The full Version

Happy ending the the campground story, but just before that let me tell you they it had to get worse before it got better. At least I can sit now at the comfort of my office, and post the blog from my laptop. So here is the story of the camp and the weekend and everything in between

West All the way

Friday, March 11th, 2011 – We actually followed our plan today and started moving west. The midway was just around Quartzsite, AZ so our initial thought was to stay around this area. When we got there it was still early and we had no good reason to stop right there, so we continues into CA. The only thing that I cared about was to stop before Indio as I did not want to get into Indio and the urban. When we were about 80 miles away we started looking for a place for the night.

My car is running on gold

We stopped for gas and when you enter your CC into the pump it requires you to mortgage your house, get 3 co-signer and have a credit of 801 or better. For every gallon you buy you get 2 cars free! I hope you are getting my point… $4.70 (Four United States Dollar, and sixty nine point ninety five hundredth of the dollar also known as cents or pennies). This is the price for each gallon of this hard to find unique liquid that comes out of the pump and drains your pocket and bank account in an astonishing speed of $20/min. Wow.
On the positive side – we stopped at a truck wash place. four guys scrubbed the truck and the RV soaped it and waxed it – no machine – just hand wash. And guess what? it cost $35! unbelievable! but on the good side..

Surprise in the center

Well, we did find a campground in a place called desert center. It is a small town in the long stretch between Blythe and Indio. The town has a small Café and a trailer park. That’s it. Serious! nothing more. The park is ran by a wonderful lady who just celebrated 90 years. Se is doing all by herself – from maintenance to accounting and even remodeling the park models she owns (11 of them). Unbelievable. And you want to know something else? We thought that this café would have the crappiest food. It was the only place around, and they simply don’t have competition. All the other stores around closed down. We did not feel like cooking so we went to see what they got, and we were surprised! They did not have gourmet food, but whatever we tasted was just great! Mashed potatoes and gravy made from scratch! no powder, not frozen – they peeled the potatoes. Same with the fries, and every other dish we got, Rare find even in better restaurants! So Green Acres Trailer Park and Desert Center Café were a great welcome to this state. We liked it.

Settling in

Saturday, March 12th, 2011 – We continues our trip into CA, This time we had to go into the heart of Orange County, as my kids are living in Mission Viejo, and I wanted to be as close as possible while still staying out of town. The best we could find was a park on the hills between Lake Elsinore and Mission Viejo, on Hwy 74, Ortega Hwy. The RV park is called Ortega Oaks. It did not have good reviews at all, but we though it would be better then staying in town, and decided to give it a shot.
When we arrived, the manager on duty came right out and showed us around so we could pick which site we wanted. We chose a nice big site that has its back into a stream and had nothing on the door side – so we could have open views from both the back window and the living area. The site was also just beside the Internet antenna, so that was a perfect match.
After we hooked up I tried to connect to the internet but did not have any luck. The phone reception in this area is pretty bad too. AT&T has no reception at all, and Verizon merely gets a line or two. not good! We called the office, and they answered right away. They tried to reset the router couple times but it didn’t help. We had to wait till Monday for the network guys to come and fix it up.
In the meantime I called my kids and drove into town to pick them up. My daughter (she is 15 now) was busy with friends and studies and although she was happy to see me, she chose to stay with her friends. My son could not wait to come with. He also knows that I got him a new laptop, and you had to see his face when he actually got it! a smile from ear to ear! a brand new laptop!!
Monday, March 14th, 2011 – My son and I spent all day Sunday working on his new computer, playing XBOX and talking about all those things that a dad and his teenager son are talking about. You know. stuff.Really had great time, but it passed too fast and it was time to take him back home and start the week.
The day did not start right. First – we still did not have Internet, and second – we woke up to a dry faucet. No water! Turns out that the well pump broke. Had some calls scheduled for the morning so I had to run to the office and sit there and work. At least I had something…
By the time I was back home, the Internet came back, and later on the water came back too. Now – the only thing we need to take care of, is the TV, since the “cable” TV they offer has 8 local channels. That’s it, and Patti is going crazy without Top Chef, Chopped and the Food Cannel.
So far so good – We have good site, decent Internet, and we are actually only 30-40 minutes away from town. Not too bad, considering we are in Orange County CA. Huh?