Leaving our house in capable hands we headed out on the open road again. At our first rest stop we saw our neighbors, Bob and Carolyn!

The four of us explored the tourism options of our fair state.

We stuck close to each other until they turned east at the Columbia River. We continued south to Rogue River, Oregon. It’s on of our favorite stops with a beautiful river, geese, ducks, and a couple of good restaurants.

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The second day took us through the northern half of CA. Mt. Shasta was clearer than we’ve ever seen it in the winter.

Our second night on the road was spent in Patterson, CA. The Best Western there is quite nice, but we didn’t see much else. The third day we slogged down the San Joaquin valley and into Los Angeles County, which was the longest and craziest part of the drive. There is a significant portion of the CA population who believe that cars must be operated at 85-90 miles per hour at all times regardless of speed limits, traffic, or road conditions. Signaling for lane changes or allowing safe intervals is not allowed. The object is to cut in front of cars so close that the back draft from their car sweeps the bugs from your windshield.

We arrived safe and sound in Indio. The Worldmark resort there is the largest complex in the entire chain. It has about 20 four-floor condo buildings, more swimming pools and hot tubs than I can count, a grocery store, a cafe, tennis courts, a small movie theater, a gaming arcade, and much much more. Here’s a view of it taken from a hill that we hiked behind the resort.

It had rained a good deal in January so we found flowers blooming on our walk.

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And broad vistas of the mountains that surround this desert valley.

Darkness descended quickly and I only caught this last glimpse of color.

Then it was time to play my ukulele.

Paul