Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Visit Continued

 

It was so nice to visit with everyone on Thanksgiving Day.  I spent time with the grandchildren that were there, especially the teenagers, the younger ones were outside playing.  The last time I saw Christopher, he was a little kid, now he is a grown young man working towards becoming a manager of a restaurant.  Svea Ails is seventeen and working on her  voice, wanting to be a singer.  She is quite good!

It was getting late and I had little sleep, so I called to make reservations at a Motel 6, where they are pet friendly, for both Sandi and myself.  I checked in and went to bed.  Sandi hit the stores with her sister and niece at midnight for Black Friday.  She got to the motel sometime after 2 am (I think).  We both slept in until around 7 or 8.  We were going to meet with Heidi and Mellissa  for lunch in Tempe at the Marketplace.  We had a great lunch and then did a bit of Christmas shopping.  DSC00645  That’s Svea Ails with the funny face.

Sandi is taking the picture.

On the way home we tried to take pictures of mountains and cactus.

       DSC00648         DSC00647             Sandi “kissing” a cactus                       and “hugging” one

        It’s been a long time since she even seen a saguaro cactus.

Saturday was breakfast at The Cracker Barrel with Mellissa and the kids before Mellissa had to go to work.  Afterwards we took the kids to Kmart to buy their Christmas presents.

I left to start back to Sacramento from there.  I decided to visit with Barbara and Katie of Me and My Dog  in Quartzsite.

IMG_0414           DSC00649

Angel’s new friend.                    Barbara and Katie in front of the Palms

We had a really nice visit.  It’s amazing how when we meet up with fellow bloggers we feel like we’ve been friends for a long time and just comfortable.  From there I made it to Palm Springs CA, where I stayed at the Red Roof Inn.  When I got up I sent an email to Rick of Rick and Paulette’s RV Travels to see if they would be open for a visit.  Unfortunately, they were one their way out to a fair.  Maybe we can meet when I go back south in a couple of months.  Since I knew that Russ and Donna of Travels in Therapy were staying at Sands RV Park too, so I swung by there just on the chance that they may be home.  Russ was there, so we had a short visit, Donna was still not feeling well, hopefully she is feeling better by  now.  Russ helped me figure out a way to go back to Sacramento without going through Los Angeles.

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                                                  One more new friend.

That’s the way I went, west on Dillon out of the Park to 62, to 247, to 18, to 395 then north to 58 and then west to 99 and finally north to Sacramento.  It was a bit longer, but definitely  a  lot easier than LA.  I also took a short detour to check out the Orange Grove RV Park just east of Bakersfield.

     DSC00651   DSC00652t

                           On the way to 62 I traveled thru  windmill farm.

It is interesting driving through the desert, the gratified rocks, long distances with nothing ,but no passing zones, mountain passes and Joshua Trees.  It wasn’t too bad until after Bakersfield when the sun started to go down and then there was more FOG all the way back to Sacramento and then avoiding several accidents, it took a bit longer to get back home.

Home by 8:30 and then to bed.  Late to be, early to rise.  Yuck!   Fortunately it won’t be for much longer.  I have some things that I have to get scheduled and switched around before I can set a date to be out of here and going south.  Time is just flying by.

Thanks for hanging in there through this long post about my trip to Phoenix.

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                         Angel just didn’t want to get out of bed at the motel.

Susan and Angel     http://whatsupwithsusanandcompany.blogspot.com/

2 comments:

  1. I the drive from Sac to Bakersfield (or any point in between) is the worst in the world. It's especially scary because some folks speed when visibility is so bad. Glad you had a good visit.

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  2. Glad you're home safe and Angel has made new friends along the way.

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