November 24, 2009 – Palm Desert

I’m really impessed with the weather out here in the desert; it’s every bit as nice as in Ventura! Cool at night, but warms up in the early morning, and is just right for my morning walk. Don took me around the RV Park this morning, and we met a man who had just returned to the park after having not stayed here in a number of years, but knew quite a bit about its history. He told us that the park used to be about four times as large as it presently is, but the owners decided about four years ago to rip up most of the park and build condos. Turns out their timing was kind of bad. They wound up with a lot of unsold condos, some vacant desert land, and a much smaller RV Park, which got sold off in their bankruptcy. Don and the man found agreement on many issues, like that two slides on a motorhome was just right, more was unnecessary, and the Cummins 8.3 liter ISC engine was the best ever produced. They also concurred that gas engines in motorhomes sucked. Don also came to the conclusion that the price graduations in the park’s sites had everything to do with how far away from the train tracks the sites were; the further away, the costlier.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but the second day of a trip is always the same; Don and Geri continue to discover that they hadn’t brought stuff which was absolutely needed, they find things that they thought were working but aren’t, and they realize that most of the stuff they brought is stowed in the wrong place. So the second day is “Fix-up Day”, setting things right by reprovisioning, repairing, and restowing. I just try to get fed and exercised on time. Added to today’s schedule was the need to move next door to the site we were supposed to be on, involving some tricky maneuvering of 38 feet of motorhome, amidst trees, utility boxes and other impediments. It went pretty well, all things considered. We went to the local Sam’s Club in the afternoon, and Geri got me some chews that I’ve never encountered before. They were kind of long, and I tried to hold them upright with my paws while I worked on them, but they kept getting loose. There’s a lot to be said for opposable thumbs.

This evening Geri and I took a long walk around the Park while
Don fixed some lamb chops for dinner; I got some good plates out of it. Don and I worked on the blog, and I chided him for not getting any photos for inclusion. He vows to do better. Some TV and then bedtime. See you tomorrow!