. They live in British Columbia in the Summer. They are actually full-time Rv's.

We are going to dinner at Red Lobster tonight. Will see what else we can find to do after dinner.

Saturday, January 14, 2012 -- This picture is from our drive yesterday. This is a field of head lettuce. This is actually taken after it was picked, you can see the small still in the field. I'd like to go into some of these fields and pick the leftovers. Can you imagine the people that needs food, this would be a great way for them to get food.

We went looking at different golf courses in the area. Bob talked to one close to this campground about the cost and about me just riding (free). They don't have a problem with me just riding as long as I don't golf at all. Not a problem with my wrist I can't. I may try to put on their practice green, just to see if I can. But paying to golf and only putting is too expensive. So one of these days Bob can go golfing and I can drive him LOL LOL.

The following picture: This pot-luck dinner was arranged by Duke & Donna. We had a real nice Happy Hour followed by a pot-luck dinner. We had something like 25 people at the afternoon fun. Only problem was something happened to the sunny weather of Arizona. Plus it was windy and 66 degrees. LOL It was actually sweatshirt weather.

Had very sad news today. Bob's Aunt Annie passed away today. It is much harder than I thought it would be to lose a special person while gone so far. So thankful that we visited her before leaving Michigan. R.I.P. Aunt Annie. Will always remember the fun times we've had with you and Uncle Sammy.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 -- Everything is going fine and having a good time. We are in Winterhaven, CA, which is just across the Colorado River from Yuma, AZ. The weather has been good, temperatures are in the low 70's and sunny.

We went to the movie today, this is something we don't do much of at home. Enjoyed seeing "We Bought a Zoo". Great movie and is a true story too.

This is a picture from a distance of the workers and the equipment used for picking broccoli.

Picture of the workers picking broccoli.

This is a water tower at Yuma, AZ. They sure make them pretty here.

We seen two trucks like this one with a huge bale of cotton in the back. Good thing the bale wasn't any bigger.

Please notice the next two pictures. This is what happens when you are traveling California rolly roads. Sometime going and coming from Arizona to California I might be able to get this picture. You have to click the camera at the right time to get the picture centered. I think I have a better picture last year, maybe I should go into the blog for last year and get that one.

Monday, January 9, 2012 We made the move from Yuma, AZ to Winterhaven, CA. This was a short drive, about 25 minutes. It was so nice to have a short drive. We are here for two weeks.

We got parked right next to a couple of friends (Duke & Donna) we made three years ago. We will be with them a few days at three different resorts. They are from British Columbia, Canada. Visited for awhile when we got here and then had "Happy Hour" with them and some other couples later. They knew I had been sick and wondered how I was. I told them I felt a little weak in the afternoon. Duke said I probably didn't have enough wine in my system and he'd take care of that at Happy Hour. LOL

Temperature was in the low 70's, but very sunny.

Sunday, January 8, 2012. I have forgotten to mention that we went to see the movie "War Horse". This is a must see movie. It was excellent. Longer movie than normal, about 2-1/2 hours. Sure got your monies worth.

The theater we were in had a capacity of 419 people. This place had more people than we've seen in a theater in years. We guessed maybe 300+. I had a lady next to me that I helped during the movie --- she needed a tissue. So take a tissue with you.

Sunday, January 8, 2012 Yesterday was a quiet day. We had the trailer washed. There is a Mexican group that only charges $35.00 to wash the trailer. They do a good job. Our trailer sat outside for awhile the fall so it wasn't clean when we left home. Bob doesn't get on the roof when he washes the trailer, they did. He wishes we had these people in our area to wash the trailer.

Went out to Jessica's favorite restaurant last night. Golden Corral, this is normally a good restaurant. It is a buffet restaurant. OMG what a zoo it was last night. But we got full and that is what we went there for.

Today was terribly windy, probably more than gust of 30 mph. So didn't do much today. Watched U of M Men's basketball game and Bob watched some football play-offs.

We move tomorrow to Winterhaven, that is just across the Colorado from Yuma, AZ. We will be moving into Pacific Time Zone. But the campground there goes by Mountain time, they know must of their people shop and do things in Yuma, so they stay on the same time zone so there is less confusion.

Friday, January 6, 2012. We are in what they call the Winter Vegetable Capitol of the world. Yuma, Arizona.

We arrived here in Wednesday. I haven't had a good connection since arriving here. So today it is finally working okay for now. I am in the laundry room, seems my connection is better in this part of the resort.

The weather here is unusually warm for January. That is great news. We have had 74 - 79 degrees since we got here. Suppose to have really windy weather tomorrow. But we are staying here until Monday morning. Tomorrow we will have our trailer washed. They go around to the different resorts and campground. Only cost $35.00 to do the trailer. Seen them around last year. They do a good job.

Well I think the clothes are ready to go into the dryer.

In this part of the country they have big ditches that they fill with water from a well. The fields are big and divided into samller fields. When they need the plants watered they open the flood gates to the field. This in turn fills a 6" - 8" deep trench between each row. As you can see the water coming down these rows. The fields are all leveled with leveling equipment.

This is one of the plants, AFTER THEY PICKED. Just think of the broccoli you can pick for yourself.

January 5, 2012 -- This is the equipment that the workers walk behind to pick the produce. I will try another time to get a picture from the opposite side. Wish I could just walk out in the field and take their picture. Probably not a good idea.

This picture was taken at our resort in Yuma. Very nice place. It was 282 miles from Benson to Yuma.

Forgot to mention this picture and the other from Benson to Yuma were taken on January 4, 2012. We seen a lot of these type of cactus on our trip to Yuma. It is odd that it seems to depend on the area you are to what type of cactus you see.

These a big cotton bales in the fields. Last year we seen many of these going through Texas, didn't see any to speak of until now. The drought in Texas was probably the reason for lack of cotton bales there.