October 11, 2016
Jojoba Hills RV Resort
Aguanga, CA

On Monday 10-10-16, we packed up from Escondido RV Resort and drove 7 miles west on Hwy 78 to San Marcos. The fiberglass repair and repaint job was going to be done at a RV Rental shop that was recommended by La Mesa RV, a very large local RV dealership.

We met Kevin Smith, discussed the repairs and left the RV and truck.

We headed over to Marc and Jen's where we were going to stay until the repairs were done.

The next day I called Kevin to get an idea for how long it would be and he said they had just finished and we could come pick it up.....

                                         Before

                                          After

Kevin and his guys did a great job and we were very happy.

We hooked up the RV and drove north on the 15 to Temecula and then southeast on Hwy 79 to  Jojoba Hills RV Resort. The trip was 45 miles and took a little over and hour.

Jojoba Hills is an Escapee's Club park. In fact, this park is one of 11 Co-Op parks where you can purchase a "membership" which gives you the rights to a RV site for life. This park has the highest buy in of all 11 Co-Op parks at $30k. After that you pay a monthly maintenance fee of $260. The nice part about this deal is when your done with RV'ing and want out, they give you your $30k back, not too bad.

The sites are mostly back in and very large. Many folks have built sunrooms and permanent awnings. Most sites have a great view of the surrounding mountains.

 Down the street......

Up the street.......

All sites have a concrete patio....

View from our steps...

Nice double wide parking area...

All sites have a shed....

We have a great panorama view of the valley from inside the RV...

In California they have a layer of low clouds that appear during the night, they call it a "Marine Layer"..... In Tennessee we call it fog ;>)

This is a 55+ community so all the residents are our age or older (mostly older). Everyone goes out of their way to be friendly. The residents are expected to contribute in some way to running and or maintaining the park and for most it appears to be a labor of love.

We will be staying here for 3 weeks before moving across the street to Rancho California RV Resort for the winter.

October 8, 2016
Escondido RV Resort
Escondido, CA

Today we left the desert of Barstow and headed another 150 miles down I-15 (now that we're in CA it's called "the 15") to I-215 past San Bernardino, back on the 15 south past Temecula to Escondido.

This is a very nice upscale resort. The roads are paved and the sites are concrete with very nice landscaping.

It was a little tight backing into the site but I got it on the first shot. This place is pricey because of the close proximity to San Diego, but we chose it because it is close to the repair shop. We'll only be here until Monday.

Jen, Marc, and the kids drove over to the park and got here right after we pulled into our site (15 minutes from their house). After getting the RV set up we went back to their house and visited for awhile and then went to dinner at Phil's BBQ.

We'll scope out the route to the repair shop tomorrow making sure they can accommodate a 40 foot RV, then we'll head back over to Marc and Jen's. We're excited to finally get to spend some time with them in their home turf......

October 7, 2016
Barstow KOA
Barstow, CA

We left Vegas around 9am and I can't discuss it because "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" ;>)
We drove 156 miles south on I-15 through some very barren rolling hills and valleys. We arrived at the KOA in Barstow just after noon.

This is a typical KOA with gravel everything, but nice size sites....

They have a pool and other amenities, but obviously not real attractive...

So far not too many RVs here...

In the distance you can see (and we can hear) 18 wheelers on I-15...

And those are the Calico Mountains in the distance (apparently in CA they put the name on things so they don't forget ;>) )

After we got all set up we checked our Trip Advisor App and decided to go to the #1 restaurant in Barstow, Peggy Sue's Diner.

Apparently this is a very popular place because we had to wait 20 minutes for a table. This was a very nostalgic place with 50s music, pictures covering the walls of Hollywood and recording stars from the 50s, and waitresses in 50s diner outfits.  The food was OK, not great, but this place is all about the atmosphere.

They had a 5 and dime store... with a soda bar...

...and we even spotted Elvis there.

We're just staying in Barstow over night and heading to Escondido tomorrow where we'll meet up with Marc, Jen, and the kids......

On Monday we'll be taking the RV over to a repair shop in San Marcos where they will be repairing and repainting the two small fiberglass stress fractures in the underside of the nose. Those are the ones I got from going over a high centered railroad crossing in Waveland, MS.....  won't forget that anytime soon :>).  The repairs should only take a day or two and then we head over to an Escapees park called Jojoba Hills in Aguanga, CA which is southeast of Temecula.

October 3, 2016
Lake Mead
Boulder City, NV

Today we drove 22 miles southeast of Vegas to Lake Mead.

Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the U S. However due to the years of drought the lake is way below normal.

Even so, this is a huge and beautiful lake......

There are several camping and RV areas so we decided to look at the one closest to the marina.

This is the RV park I considered staying at originally. It would have been fine but it's a long way from any stores or restaurants.
This row of RV sites overlooks the lake with a great view...

My biggest reason for coming to Lake Mead was so I could pick up my Senior Pass......

We'll be spending the rest of the week preparing for the trip, on Friday, to Barstow. Just an over night stay on the way to Escondido.

September 26, 2016
Las Vegas RV Resort
Las Vegas, NV

We have been in Vegas for 3 weeks, and endured some scorching temps (low 100s) for the first 2 weeks. During that time we did our running around before noon and then cranked the AC and covered all the windows... that was not fun. Finally the temps dropped into the 80s and it  has been quite nice since then.

We checked out the Strip and some of the local restaurants and shopping malls. We went to the Bass Pro Shop and were surprised out how nice it was. They have some beautiful and amazing animal displays that I'd not seen at any other store.

On Wednesday September 21, Julie, Devyn, and Katy flew in for a short trip. They stayed at the Excalibur. They have a nice view from their room....

Katy was happy to be staying in a castle...

We went to most of the casinos in town and did a lot of walking. 

Here's Katy asleep at The Rainforest...

The gondolas at the Venetian...

We had to visit Buddy V's Restaurant and famous Bake Shop...

Marilyn and Buddy... :>)

The waterfall inside The Venetian...

....and Katy playing in the fountain.

Then we went to the Luxor..

We toured the two exhibits they have... The Titanic where they tell you about the history, facts, the people, and even have passengers personal items, dishes, and even a large piece of the bulkhead that was recovered. Your ticket includes a boarding pass with the name and information of an actual passenger and at the end there is a passenger log and you have to check to see whether you survived, or not. It was a fantastic exhibit.
The other exhibit was called Bodies and it was all about the  human body. They had actual human bodies at all stages of development from fetus to adults, displaying bones, muscles, and organs. They showed various organs with cancer and disease, as well as a cross section of an entire body slice by slice, one was top to bottom and another was front to back. It was creepy, amazing, educational, and a little sad...something you'll never forget.

We even had some time for Katy to do a little swimming. Julie rented a great cabana next to the pool so that the "old" folks could stay out of the sun.

Katy's first time swimming on her own...

We also went the Bellagio. This is a view inside the garden....

And of course we had to see the fountains at night....

The icing on the cake was going to Mandalay Bay to see Michael Jackson: One by Cirque du Soleil. This was a concert and show all in one. It was moving and entertaining and everything you've come to expect from a Cirque du Soleil show. Thanks to Julie (who had seen this before) we had fantastic seats down front and off the aisle. Performers went up and down the aisles right next to us and overhead on wires. I think they performed every hit song and at the end everyone was on their feet dancing, singing, and having the time of their lives.... it was a great tribute.

It was another whirlwind visit with Julie and family but one we'll all remember for a long time.

Now we get to relax for several days before moving on to California......