Pendleton, Pahrump & Rancho California

---

10/18/2010 to 10/25/2010: Pendleton, Oregon: After an easy drive from Wenatchee to Pendleton, we settled in at the KOA for a week of beautiful Fall weather, just perfect for watching the grandsons play football. On Friday we had pizza & presents, sort of an early Christmas. Son Todd and family are avid Minnesota Viking fans and daughter Christina and family are Green Bay Packer fans. When we were in Minnesota this summer, we bought football jerseys for everyone. Turned out to be perfect timing because the Vikings & the Packers played on Sunday, our last night in Pendleton. We all wore our jerseys, ate chilli & cornbread, and watched the game. Great fun.

10/25/2010 to 11/10/2010: Pahrump, Nevada: The weather turned wintery as we pulled out of Pendleton and headed for southern Nevada. Had a nice trip (good roads) but we encountered wind, rain, and the occasional snow flurry. It was 23 degrees in Ely on the morning of the 27th then 63 degrees when we arrived in Pahrump that afternoon. Ahhh...much better! There isn't a lot to do in Pahrump but the area has some interesting attractions. We're within easy driving distance of Death Valley to the west, Las Vegas to the east, and to the south, China Date Ranch and the almost ghost town of Shoshone, Ca. Shoshone is tiny (population 52) but just on the edge of town is Dublin Gulch, an area consisting of about 55 old pioneer graves, most of them no more than piles of rocks without markers, and many "houses" carved into the limestore cliffs. These "houses" were built by miners in the 1920's and 1930's and continued to be occupied until 1970. Some of them are quite elaborate - 2 stories, several rooms, garages, etc. All are closed off - we could just peak thru the "windows". Very interesting.

11/10/2010 to 12/01/2010: Desert Hot Springs, California: The best thing about the rv resort in DHS is the pool. The water is mineral spring water which is cooled to a comfortable level. I had daily water aerobics and Terry had daily water volleyball. We also have miles of desert hiking trails just across the highway. The worst thing about the DHS resort is the wind. It's constant and it's strong. Next time we're in the Coachella Valley, we'll stay in the Indio area.

12/01/2010 to 12/31/2010: Aguanga, California: This was our first stay in this part of California and, at first, we were very impressed with Outdoor Resorts Ranch California. The resort is beautiful but very quiet. Like dead. More than half empty. Boring. Thank goodness they have a great library! The weather was perfect the first two weeks then "the storm of the century" arrived and we were deluged for a week. We explored the area when we could, Oldtown Temecula, the many wineries, and we made one trip to San Diego to see the USS Midway, sister ship to the USS Coral Sea, the carrier Terry served on in the 1960's. We played golf in Hemet (22 miles away) at Diamond Valley Golf Club, a very nice course in a beautiful setting. One warm, sunny morning, we drove southeast to the old mining town of Julian. By the time we arrived, an hour later, the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and it was raining so hard that we walked one block, got sopping wet & very cold, got back in the car and drove home. We are very much looking forward to dry, warm Arizona!

---