Land of the Shopping Mall

Yea!   We have actually left Yuma, AZ and are in California – land of the shopping mall!  When we went to San Diego last weekend we left our home – at home in Yuma.  Now we have hitched up and gone and left Arizona behind us.  We are sitting in a Carefree RV Resort in Indio, CA.  One of Indio's claims to fame is 350 sunny days a year.  I don’t know about the rest of the year but today is sunny and hot – just like Yuma.  Big difference is that there is major shopping everywhere!

View from the Back

 We had a very uneventful 3 hour drive getting here this morning and since we were up at the crack of dawn, we got here at 10:30 am!  My kind of day!  I had mapped this place out and even drew myself a little map….I am the navigator, you see.  So, I said to Kirby, “I think this next turn might be ours” and by the time I said it and it all registered, we had missed it.  Not such a big deal in a car…bigger deal with a fifth wheel.  So we went past it and made a right turn to just go around the block and come back.  Kirby asked me if Shields Street went through and I said, yes, I had seen it on the main street so he turned and WAM!  It was not a through street.  Dead END!  There was a wash in front of us with barricades and we could see the street continue after the wash.  Only thing we could do was turn into a medical building parking lot and hope for the best.  Well, we only ran over a couple of curbs as we (Kirby really) negotiated the parking lot and got back out on the street we started on! He did not hit one care!!  Way to go, Kirby!

We checked into the RV park and I took Jake for a walk to check the place out.  There are not too many regular spaces.  Most of the spaces are filled with permanent little old mobile homes or “Park Models”.  But there was grass and a dog run so Jake was delighted!  “GRASS!” he exclaimed! There are two pools and on the board in the office they list about 200 winter activities - something for everyone!  A busy place filled with old people - that's us!

Then we headed out for fuel and just a little exploring – of the malls!   Really, all I wanted was some fresh lettuce but with all the traffic lights and a couple of wrong turns, it took a lot of time.  To my delight we happened upon a “Sprouts” store.  I had never heard of it but knew by the name that I wanted to check it out.  I was so surprised when I walked in and recognized the old “Henry’s” that we used to shop at in San Diego.  Loved that store.  Good prices on all things fresh and many bulk items too.  We had fun and bought just a little more besides the lettuce….like the Ginger Snaps we had been remembering a few days ago, and - there they were – same ones!

On the way around the block I had seen a Date Shake store and just had to go have myself a Date Shake.  We used to get them from a little shack on Coast Highway in Newport Beach years and years ago.  This store was full of dates of all kinds and the usual souvenirs and junk and the shake was delicious!!  I am on a sugar high right now!

 So now we are back home in our RV and settled in to enjoy the remainder of our day.  Tomorrow we will head off across the LA Basin and up over the Grapevine (for those of you who have been to Southern California and know where that is).  We will stop near the top and meet up with our friends, Heather and Jim, from Ventura.   Then the party will begin!