On to California!

After two great months in Southern Arizona, it was time to head to Southern Cal and visit with our daughter Kim and her fiance, Bill. Before we left, we managed to return to the Shake Trail at the foot of Mt. Graham for a late-day hike, and were treated to fresh bear and very, very large cat tracks on the trail. As the sun went down and dusk settled in, it was easy to pick up our pace back to the Jeep since some of the tracks weren't there on our way UP the trail. We also visited Ramsey Canyon, located near Sierra Vista and managed by the Nature Conservancy, and one of the few areas with a flowing stream during the current drought. A one point on the trail, we were surrounded by a small heard of Mule Deer, all of which Brenda wanted to take home. After one more visit with old friends Dusty and Mary Lou and Karen and Larry, we made one last visit to Pinnacle Peak and the 31-oz Porterhouse with our new friends and fellow full-timers Dennis and Ann. Leaving on Sunday morning, our first overnight stop was in utterly forgettable Tonapah, Arizona & the next night we pulled into a fairly nice riverside RV park in Needles, CA (another garden spot) to spend a few days. The next day we drove to Laughlin, NV to visit the casinos and help bolster the local economy, which we did with alarming success. No pictures, if you've seen one casino you've pretty much seen them all; Laughlin is only distinguished by its location on Colorado River and the large number of senior citizens (nothing wrong with that). Our second day we drove to Lake Havasu City, where in 1967 I visited my parents as they looked at and eventually bought property. We've visited over the years, and were disappointed to see that it has gone from a quaint town with a focus on the London Bridge area to just another sprawling desert community with too much traffic and lots of chain restaurants. On the way back, we drove through Oatman, AZ, a rebuilt mining town with lots of tourist shops and history. It's notable for the large number of "wild" burros that roam the streets begging for food. Surprisingly, Brenda didn't want to take any of them home.
We're currently parked in the Desert Willows RV Park, just outside the Los Angels basin at the base of Cajon Pass in Hesperia, CA. Not exactly scenic except for the snow covered mountains to the west. The weather has been unseasonably cool (60s) and breezy. Brenda has been spending time with Kim in the search for the perfect wedding site, and tonight they attended a taping of the "Ellen" show. I decided I'd rather baby-sit the cat and watch TV. I'm fascinated by the LA TV news programs; my favorite is "Accu-weather with Garth Kemp, brought to you in high definition!" As if there's a difference in viewing a blue-screen weather map in normal or "high definition". I'm sure my friends the weather professionals back in Dayton can appreciate the distinction, but we who are uneducated in the weather sciences pretty much don't see a difference. Now that we have the DirecTV mobile package, I'll be able to watch "Garth" and the LA stations no matter where we are!
We'll stay here until the 15th, when we'll head for Edwards AFB and see if we can get a spot at the Famcamp where we'll meet up with our friends Kirk and Sue from Dayton. After that - off to Paso Robles and wine tasting for a while. Keep in touch, we love hearing from you!