December 1st or so...

We drove over the hill to San Diego. We spent a few days at Nana's.  Had a rousing game night at John's.  Saturday, we had the family Thanksgiving dinner.  Too much food, but it was all great. 

That night, after everybody else went home, Seth and Gabriel stayed around and we played Magic with them.   Great kids.

On the third, my sister had yet another birthday, so Happy Birthday to her. 

The weather was bad this weekend.  San Diego got a lot of rain.  None fell in the desert.  After all was done, we drove home and got settled in.  Laurie had work and then we got our rain.  Everything became a mess out here.

I walked around the park the day before and took pictures mostly in areas I hadn't gone to before..  Then I took some in between the two big showers we had. The golf course was really green and the lighting due to the rain clouds was great.

Canyon between the park and the New River. I-8 in the distance.

Helicopters

The pond from the west end

Historic farm equipment on display

The New River

Quack

There used to be a bridge here.

Storm clouds

Morning rainbow

November 17th - or so. Transition south.

Yeah, we fell off the earth.  It's been a crazy month.  Now that we are settle  in SoCal, things should start happening for us again. 

Just before we left Eureka, we made a final night at Humbolt Cider Co. There was a night of live jazz with a gentleman who came in and stood in the upstairs balcony and played some cool jazz on a sax with recorded background.  It was pretty good. 

Laurie finished her final shift and then we packed up and closed the camper.  Back on the road.  We pretty much drove straight through.  The two big fires were in areas we didn't have to go near.  The one in the north was way off to the east, and we didn't go anywhere near Malibu.  There was a lot of haze in the air where ever we went, though. 

The contrast in driving conditions between driving through a forest, over mountains, and semi-arid deserts was something.  I chuckled when I drove through the Angeles National Forest that consisted of scrub brush and a few scattered short trees after being up in the Redwood National Forest.

Driving down through the San Joaquin Valley, I noticed a lot of farmland that was just not being used.  Worse, a lot of the orchards and vineyards seemed sick and under watered.  This is the result partially of drought, and partially of State Government taking water away from the valley due to concerns over an endangered small fish that gets caught in the canal filters.  As we drove through Kern county, there were many protest signs declaring "Farming is not wasting water" and blaming the State politicians of mismanagement of resources. Sad.

We got down to El Centro and Rio Bend in the evening.  A security guy put us in a short time pull-through until we could settle up with the office in the morning.  The owners put in new managers and changed a bunch of rules and tossed out all workamper contracts from last year.  Because we couldn't reconcile there offers with her work schedule, we decided I wouldn't work and we got our preferred site and got moved in.

Here we are.  We participated in bingo one night and attended the park's Thanksgiving dinner.  We were also able to have our first Magic the Gathering night in San Diego.  I found out that there are four new geocaches in the immediate area. That should be fun.

There should be a lot more to come.

Jazz at Humbolt Cider Co

Her final night at work

Some random final shots of Eureka

A cool old car project found at BNS

April 1 to 11 - Rio Bend last gasp

A final great sunset at the park.  My final shift in the cafe. Laurie does her last delivery.  Pack it up, close it up, hook it up, and move it out.  The park as a whole is clearing out.  They'll still be open, and some live in the oven all summer.  Not me, though, I have to worry that the Dakotas are still hanging onto winter.

We left and went to spend a night or two in Santee Lakes before heading out to North Dakota. The is to go home more leisurely then usual.

So, a last sunset, and a couple of pictures from scenic Seeley. California.

March 28th - Karaoke

As the season winds down, we got in one last night of karaoke at the Portico with our musical host, Keith.  Down in the riverbed, a hot spot flared up but was put down quickly enough.  A number of Laurie's friends came by to spend the evening.  We thought it was going to be cold and windy, but it was pretty nice.

A couple of shots showing the burn areas

She went swimming and had to retrieve her credit cards from the bottom

March 25th - The Rio Bend Fire

The grounds here at Rio Bend are bordered on the south by a lagoon, and on the west by the New River.  This night, a fire broke out in the brush along the river.  It spread very quickly, and soon we were evacuated due to the high winds and flying embers. 

Thanks to the quick work by local fire agencies, the fire was contained and put out with no damage to the park except a couple of trees on the golf course due to embers.  At one point, the fire managed to get either under the water passage under Drew Road, or it just jumped because of the winds.

We got a room at the Quality Inn down the highway along with two of Laurie's nurse friends and their roommates.  We were able to return home the next morning.  Very exciting.

I only got a couple of pictures at the time, but I might be able to get some more and post them later.

March 24th - The Luau

It's the end of the season at Rio Bend, and they threw a big Luau for the residents.  They had a band that was pretty good.  The cafe catered a full dinner of chicken, tri-tip and lots of deserts.

Another great sunrise

Tickets for the soiree

Party goers.