Thousand Trails Palm Desert Campground Review

We stayed at another Thousand Trails RV Park in Palm Desert, CA., for 10 days.  It was a very nice park with hundreds of palm trees!  Literally!  They also had grapefruit trees and lemon trees for the picking.  :)

As with Thousand Trails parks, they have lots of amenities, like a great, heated pool, hot tub, pool tables, games, activities for the kids and play grounds.  :)

The only complaint about this campground are rules!  :)  They are a little restrictive in my opinion, but we had great company with our friends, the Harpers, and we swam everyday.  The weather was so awesome and with our new membership we stayed here for FREE!  I LOVE FREE!

This picture was just too cute not to share.  :)  The kids had NO problem sleeping with all the fun  at this campground!

Blessings,
Steph

Thanksgiving on the Road

I have so much to be thankful for this year.  I thought about making a list, but I decided that it may be a little much. (don't we all have a list?!)   :)  
Even though we have had challenges, and still do, because, that is just part of life, I can honestly say I am truly thankful.

This was our first Thanksgiving on the road, away from our family and friends, back home in Texas.  I wasn't sure how this was going to happen:

Do I buy a big turkey and try to cook it in my 5 inch convection oven?
Do I buy ALL the fixings?
Do I buy 7 different types of desserts?
Not only would it get very expensive, but the food would run us out of our little home on wheels really quick!
(there is not a whole lot of extra space, ya know?)  :)


Enter the Harper family!

The Lord not only provided a wonderful-awesome family for us to celebrate this holiday, but He also provided the campground's LODGE for us!  We had the whole place to ourselves!  We had plenty of tables and chairs, and even a big-screen t.v. to watch football!  HA!

And the food?  We had so much food, that we ate it again the next day!  Instead of turkey, we bought 4 baked, seasoned chickens at Stater Brothers, and Janet and I divided up the rest!  We also bought 3 pies!  We were not exhausted from cooking all day long, and the 'crew' loved it all!  :)

It was a Happy Thanksgiving.

"O Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever!"  Psalm 106

Blessings,
Steph

Back to California!!

When we were in Cottonwood, AZ., we met a very special family at the Thousand Trails campground and had an absolute blast.  We all connected so quickly and have SOOO much in common.  We talked about EVERYTHING; from religion and politics to parenting and simplifying life.  The kids also got along so well and had such a great time.

Well, after that week, they traveled west, to California and we traveled south to Tucson, and we thought that we would not see them again, for a very long time.  But, a couple days later, we got a Skype from them and LONG story short, we met up with them in Palm Desert, CA. for 10 more days!

This is just one blessing of living on the road.  We can literally go anywhere, anytime.  :)  We originally had plans to spend the next couple of weeks in different parts of Arizona, and Thanksgiving was going to be a little lonely, out in the middle of no where.  When Todd and I talked it over, it was only 5 hours away and we could celebrate Thanksgiving with them!  We were so excited to see them again, and the kids were thrilled.

So, flying by the seat of our pants, we went west!

 The Harper's are from Canada and also have five children.  We coordinated meals and games and movie nights, as well as, thrift-store shopping, swimming EVERYDAY, (yes, in November!), and going to the local Civil War Re-enactment.

 We also went to a local Flea Market that had rows and rows of STUFF to buy at really cheap prices!  We found socks, hats, a purse and yarn- all for under $10!  :)

 We played Sorry, General Knowledge, Skip-Bo, Lego Creation, Apples 2 Apples and many more!

The Civil War Re-enactment was FREE!  Love it!  It was in a beautiful county park and they had cannons and rifles and soldiers wearing their blue and grey.

The gun-fire was SO loud, and the cannons were a little overwhelming.  We all kept our ears covered.

Little Parker did NOT like the cannons one bit.

You could also buy from their Mercantile or observe the Blacksmith.

Here is the "Crew!"  Aren't they an adorable bunch?  :)

Yes, we had to do a silly one.  :)

Harper family, you are so dear to us!  We will miss you so much!
Looking forward to seeing you again, sooner, than later.

Blessings,
Steph

Climbing BIG Rocks!!

 While we were in Twenty-Nine Palms, CA., we were blessed to meet the Davis Family!  They are a military family; Mr. Davis has served 17 years in the Marines, and is close to retirement!  I am SO grateful for his commitment and service to our country, protecting our freedom.

He is also a talented rock climber, and took us out to Joshua Tree National Park for some lessons.  :)
In fact, we were going to leave this day, however, we decided to stay an extra day so we could visit with them, and the kids could play more.  Little did we know, that this day would hold a 'once in a lifetime' experience for my family.  :)

This is Hannah literally climbing at least 50 feet so far!  She is secured by a rope system that Mr. Davis was controlling down at the bottom!

 When she made it to the top, she was surprised how high up she was!

Coming down is ANYTHING but natural!  You have to totally trust the rope.  You climb backwards, with your feet straight in front, as if you are sitting on the ground!  UG!

 Hannah did awesome, and loved every minute of it!  She absolutely LOVES a challenge.


Now, here is six-year-old Emily!  She climbed this wall of rock with out skipping a beat!

Until, she saw how high up she was.........

After a lot of encouraging and coaxing, she was just terrified to come down.  She is usually just as brave, if not more than Hannah, but this one showed her a new fear that she was not prepared for.

 Jeremiah was just wonderful.  He climbed to where Emily was, and guided her down the wall.  She was still scared, but he helped her overcome that fear and faced it WITH her.  It was precious.

Then, it was Zach's turn!  As the sun was going down, we thought we might stop, and boy was he bummed to think that he would not get a chance.  However, Jeremiah reassured us that there was enough time, so up he went!  :)

At one point, he was really struggling to get a foothold, and then his foot got stuck!  He let a loud yell, and set his foot free.  It was so funny, because then he realized what he did, and then apologized to everyone.  :)  Too funny!

 Lastly, Tanner got his turn after he patiently let everyone go before him.  He was chomping at the bit!

 He loved the challenge, and could not wait to do it again!  :)

Early the next morning, Jeremiah, Tanner, Clayton, Todd and Zach went back to climb some more and had an awesome experience!

Thank you Davis Family for such a special time.  Not only were you SO encouraging and very hospitable, but we are grateful for your fellowship.  We sure hope to see you again soon!  (maybe on the road!)  :)

Blessings,
Steph

Joshua Tree National Park!!

 When we left Aguanga, CA., we came upon this sight driving through southern California.  How UGLY can it get?!  I mean really.  If the pioneers could see this, it would make them cry!  All in the name of 'natural' energy.....

 Acres and acres of these windmills......

But, then we arrived in Twenty-nine Palms, CA., and met up with a family we had NEVER met before!  :)  The Davis family are great friends with the Hennessey family that we met up in Moscow, Idaho, and 'heard' about our family and our travels, and offered to let us stay at their property when we decided to visit Joshua Tree.  God is SO amazing.  I love how he is putting brothers and sisters in Christ all along our path, guiding us and blessing us along the way.  It is just amazing!  Again, we had never met, however, we felt like we knew each other for years!  LOVE it!

These funny trees are Joshua trees, and we visited the National Park with the Davis' one afternoon.

There is a small museum in the visitor's center, but it was the hiking and climbing that was the most fun!

Leslee and I enjoyed talking and sharing while the kids explored filling out their Jr. Ranger books.

Another badge for the Golden Gang!  Way to go!!

Then we decided to take the kids to Jumbo Rocks in the National Park.  Too Cool!!!

I felt like we were visiting the Flintstones!  I just knew I could hear Fred yelling, "Wilma!!"  :)

We found 'Skull Rock' that was creepy and exciting.  ;)
And the kids absolutely LOVED climbing all over the place.

A little daunting for this mama, but the kids loved it!

Yes, this is Tanner trying to 'pick' Skull Rock's nose.  Nice.....

The kids climbed higher than they ever had a chance to in their lives,  and found lots of caves and cracks to explore!

We had such an awesome time with the Davis family, and had an even better experience with them the next day when their oldest son, Clayton, and Mr. Davis returned home from a trip to Alaska!

We went rock climbing!  (but that will be another post!)  :)

Blessings,

Steph

Glorious Time in Aguanga, CA. (an Escapees Park)

We are members of the Escapees RV association, and I just have to say that I am SO glad we decided to own one.  It has been a GREAT investment in our travels, and has absolutely paid for itself many times over.  Not only do they have an excellent mail-forwarding system, but they have beautiful campgrounds at amazing prices for their members.  A couple of weeks ago we stayed at the Coarsegold location, Park Sierra for half price and for the past 10 days, we have enjoyed our stay here in Aguanga at Jojoba Hills RV Park.  FOR $90!!!!  What a deal!!!  :)
Now, I know you might be thinking that old saying, "You get what you pay for."  Right?
Uh. Uh.  No way.
 This place is just gorgeous, with wonderful amenities and scheduled activities throughout the week!

 Here is a picture of our site.  It is the size of TWO!  We actually have the extra space for our van, and lots of room for the kids to play.

This is the pool and one of the hot tubs available.  The kids swam every single day!  Look at the view of the mountains in the background.  :)

 They also have a game room with 3 pool tables, a huge library with thousands of books and movies, putt-putt golf and a couple of saunas!

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday they have an icecream social.  Whoo Hoo!!!  Rootbeer Floats!!!

One afternoon, Tanner decided to try and eat a habanero pepper that they grew in the garden.......

 At first, it was a piece of cake!  :)

 And then.......the burn hit like a ton of bricks!

 It was like his mouth was on FIRE!

 It was funny.......sort of........

 Yeah.  It was painfully, funny!  He survived, but learned a valuable lesson!!  HA!


On the grounds, in the RV Park, is also an apple tree, and the kids were able to pick off a lot of fresh apples!  That is a first!  It was SO cool eating an apple you just picked.  :)


The scenery here is just beautiful.  We are on top of a hill, surrounded by mountains, so the valley is just below, and the sky is just enormous.   Gorgeous.

 The kids were SOOO excited to see this HUGE rainbow one morning.  :)

An awesome sunset that we are appreciating every evening.
The Lord is showing HIS creation to us in so many ways.  There is so much to be thankful for!  :)


Blessings,
Steph