Yes....It's the Little Things..........

June 10, 2010

Quite a lazy spring I am having!  Did I say spring?  Santa Cruz is usually its most beautiful in the spring.  Yes... It is still beautiful but it has been unseasonably cold.  So I've been doing the 'little things' and it reminds me that I don't have to be on the road or in the warmth to enjoy my life. 

If you read my last blog post, you will know that I lost my beautiful redwood forest resort.  The investment I made 4+ years ago of $6,000.00 is not being honored by the new park owners  Get this!  They WILL let me stay there for $85.00 a night with a 10% discount for a few months.  It is now called the Santa Cruz Redwood RV Resort....in Felton.  Enough of that!

I digress.....I've been mostly staying with my sister and we still have lots to talk about.  She has a club house in her community and they are quite active with parties (for every reason) and  bar-b-q's  Any excuse to eat and drink (mostly sherbet punch). 

These pictures are from our St Patrick's Day Party.....corned beef and all the trimmings.

We also had a Mother's Memory Lunch for Mother's Day.  It was all about nostalgia.  I brought my satellite radio and we listened to 40's music.  Everyone reminisced about the 'olden' days~TV commercials, radio shows, songs, movie stars.  Just a bunch of old ladies (and a few men) giggling and having fun.  I was helping with the party and didn't bring my camera.

There's a great restaurant up the coast from Santa Cruz in Davenport,on Highway 1..  Great surf spot and many sharks visit that area.  The restaurant used to be called "The Davenport Cash Store".  Now it's called The Davenport Roadhouse at the Cash Store....or something like that.  That's it below.

 


My  friend, Deanna and I have been going there for almost 30 years.  We recently went back.  Not the same, of course, but lots of nostalgia.  It wasn't busy and there was only one other lady in the Roadhouse.  She wasn't alone for long.  She just had that look of an adventurer on her face.  We had a couple more cups of coffee.  She was there for old times sake as well with her memories and we were sharing quite a bit.. 

Saumya (new friend) has just moved to Eugene, Oregon and on my way to British Columbia (in a few weeks) I will be stopping to see her and we will do some more ya ya ing.  These pictures are some of the life in Davenport.

Pat and Saumya

Deanna and Saumya

Pat and Deanna

Heading South

My sister (Deanie) and I got so sick of the cold and rainy weather and I was getting itchy wheels, so we took off for a couple weeks in Phoebe McGee to find some sun and warmth.  We did!  We headed for the Mojave Desert and it was HOT!  Highest was 98 degrees and the winds were howling and the dust was blowing.  So were the many energy turban windmills.  TaZzi barked like crazy at them but we loved them.

We spent about 10 days in the beautiful and very warm areas of....

We stayed here:

We practically had it all to ourselves as many guests had left because of the heat.  Considering it was May, quite a few were there.  Deanie was in the pool and hot tub A LOT!  I was there SOME!  We ate lots of good food....fixed it ourselves and went on lots of day trips.




We had a day at Joshua Tree National Park and the weather was great that day....70's.   Our picnic was old-fashioned fun and we met some nice people, and learned a lot.

Adaptation in the desert is a miracle!  With very little water, lots of very hot sun, we may wonder... how does anything survive?  Vulnerable.... but the Mojave and Colorado deserts are home to hundreds of  species that know how to beat the heat.  

In 1936 FDR proclaimed Joshua Tree, a National Monument.  It was 1994 when it was renamed the Joshua Tree National Park.  794,000 acres of the park are protected.  Congress does some things right. 

This is where we had our picnic  There are so many areas to pull over to eat, to view, to watch wild life.  Campers, hikers, and climbers have abundant areas to stay.  We shared our watermelon with these 2 ladies from the east coast.  Deanie is busy cutting her favorite food in the whole world.

                                                                                                              

Why is my sis hiding in the RV?  A lady had just told us she had just seen 2 rattle snakes within yards and that we should watch out.  It didn't take Deanie long to get back in.  I continued taking pictures.  The lady said that the snakes were courting so I figured they wouldn't notice me

                                                                               You can see why the rock below is called Skull Rock!

                                                                      This is the picture I took while I was waiting for the snakes.

Keys View is an elevation of 5,185 feet. It was way more spectacular than my picture.  The San Andreas Fault is in the valley below.

I'm going to continue ... "Yes, it's the little things~part 2" in my next blog.  So I can have a break and you can, as well. 

~the gypsy~