Retirement Dreams: February 2015

Bob and I just returned from a wonderful visit in Fallbrook, CA with my son Jeff, his wife Marlene and my grandson Chase. Fallbrook is only about an hour and 45 minutes away from our campsite here at the Sands RV Resort. As an extra treat I also got to see my grandson Greg and his fiance Andi, both of whom are in the Navy, and are now in San Diego. Greg took us on a tour of his ship the USS Essex, which is a an amphibious assault carrier. It was a bit rough on Bob, since we had to go up so many flights of steps to get to the bridge, but he persevered, and it was well worth it!

On Sunday we toured the wineries at Temecula after doing an olive oil tasting. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures since it was a rainy day out. It was lots of fun though, and we came home with a couple of good bottles of wine from the South Coast Winery as well as some tasty basil olive oil and pomegranate vinegar from the Temecula Olive Oil Company. What a great weekend!

Well, we finally made it to California for our winter trip, but it certainly wasn't easy. When we left New Jersey on December 27th Bob had a slight cough and thought he was coming down with something. By the next day he had full blown bronchitis and was wheezing horribly. I was coughing as well. We decided to change our plans and stay in South Carolina an extra day so that we could see a doctor. We were both on antibiotics, but neither one of us seemed to be getting much better. I helped out with the driving for the first time, which gave poor Bob a break - he was so sick! We continued on to a campground outside of Tallahassee for one night, then pulled into the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis MS. Our New Years Eve celebration was a pretty sad affair, but we tried to make the best of it. Bob was getting NO sleep since he was wheezing so heavily. On New Years day we figured it was time for him to go to the hospital. There's a large hospital in nearby Gulf Port, so we figured that was the safest place. The doctor in the emergency room thought that it was best that Bob be admitted because of his heart condition (he has a defibrillator/pacemaker because of a low ejection fraction). After receiving multiple breathing treatments for two days Bob was released. He seemed to be doing OK so we continued on. It was a rough trip the rest of the way due to freezing cold temperatures all across Texas and New Mexico. We finally arrived in Mesa AZ and stayed at Viewpoint RV Park for a week. My youngest son lives in Gilbert, so we enjoyed visiting with him and his family during the week. We took a day trip and drove on the Apache Trail into the Superstition Mountains, and it was as beautiful as we remembered it from our trip in 2010.

View from an outlook on the Apache Trail

Canyon Lake

We arrived on January 18th at Sands RV and Golf Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA. We're going to be here for two months, and we couldn't be happier!

We love this park and we really love the weather in this part of the country. We had a couple of rainy days, but for the most part it's been sunny and in the mid to high 70's. This week it's been in the 80's, which is just fine with us. Time for golf, the swimming pool and hot tub!

The Golf Course at Sands RV and Golf Resort

We played golf once so far on the 9 hole executive course. We're going to try to play at least once a week. It's a great little course which is perfect for us to try to get our game back since we haven't played for almost two years.

Heated pool at Sands RV and Golf Resort

As far as the pool and hot tubs are concerned, we've been enjoying them nearly every day! There's a gym in the building behind the hot tubs that we've been working out in. Perfect!

Hut tubs at Sands RV and Golf Resort

Our campsite has plenty of room, and best of all we have lots of privacy. All of the sites here have hedges bordering each side, and our site has a great view of the mountains.

Campsite 142 at Sands RV and Golf Resort

Bob enjoying the perfect weather!

View from the back of our campsite at Sands RV and Golf Resort

We've seen some of the sights around here, but we need to do some more exploring. Here's what we've done so far:

Joshua Tree National Park is only about 45 miles from here, so we spent a day revisiting it. I love this park - it has its on special beauty.

Joshua Tree National Park

View of Big Bear Mountain from Joshua Tree National Park

We took a walk down the Butler-Abrams Trail which starts from Michale F. Wolfson Park in Rancho Mirage. The walk borders the Whitewater Wash, and then runs along the Morningside Country Club.

Michale F. Wolfson Park, Rancho Mirage

Butler Abrams Trail

Butler Abrams Trail in Rancho Mirage

Another interesting side trip we took was to Whitewater Preserve. The preserve includes a trout farm and some nice hiking trails. We walked around the paved trail, and enjoyed a lunch by the trout pond.