As 2014 became 2015, you would have found us in a state of
anticipation. The RV was at Camping
World in Albuquerque waiting to have Bruce's little oops fixed. Once that was to be completed, it would go back
to the Freightliner dealership because the work they had done previously (check
engine light and why it comes on going up a grade) would have to be
redone. We also needed to get our car
back.
So while we waited for all the above, life went on. January birthdays were celebrated, taxes were
prepared and finished, catch-up get-together's with friends (Gina, Claire,
Vince, Dave, Dianne, Dwayne, Linda, Caleb, Doretta, Susan, Kent, Melissa,
Preston, Sandy, Kathy, Tony, Mark & Rose) were accomplished, and we waited
and waited.
Back when we had purchased our RV from Giant RV in Pomona,
California, they had given us a free three night stay at a resort in
California. It was one of those deals
where you go and listen to the “spiel,” and decide whether or not to spend your
money on a “time-share” type program. We
didn’t want to lose out on the stay at the RV park featured (Emerald Cove Resort),
so we got the RV (body was fixed but check engine light was not) and took off
for California on March 22nd.
We had decided ahead of time that we would listen to the sales pitch,
turn it down, and enjoy our three-day free stay.
Unfortunately, that dumb "check engine light"
problem became a bit of a safety hazard for us and caused Bruce a great amount
of angst. Every time we would go up a
grade (and there are several !!! between here and Earp, Ca), the light would
come on, the power would be cut to the RV, and we had to pull over to the side
of the road. Bruce would restart the
engine, and we would go another few miles until the next grade!! And that's how we limped into Emerald Cove Resort on March 23!
We had a wonderful 7 day stay because we listened to the
pitch ….. and signed on the dotted line.
That’s what I was referring to in my opening post. Was it the right thing to do? Who knows!
But it’s done, and we haven’t looked back. We get two weeks of free camping at one of
our 9 “home” parks in AZ and CA as well as free nights at all Coast to Coast
Resorts. And we pay a limited amount at
other campgrounds. There are other perks
as well.
While at Emerald Cove, we met some new friends, enjoyed a
fish fry, watched Karaoke at the Tiki bar, took a drive through the desert for
a drink at the Desert bar, saw some wild burro’s and relaxed. However, our electronic door lock quit
working so we put it on the Camping World “list.”
Emerald Cove Resort ... The beach on the CA side of the river.
The large mansions on the AZ side of the river.
One of the pools
Our free meal; nacho's, beer and ice cream!
At the Tiki Bar!
This is what you see on the ride out to the Desert Bar. It is only open from November - April.
The bridge you cross over to get to the main area.
Looks like it's ready to go!
The upper food bar and a glance at the stage where the band was setting up. They were fantastic!
The lower section with a view of the bridge above.
Lower section
The band
Kathy and Jim - our neighbors at the park. They have been full-timing for years and gave us lots of good tips.
I wanted to get a picture before we started eating and forgot. This was the Nacho Plate for 4! (And to be honest, I went up to some strangers and asked if I could take a picture of their dish since we had consumed all of ours! They laughed!)
Another shot of the area.
Bruce had made an appointment at a Freightliner dealership in Tolleson, AZ (outside of Phoenix) to have them look at the “check engine light” issue. I had read glowing reviews for this place online, and we decided to give them a stab at the issue. They had it fixed within a day and a half and provided electricity, water, and a spot to stay while they were fixing it. And it all fell under warranty! Better yet!! (For the men in the audience that are wondering what happened ….. A relief valve in the diesel tank that wasn’t working properly caused a vacuum in the tank so the engine wasn’t getting enough fuel going up a grade; they replaced the valve.)
Heading east to Phoenix, stopped at Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah, AZ. Nice place to spend the night and a beautiful sunset.
Watching TV outside.
Bird of Paradise outside of the Freightliner dealership in Tolleson, AZ.
Beautiful plants!
Fantastic service at Freightliner dealership in Tolleson, AZ
We decided to go to Pismo Beach, California to see the 10th home park on our contracted plan; this one does not accommodate RV’s but has cabins (free to us for one week) and is steps from the beach. And since we were going to be in CA, and probably not return to the west until 2016, we decided to see Julie and family. They had not seen the new RV, and spending quality time with the grand-kids is always tops on my list of things to do!
Our first stop: Desert Palms Mobile Home and RV Park, Bakersfield, CA
On the road to the ocean!
See that road down there? That's where we were! And no guard rail!
You can see far, far, away!
I bet if this chair could talk, it would tell us quite a story!!!
Our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.
These are the cabins we will be staying in once a year - free - for a week. And our kids can also use our membership and pay a very low fee per week.
This is what I plan to be doing while I am there!!
The beginning of a beautiful sunset.
It was so cool to watch all the ATV's, cars, trucks and even campers driving out onto the beach. I think they can camp on it for free, too.
Just kept getting prettier,
And prettier,
And prettier! The finale!
Maybe on the next trip!!
Enjoying the beach.
After several days at the beach, we headed north on route 101.
Presenting Natalie Estelle (7), Amanda Marie (7) and William Alexander (5) acting goofy, glued to their computers, and just having fun!
Natalie
Amanda
Will
Bill, the cook. He never, ever, lets me help! Talk about being pampered. (And if you look closely, you can see his bluetooth thing in his ear so he can multi-task while he works at home!) Unfortunately no pictures of Julie this time since she was busy working!!
Funny Face Selfie
We had a great time with Julie and family! They all headed back to school and work and we started for Albuquerque. We did a lot of "one night" stops on the way home. It's not the most fun since you don't get a chance to sight-see or anything. We pull in, plug in, hook up water, sometimes sewer, cook dinner, shower, and go to bed! It's still fun, though.
Desert Hot Springs, CA
On the way to Flagstaff
Yup, we're going the right way!
OK RV Resort in Holbrook, AZ
As you can see by the pictures and video, we had a wonderful
time making more friends as we went and seeing great places.
We arrived home April 11th in time to meet
friends for lunch. The original plan was
to get the door lock repaired at Camping World in ABQ, see our doctors for
physicals, get the house ready in case we have a renter, and prepare to depart
NM for New York, arriving by May 1st. Well, things didn’t quite go as planned. Do they ever?
Bruce decided to visit his brother and wife up in Idaho and
was gone about a week. We are not
allowed to park the RV at our house in the gated over 55 community we live in,
so we were parked in one of our “free” campgrounds in the mountains east of the
city (Tijeras). (I was NOT going to
unpack the RV again, take it into our home, put the RV into storage just to
take it all out in a week or so and start the process again. This is one of the downfalls when you go home. You need your stuff to live at home but then
it has to go back into the RV.) I went
back and forth from Tijeras to Los Lunas to continue emptying our house of any
of our personal possessions in anticipation of a renter, do laundry and watch a little television since the reception wasn't the best in the mountains. While gone, Bruce received a summons for jury duty in the mail which
he was able to get out of (you get a one time exemption), lost his license (on his flight home – but got a
temporary), we upgraded to new phones (uh, oh, learning curve !), I got a really
short haircut, Zoey got groomed, and Camping World did NOT get the door
fixed. We said “enough already” and took off from NM on April 30th
headed for Byron, New York and Southwoods
RV Resort where we had stayed last year.
Tijeras, NM It got down to 36 degrees one night!
The moon over our RV
Places we stayed on our journey home to Albuquerque/Los Lunas:
{Free *} = small resort fee or electric fee, etc. Usually
less than $5.00
PA: Passport America
GNS: Good Neighbor Sam If you are interested in hearing more about our "free" deal we signed up for with Colorado River Adventures, let us know. As with any of these types of deals, we would get some sort of credit by passing on names/you signing up. Also, if you're real nice to us, we can have guests at our 10 parks for $10.00 per night. You don't have to have an RV either; there are cabins at most of the parks!
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