California – Wander the Country with us in our Cougar 2100rk

Discover Tucson: Your Guide to Warm Winter Getaways

February 20, 2026 by msminnie72, posted in California

Where do these “snow birds” go after the holidays to warm up? Where the Saguaro are abundant and the sunsets are breathtaking. I’m talking Tucson, AZ, but it could be anywhere in southern AZ. We like to stay in the Sonoran Desert at Desert Trails RV Park. This is a 40 plus community park with planned activities if your interested, or you can hike or bike from the park with over 120 miles of trails. The best part is that it is a quiet park with no noise pollution from planes, trains or freeways. It also has no light pollution, so you can survey the stars to your heart’s content. The park has 225 full hook-up sites and you truly can meet the friendliest people. The park started as a waterpark in the 1970’s and was converted to an RV park in 2007.

This photo is taken at the top of the hill overseeing the park. This is the best place to watch the sunsets as well.

The park is great for bird watchers as well. The park attracts well over 50 varieties of birds.

While in Tucson

Tucson is a large city with so much to do. From hiking, biking, wine tasting or just site seeing, there’s plenty to keep you busy.

We love to visit National Parks and there is a big one right in Tucson: Saguaro National Park. This park is the home to the nations largest cacti: the Saguaro. There are 2 sections, east and west of Tucson. There’s a quite a few hiking trails to see the park.

What’s the difference between a barrel and a saguaro? The barrel has fishhooks spikes.

The East side of Saguaro National Park

With most places, I like to begin at the visitor center to get the lay of the land. I’ve found that the rangers have a wealth of information and offer useful maps of the park as well. The visitor center also offers restrooms and a giftshop. If you have about 15 minutes, I would highly recommend the short film, “Voices of the Desert,” and walking around the small museum. This is also the beginning of the 8 mile Cactus Forest Loop Drive.

This was from our first year here, when we had our dog Jessie. We sure miss him on our adventures!

Inside the museum, you learn a lot about the different species of cactus.

This saguaro is only about 30 years old at roughly 5 feet.

I’m pretty sure this is the only way I am going to see a Javalina. We have been looking out for one for 4 years and have not spotted one in the wild yet.

This is as close as I want to get to a mountain lion.

Still waiting to see a black bear in the wild.

The is Javelina Rocks overlook along the Loop Drive. We climbed to the top to enjoyed the view.

The West side

Along the Bajada Loop Drive I did a short hike Signal Hill Trail because it was the best place to see petroglyphs and the view of the desert meeting the city.

So if you’re a hiker, the East side is better. I would say if you’re short on time, the west side is for you. If you’re a southwestern lover of a cactus, either park will work for you. If you’re interested in seeing the desert come to life with blooms, May is probably the best time to see that, but beware of the heat at that time of year.

History Lesson of Missions of Tucson

Everyone knows about the California mission trail, right? NO? Is that just taught in California 4th grade classes? Probably. But did you know that Arizona has missions also? I did not either. So here is the thing, from 1682-1821, the Spanish established more than two dozen missions and presidios in Southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. These were built BEFORE the California missions that were established between 1761-1823. When we were visiting, we were not able to go inside due to renovations going on but if you’re in the area, check out their website to organize a visit.https://sanxaviermission.org/

This is San Xavier in Tucson, Arizona’s oldest European structure, completed in 1797. The is still a functioning mission with church services every Saturday at 10 AM and noon as well as 5:15 on Sunday evenings. They have a school for children k-3rd grades with plans to extend up to 8th grade.

Behind the mission, you can take a short little hike around a hill and get a great view from the top of the hill.

Old Tucson

If you are interested in stepping back in time and interacting with the times of the past, Old Tucson is the place to visit. Its a historic 1939 movie studio and western- themed park. The park was built in 1939 for the 1940 film Arizona. It has been a movie studio for over 500 production including some famous one including Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Tombstone with Kurt Russel as well as the TV show, Little House on the Prairie with Michael Landon. It has gone through some challenging times over recent years. There was a major fire that destroyed 40% of the studio lot on April 24, 1995 destroying sound stages as well as memorabilia. The park was shut down in 2020 like everything else due to the COVID pandemic. The park reopened in October 2022 and has been slowly trying to get traction as a tourist destination. When we visited last year, we saw stunts shows and shootouts. Andrew even got to participate in a show. Tickets are a bit steep at $40 per person, but where else can you get such entertainment?

See the pretty blonde in the middle? That would be Andrew.

The Turquoise Trail

This was our introduction to Tucson, AZ. We first stopped at the visitor center in downtown and got a map of the city, restaurant suggestions, and a recommendation for a walking trail. We were told about the Turquoise Trail that is a 2.5 mile walking loop around the city. It is marked with a bright turquoise line on the sidewalk. You can download the trail on your phone to get more information for a small fee. It highlights several historical sites that start with the historical Presidio Museum. The museum is a recreated Spanish fort built in 1775. The highlight was the pit house for me because I read about them, but you have to see one to understand it; it is different.

Along our trail we ventured to the Historic Tucson courthouse that was built in 1929. It has remained an active courthouse. It has seen many prominent cases as well as been visited by Hollywood.

The turquoise dome is a prominent feature and one of the most recognized structures in the region including the official Pima County Logo.

The courthouse made headlines in 1934 when the Dillinger Gang was captured in Tucson. Actor Clark Gable was found quilty in this courthouse in 1954 for negligence and crashing his car into another. In 1991 Johnny Depp pleaded guilty to speeding in the courtroom.

We found an authentic Mexican restaurant along our turquoise route at about the half way point called El Minuto Cafe. This has become a favorite restaurant of ours.

University of Arizona

If you have been following us for a bit, you know that we always find ourselves on college campuses. This time we came to the University of Arizona because my husband was a huge fan of Lute Olson and wanted to see where the legend coached.

We saw this little guy trying to make a delivery on campus.

So whether you have a day, a week, or several months, Tucson has a lot to offer for everyone. There is so much history in this town and a lot of murals around town to see. I highly recommend a visit and each year we come back with the “snow birds” to stay for a bit. I hope you enjoyed our journey to Tucson, AZ. Please hit the like and subscribe button to travel around the country with us.

Family Celebrations in California: Food and Fun

June 6, 2025June 4, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California

Thanks for joining us! We are a husband-and-wife team that travels the country in our Keystone Cougar 2100 RKS, and we love to explore new places. We stopped in Sycamore, Illinois to park our 5th wheel while we flew to California for our daughter’s 21st birthday. We went to dinner in town after watching a car parade go through town. We had dinner at Pizza, Beer, Whiskey, and oh my goodness, the pizza was the best pizza that we ever had. We put our rig at Sycamore RV Park for a few days. It looks like a nice park with ponds. The older gentleman at the desk was not very nice but escorted us to our site only to tell us we didn’t do it correctly. It’s not like we were new at this. My goodness! The sites are very close and not a lot of privacy. But since we were leaving, none of this mattered to us.

This was a special for the day. I don’t remember what it is called.

We each had a shot of whiskey with our dinner.

We jumped on a plane in Chicago to California for a few days.

She enjoyed her first of many drinks with a Mimosa.

While in town, we enjoyed seeing our kids and our new granddaughter. She had gotten so big in just a few months.

After the weekend, we stayed a night in Clovis, California and had a fabulous dinner at House of JuJu. This is one of our favorite restaurants that we frequent when we are in the area.

Shrimp Tacos which are two grilled shrimp tacos served on corn tortillas topped with a cilantro-cabbage mix, fresh avocado drizzled with spicy Chipotle cilantro taco sauce. I get this every time because I can’t find tacos like these anywhere. I love them!

Betsy Ross which is a classic style house sauce, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickle. It comes with potatoes that are so good!

We met with our realtor for the final signing of selling our house, and the next morning we drove back to San Francisco. We hung out with our daughter for a few hours before we jumped on a plane back to Chicago for a red eye flight.

We stopped for gas and there was a Dunkin’ Donuts. We are not big breakfast people, but we were hungry after flying all night.

Don’t these look good? We each had one before we fell asleep and learned the ants thought they were good too! So, these yummy looking donuts went to the trash.

We got back to our fifth wheel around 7 a.m. and went to bed for a few hours. Then we hit the road.

Stayed tuned as we head to Iowa and learn about how flour was made in the 1800’s

Top Attractions in Las Vegas: A Family Guide

February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California, Las Vegas, Nevada

Hello there, thank you for joining us on our travels. The last we left off, we packed up our house and I was getting on a train to go pick up our daughter in the bay area. I spent the night with her and we caught the train and traveled to Bakersfield where Andrew was picking us up.

Bakersfield, California

We got groceries and stayed the night at the Orange Grove RV Park and Resort. click the link to read about our stay.

This time we stopped at Orange Grove RV Park and Resort in Bakersfield off of highway 58 over the Tehachapi’s.

Las Vegas

We surprised our daughter with a couple nights in Las Vegas and oh boy what a few nights it was. After we landed at Oasis RV park, we hit the pool because it was so hot, and it takes a while to cool the RV down. If you’re looking for a resort in the summer, this is definitely where everyone goes. They have an 18 hole putting green, as well as 2 pools, a kids and adult pool. They have an onsite cafe/bar as well. After we cooled down in the pool, we cleaned up and we hit the town. For more information, visit https://www.oasislasvegasrvresort.com/

Blue Man Group

Our first stop was going to the MGM hotel and saw the show of Blue Man group. The show was fun and entertaining and was about 90 minutes long. I have always wanted to see this group since we saw them on America’s Got Talent several years ago. We loved the show, and they get the audience involved in the show as well. They come up into the audience and interact with them. It is a fun show, and I think Autumn had a good time.

Other Shows in Vegas we have enjoyed

It’s so cool how they manipulate the lights

The Jabbawockeez was a great show that I took my daughter Topanga to the year before. Since she is a dancer, this was a perfect show for her to go see. They are a hip-hop dance crew that have high energy and very fun to watch. Tickets were a bit pricey but so is everything else in Vegas. The show definitely put a smile on her face.

Freemont Street

We spent the night enjoying Freemont Street. This is absolutely our favorite place to go in Vegas. Here is a tip: Circus Circus has free parking and we Ubered over to Freemont Street and back. We spent several hours over there enjoying the live music of two different bands.

While visiting Freemont Street, I would highly recommend doing the ziplining. My daughter Topanga and I did the superman zipline across the length of Freemont Street and it was exhilarating. I was a bit nervous, but I’m so glad I did this! You do need a reservation so plan in advance. Plan to pay for the experience!

We even spent a little time checking out the casinos in Freemont Street. We didn’t win anything, but fun was had by all.

Circus Circus

So since we were parking at Circus Circus, we thought we would spend a little time here. When our kids were much younger, we spent time here to keep the kids entertained with the Adventuredome and the circus acts.

We even stopped and watched a show in the Midway. Boy was it weird to go back after all these years. It is a great place to entertain the kids. For more information https://www.circuscircus.com/the-adventuredome/tickets-information/

Hoover Dam

We spent 2 full days in Las Vegas and I think Autumn had a fabulous time. Stayed tuned as we take our daughter to adventure in Utah next.

Travel Adventures: Miss California and Visalia Highlights

February 15, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California, Nevada

Welcome back to our traveling blog. If you’re new here, we are a husband and wife team that travels the country and wants to share our travels with you. Last we left we were in Gilroy for a family friend wedding. We next head to Visailia for a special event.

Miss California

If you have been following us, you know our daughter competes in the Miss America scholarship program. As Miss Culver City, she is competing for the title of Miss California. She did a fabulous job, but it wasn’t her year.

This girl is going to do great things, she just doesn’t know when or how, but she is ready.

Visalia California

So while the competion was at night, we visited the city of Visalia during the day.

https://www.tularehistoricalmuseum.org/ There is a lot of information about Tulare County here. Plan to spend a couple of hours here.

The displays were quite impressive and showed how life was.

So we had to have some fun with our oldest daughter Autumn. We asked her how to use this telephone and she was unsure. and then she wanted to sit at the old typewriter. She wasn’t quite sure what to do if you make a mistake. Modern technology is not like what we were raised with.

If you’re a big decathlete, you might be familiar with Bob Mathias. He was born in Tulare and they have a big section of the museum dedicated to him showing his awards and such. He went to the Olympics in 1948 and 1952 winning gold medals both times. At the time, he was the youngest person to win a gold medal in a track and field event.

If you have some time, I would highly recommend this museum.

Superior Dairy

If your at all familiar with the valley, you would know about Superior Dairy in Handford. This famous eatery has been open since 1929 and have delighted generations of families with mountain size sweetness. When you step inside, it’s like walking back in time to the 50’s with the soda fountain restaurant feel with pink barstools and cushions. Unfortunately, COVID killed this eatery and you have not been able to eat inside the restaurant since. They used to have sandwiches and salads as well and you could have lunch and dessert.

All these of my kids came here on the train as a 3rd grade fieldtrip. It was a great experience for them to ride the train. So we thought it was fitting to go back and visit.

We sat across the street in Courtyard square and enjoyed our ice cream.

A huge Change!

Our friends and family know that we have been living in our RV for two years. We moved out of our home in 2022. We packed everything into boxed and put everything except a few big pieces of furniture into our garage so our son and his new wife could move in. Well, this past February, our son got a transfer with his job and they were going to move our. We hadn’t decided what to do with the house, whether we wanted to sell it or rent it out. So while we were home, we decided to do some cleaning and eventually decided to put our house on the market. What this meant was to purge a lot of stuff and put a lot of stuff into storage. We rented a U-haul trailer for the weekend and and moved our life into storage units.

We had to clean things up, which meant taking all of our sons running numbers off his door and repaint his green room which he had since he was a child. As well as repaint Topanga’s childhood room which was a pink (think Pepto). Had to get some windows repaired. and cleared out our storage shed in the back yard. Needless to say, it was a lot more work than we planned. We had no idea how much stuff we had accumulated in our 20 years in this house.

Some much-needed family time and taking care of Business.

January 31, 2025February 25, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California, Fresno Area

If you’re new here, we are Andrew and Loralee Scherf. We have been wandering the country for the last two years and enjoying the sights of our beautiful country. Even with two years under our belt, we still have so much to see. Our goal was to see all the western US and we have almost accomplished that goal. Be sure to join us on our travels by hitting the subscribe button.

If you missed our last post, we were in Monterey celebrating father/daughter birthdays. We have now returned to the Central Valley to take care of some business.

We landed at Riverbend RV park which is only a short distance from our house. If you are interested in visiting Sequoia National Park, this is a great place to stay with only 38 miles to the Visitor Center.

you can walk down to the King’s River while on the property,

We occasionally have seen wildlife. This is outside our rig.

A relaxing place to see and enjoy nature.

While we were in town, we spent some time giving our house some TLC. We had some painting done to the exterior of the house and later to the interior of the house.

We took a little break and went to a fabulous Harvest Host named Big Rock Ranch for Mother’s Day. If you’re unfamiliar with Harvest Host, it is an annual fee membership that allows you to stay overnight at farms, wineries, breweries, and more with no camping fees. At this Harvest Host, the views were amazing, and the citrus smells were outstanding.

Anothony is a retired gourmet chef and fixes a great meal in his outdoor kitchen for his guests. Juanita, his partner in crime in the kitchen, was a wonderful hostess. The food was amazing! I can’t believe they cooked it all outdoors.

A petite filet mignon, baked potato and carrots.

Chicken breast Piccata baked potato and carrots

The sunset was breathtaking before dinner, and the next morning Tony gave us a bag of citrus.

Isn’t the saying “When life give you lemons, make lemonade!”

Our dinner was better than you would get at a restaurant, and it was a wonderful Mother’s Day. We would definitely go again.

Moving Day

Topanga moved out of the dorms and into an apartment with her best friends that she met in college. So, we packed up a U-Haul and hit the road.

After moving the girls into their apartment, we went to our Hotel Best Western Palm Garden Inn in Westminster. https://www.reservationcounter.com/hotels/show/61272df/best-western-westminster-inn-westminster-california/?

After settling in, we walked across the street to Sizzler and had dinner.

The prime rib was much better than the steak, it had so much flavor. The steak didn’t have much flavor.

From Los Angeles, we came back to the valley to take care of some more family business, and we headed to our son’s house to see our grandbaby. I can’t get enough of this little cutie and her dad. She is getting so big!

We stayed at one of our favorite Harvest Hosts in Hillmar; Ken, the host, is awesome! This is a dairy farm that provides milk for the cheese factory in Hillmar. We absolutely love Harvest Host because we get to meet the most amazing people along the way.

Getting out of the valley

After being in the valley for a month, we felt the need get away for a little bit. We traveled to Bakersfield as we traveled to Los Angeles again. This time we stopped at Orange Grove RV Park and Resort in Bakersfield off of highway 58 over the Tehachapi’s. https://www.orangegrovervpark.com/?

Each site has an orange tree and the smells are great. We have stayed here before and enjoyed it. When you get there, you first turn into the property and see the office. The check in is super easy.

Outside the office is a pool that we sat and put our feet in to cool off.

Beside the office, is a relaxing clubhouse with a pool table upstairs. We enjoyed a few games on a break for Andrew.

The view down below is a nice place to sit and relax.

They have a nice little dog park for your fur babies.

While we were in Bakersfield, Andrew decided to surprise me with a dinner reservation at the Buck Owens Crystal Palace. https://www.buckowens.com/ This is a country music Legendary Music Venue where legends have sung.

The Encore Steak Sandwich was very good!

Dorthy’s Favorite Filet Mignon was so very good. The meat was cooked to perfection of medium. I loved it!

The opening act was so fun, and Kelly was able to get people engaged with the music.

The main act was Stampede, a local band that performs often at the Crystal Palace. People were on the dance floor having a good time burning off the dinner that they enjoyed.

It was such a great date night!

We next headed down to Los Angeles and stayed at the fabulous Valencia Travel Village in Valencia. We have been here many times on our way to the Los Angeles area. While here, we visited the Canyon Theatre Guild in Newhall to enjoy the show The Play That Goes Wrong. Anything that can go wrong, did wrong; It was a quirky and funny play.

Miss California Send off

If you have been following us, you know that our youngest daughter is involved with the Miss America Organization. She is the current Miss Culver City and they had a nice send off for family and friend to wish the girls good luck for the Miss California Scholarship competition. We had a nice lunch at Fu’s Palace Restaurant in Los Angles https://www.fuspalacela.com/

She had a wonderful time and it was so nice to meet everyone and enjoy a good meal at the Fu’s Palace Restaurant in Los Angeles.

Next, we headed to Gilroy for a wedding for a family friend. Our family has known the groom for many years while the boys grew up. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, and we danced the night away at Eagle Ridge Golf Club.

It was so nice to spend time with my boys.

Stayed tuned as we go to Visalia and we pack up our house! If you enjoy reading about our adventures, please hit the subscribe button and travel with us.

Birthday Celebration

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California

While we were in the central valley, Andrew drove to pick up our daughter as a surprise for her birthday. Of course, as we were heading to the coast, we stopped at Casa De Fruita and spent about an hour there enjoying the sights of the stop.

For as many times as we have stopped here over the years, we didn’t know there were turtles in the lake. So we walked around the lake to enjoy the many turtles sunning on the rocks. There are even Koi fish in the pond as well.

We spent some time looking in the shops and doing some shenanigans.

Andrew and our friend Merry are obsessed with the rubber chicken and their videos. Their favorites belong to King Chicken https://www.youtube.com/@RomeroMay. They are fun to hear.

After playing at Casa, we headed to Monterey’s Cannery Row for the afternoon.

If you go, plan to park far and do a lot of walking, but with so much to see, if doesn’t feel like a lot. Because it was a birthday celebration, we had more shenanigans. We did a pirate adventure just on a spur of the moment. It was a bit pricey, but we had fun. It is a bit like the Buzz Lightyear ride in California Disney. https://canneryrow.com/experience/treasure-hunt-the-ride-is-filled-with-pirate-lore-and-fun/

The monuments of Canery Row

Best Lunch on the pier was at Fish Hopper https://www.fishhopper.com/. We wanted to have a view of the ocean, and this met that criterion.

We started with bread and drinks. I’m not the biggest fan of bread, but Wowzers, this was so good. The Cabernet Sauvignon Francis Ford Coppola was very good and refreshing.

I had the Salmon and it was soooo good with a creamy sauce. The portion was small but very filling.

Andrew had the fish and chips and he loved it.

Autumn had the filet mignon for her birthday lunch, and she said it was cooked to perfection.

She had chocolate cake with ice cream to celebrate. I will admit that we shared the dessert, and it was yummy.

It was a great meal, with great views. It was pricey, but very well worth the money spent. We were able to get a seat right away, but I would recommend having a reservation at night.

After lunch, we walked around Steinbeck Plaza and enjoyed the views.

The end of a great birthday celebration was had and we close with our birthday buddies. Fun fact, they share a birthday a day a part.

We had a surprise!

January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California, Nevada, Texas

We last left off leaving Iowa and crossed into Missouri. It was so beautiful to watch the farmland pass us by. We stopped at a Boondockers Welcome in Stewartsville, Missouri and met Ken and Robin. These are 2 of the nicest people we have ever met. We spent a couple of hours sitting on their back patio enjoying warm cider and conversation.

We spent the day driving through Kansas and stopping in Oklahoma.

We then landed in Foss, Oklahoma at the Elk City/ Clinton KOA Journey. Since we were driving all day, we didn’t get any pictures but here is the link. https://koa.com/campgrounds/elk-city/?msockid=35ab8978bb7c64d21df99c7eba876532

The next day we crossed into Texas and stayed at a Harvest Host in Canyon Texas called Bar Z Winery. Although it was very windy, this was quite a gem. While Andrew worked, I went inside and enjoyed some wine tasting. I spent a couple of hours visiting with the owner and staff and walked out with a bottle of wine.

We next traveled about an hour to Vega Texas. If you haven’t been to Vega Texas, it is a quaint little town. We intended to stay at a Harvest Host for a couple days which was a museum. They had a lot to see, and the host was happy to answer any questions.

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We walked around town and learned of the history of the area.

We also read reviews about the best bakery in town. And they were not kidding about the homemade goodies. The bakery is called Mama Jo’s and is owned by Joann Glenn Harwell. Let me tell you, we bought a small peach cobbler pie, and it was so good. So, if you’re in the area, stop in for a sweet and drink, you won’t regret it.

It was shortly after our town walk; we got a phone call from home. Our grandbaby was on the way, and we needed to hurry home. So, after trying to look at airlines flight (which were crazy expensive), we looked at train schedules (which would take too long). We decided to hit the road leaving at 3:30 in the afternoon and drive as far as we could in one day. Six hours and 300 miles later we stopped in New Mexico at Grants KOA Journey. https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=https%3a%2f%2fkoa.com%2fcampgrounds%2fgrants%2f&source=serp-local&h=LnxyQy7RyjPySFkOqrKWUViF3rDFPJEjKzis990afr8%3d&p=lw_gbt&ig=8C4F9298CD2D4DE8B921F8A067287B89&ypid=YN873x7161397907331662059

Cadillac Ranch

If you’re travelling along Interstate 40, a must do and fun thing to do is Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo Texas If we had more time, we definitely would have stopped. We were here for the first time in 2015, and we had our kids with us. We didn’t have a can of spray paint but found some on sight.

We got up super early in the morning and we were in constant contact with our son. The baby hadn’t arrived yet and we still had time to get there. We saw the sunrise over the plains of New Mexico and what a beautiful sight it was.

We traveled 831 miles in just over 15 hours. We pulled our 5th wheel into the hospital parking lot and got to see our son at 11:00. Due to visiting hours we couldn’t go up and see our sweet granddaughter till the next morning.

We then traveled to their house and stayed nearby with our 5th wheel in the event that they needed help, which they didn’t but it gave us an excuse to visit a few more times.

While staying in the area, we stayed at Oasis West RV Park in Santa Nella, it used to be a KOA but it is no longer. I wouldn’t recommend staying here unless you have to or just passing through.

If you like what you read, please hit the subscribe button and be notified when a new blog is published. Stayed tuned as we celebrate birthdays.

Home time

June 7, 2024February 18, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in California, Fresno Area

After Calico we heading home to catch up and take care of some personal family

obligations. We had some highs and lows during our month long stay in Ca. We had a relaxing few days enjoying the sunsets in the Fresno area while our Jessie enjoyed Millerton Lake.

Next we made it down to Long Beach to visit with our youngest daughter while she competes in the Miss America Organization. Thrilled to report this year she was crowned Miss Culver City and will be competing once again for the title of Miss California!

While driving in Los Angeles, we stumbled upon the Space X offices.

As we headed home we stopped at our first Cracker Barrel and had lunch. Our first experience was amazing. We were seated at a table immediately. A short minute later we placed our order and started diving into some excellent biscuits. One bite later, our lunch arrived. It was soo quick. We decided to order a Cracker Barrel Sampler plate to share and it was more food than we could finish.

If I do say so myself, the chicken was the best as well as the apples.

A few days later, we went to Chowchilla to help our son move. We stayed at The Lakes RV in Chowchilla https://thelakesrv.com/. If you like to golf, this place is great because you get Complimentary Golf for 2 people per site per night! We are not golfers but this sounds like a great deal. Unfortunately we were so busy with family in the 2 days we were there, we didn’t get any pictures.

After Chowchilla, my husband and I went different directions. He went to Fresno, while I caught the train to go to Emeryville. I got to visit my daughter and see the area where she lives.

As you can see it is cold and windy, but we took a break from the rain to walk around the area. This is a cool little park with a humpback whale play structure.

My trip was cut short and didn’t even get to stay 24 hours. I was immediately called home so my daughter and I drove 4 and a half hours home to discover that our beloved Jessie had taken a turn medically and our family had to make the difficult decision to put Jessie down. He was our beloved pet for 12 years and we loved him so much. He had some health issues and we were uncertain how he would do “on the road” He did amazing and seemed to live him best life on the road. His last 6 months, he gave us 3 health scares so we knew that this was the time. There are so many things we could say about Jessie. He was a confidant, a cuddle-buddy, and above all, a best friend to anyone and everyone. If you’ve followed our blog, you know the amazing adventures we shared with him. Our travels will never be the same without him. He was an amazing co-pilot and seeing the world through his eyes is one of the things I think we will miss the most.

A few days later, we got to celebrate our daughter in law with a baby shower for our first grandchild. Her shower was a beautiful brunch and she was showered with so much love from her friends and family.

Stayed tuned as we get back on the road as true empty nesters. We are hitting the road for Cleveland Ohio. Hit the subscribe button below to follow along with us.

Barstow, California

May 10, 2024February 18, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in Barstow, California

Last we left off, we were in the Inland Empire and now we are moving into the dessert.

We always think that Barstow is just a stopping point along our travels, but not this time. We had sometime to get back home so we took our time to get there. We spent 1 night at KOA Barstow https://koa.com/campgrounds/barstow/.

The typical A frame office that KOA is known for.

On the backside of the office they will fill your tank for you. Can you see the face? I can’t unsee it now.

The sites are nice and big and you don’t have to unhook if you’re only staying for the night.

Don’t let this picture fool you. Many people use this campground as a 1 night stop so I would suggest a reservation.

A nice game room for the kids to play at.

A nice place for the dogs to dig and play. I appreciated the cover from the sun while Jessie took his time smelling everything.

Surprise!!!

Thank goodness we did have some time because we had a surprise for us when we opened the door. We stopped in Barstow to pick up some snacks to enjoy during the super bowl. We got to the campground about an hour and a half before the super bowl was to start. I opened the door to see food all over the floor, but not just food but spaghetti sauce everywhere! It was on the side of the couch, on the walls and cabinets, and on the steps and door. I wish I had the thought “I should take a picture of this” but I only thought “I need to get this cleaned up before the game starts.” So the next hour and a half was spent scrubbing the Big Cat hoping the sauce wouldn’t stain anything. I finished just in time for the National Anthem.

Superbowl LVIII

We are not die hard football fans but we do enjoy a good game. In my opinion, the game didn’t get good until the 4th quarter and then overtime. The commercials were not all that great either. I always look forward to the Clydesdales , Budweiser and Doritos commercials . But the best one was probably State Farm, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2024/02/12/arnold-schwarzenegger-danny-devito-state-farm-commercial-ad-meter-winner/72566240007/ What was your favorite?

Calico Ghost Town

If you know me, you know I am all about ghosts but my husband is not. I was so excited to visit something “haunted”. We actually had reservations for 3 nights for a total of $130. This included going into the park as well. If you just want to go to the park it is only $8

So if you want to visit with a group, this lower level is a perfect place to bring your friends. There are restrooms and an amphitheater as well as an RV you can rent called RV Rental Experience. Visit the site at https://parks.sbcounty.gov/park/calico-ghost-town-regional-park/.

Calico was a former silver mining town formed in 1881. Silver was discovered and soon opened Silver King Mine which was the largest silver mine in California in the mid 1880’s. The mine was named after John C. King

What is really cool is that Walter Knott of the Famous Knotts Berry Farm has a connection to this place, His uncle John C. King founded the mine!

The town lasted only a few short years but in its heyday it had approximately 3,500 people and supported 3 hotels, 5 general stores, a weekly newspaper,3 hotels, a school as well as bars, boarding houses and brothels. When the price of Silver went down, the decline of Calico began. By the turn of the century, Calico was only a ghost town.

We walked into town from our campground with Jessie in tow to see the site and get a feel for everything. We took a break at the restaurant for Jessie to get a drink and relax for a few min.

Do you see the Dog Hitch behind Jessie? So cute that they think of our furry friends here.

Speaking of the restaurant, our Valentine dinner came from here. It was nothing fancy but if was fun to eat on the back patio watching the train go by. We had the restaurant to ourselves, the restaurant did close at 5 maybe because it was the off season. The food was good but nothing to write home about. It was a bit pricy, but we were there for the experience.

I did take the train ride for an additional cost of $5. It was a cute little train ride but it is not a make or break experience.

A cart that would take rocks out of the mountain.

Shopping in Calico

There are roughly 10 shops to shop in ranging from gemstone, candles, gourmet dog store and a tea/coffee shop.

I did buy specialty coffee for Andrew with 1. Kalua infused and 2.burbon infused coffee. He loved them! I did buy a hat and shirt in the Lanes General Merchant. It was a great deal of buy a shirt and get a free hat. So since I needed to get Andrew a shirt to prove he went to a “ghost town”, I got a hat for me out of the deal.

These were so cool, they were all made out of bullets! Someone is very creative!

These pies were actually candles! They looked so real, it was hard to believe that they were candles. I wonder how wonderful they smell when they are burning?

This is one of four original rammed earth adobe buildings in Calico. The building went under renovations in 1997 after the earthquake.

“There once were a number of miniatures rock cabins in the fenced yard which is why the building is called the dollhouse.” The dollhouse has gone through several tenants and is currently used as a private office.

This is a replica of the original schoolhouse of the 1880’s. It currently is under renovations.

I took a hike up the hill in Calico and had a wonderful view of the town.

At the end of the day, I took a hike up to the cemetery which was closed but was able to get a picture of the still functioning cemetery.

So whether you are passing through Barstow, believe in ghost or not, Calico is a fun afternoon, hiking up the hill and shopping in town. If you like following our adventures, hit the subscribe button to get an email for our latest post. Stay tuned as we spend some time with our kids in Ca.

San Bernardino County

April 21, 2024February 18, 2025 by msminnie72, posted in Nevada, San Bernardino

Last time we were in Yucaipa, Ca and now we are still heading inland again to avoid all the rain that California is getting slammed with.

Adelanto, Ca

Ever heard of this little town? Me either, which is why this was a perfect stay. It is located northwest of Victorville with a population of roughly 20.000 people. If you read the last post from Yucaipa, you will know that that area has and still is inhabited by the Serrano Native Americans here also.

Where to stay?

We stayed at a small park Adelanto RV Park http://www.adelantorvpark.com/. It only had 74 sites, but it was clean and well kept. We checked in at the office and had an escort to our site. Our site sat on gravel with full hookup of water, electric, and sewer. We stayed for 2 nights at $50 a night.

The views around this park were amazing with the snow capped mountains in all directions

What to do?

Go to McDonalds! Not just any McDonalds, but the very first one! We were inspired by the movie The Founder https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4276820/ staring Michael Keaton from 2016. Great movie to watch even if you can’t visit the original site.

The first McDonalds was a barbeque restaurant with a staff off 20 carhops and 25 items on the menu. In 1948 the McDonalds BBQ closed, for 2 months while they remodeled the kitchen to only cook hamburgers and fries.

McDonalds reopened on Dec. 12,1948,without any carhops, but Speedy was the official mascot, and so began merchandising as only McDonalds can do. The prices are hard to believe – 15 cents for a hamburger, and a whopping 10 cents for fries! Hey McDonalds – can you bring those prices back to California please!!! Within a year, McDonalds was producing mass quantities of hamburgers and fries and they began selling hundreds of shakes every week as well. This attracted the attention of (in my opinion) our villian, Ray Kroc. Ray had a vision for McDonalds, and along the way to making that reality, his methods changed the nature of what was a small business burger joint.

In 1953 McDonalds was demolished yet again for a better building with 2 golden arches which became the prototype for every McDonalds until 1968.

In 1962 the building was torn down again and a concerned neighbor prevented the wrecking crew from taking down the original street sign. A new building was built and housed Lopex Music Store. In 1992 the building was bought by the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera but was eventually foreclosed on.

This railing is to pay homage to the opera house.

In 1998 Albert Okura, a big fan of Mcdonalds bought the foreclosed property for $135,000 and decided to open an unofficial McDonalds museum specializing on the early years. The museum open on Dec. 12, 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the original McDonalds. The museum is open 7 days a week, is free but gladly accept donations. It’s good fun watching the reactions of others in the museum as they discover toys and memorabilia from their childhood. Spending an hour or so here really can take you back in time. For us, seeing the 70’s era brought back memories of our youth, and seeing the 90’s era allowed us a glimpse back to when our kids grew up.

If your old enough to remember the Styrofoam containers they got ’em here! And oh, what about all the rides and characters?

Remember Hamburgler or Evil Grimace? Oh what memories it was to visit. We used to have birthday parties at McDonalds and they were the best back in the day.

After visiting the McDonalds, of course we had to go to Redlands to get our McDonalds fix. While driving around we noticed the beautiful landscape. The picture is of the area in the past under a freeway overpass. Their were several pictures and difficult to capture while we were driving.

We were enjoying the beautiful area not far away was a small glass museum called the Historical Glass museum in Redlands. It is the largest collection of American-made glass west of the Mississippi River. All of the glass on display was all donated to the museum to fill the 6 rooms of the lower level.

The house was built in 1903 by Jerome Seymour a woodworker and architect. The house stayed in the family until 1977 when Seymour’s daughter Emma Cryer past away. The house was purchased by Dixie and Doc Huckabee with the intention of showcasing their glass collection. Other glass collectors joined in and they formed the Historical Glass Foundation. In 1985 after 11 years of hard work, the doors were opened to the public

Build by Jerome Seymore and still showcases the wooden doors from his planning mill and woodworking days

My favorite display was this collection of 500 cruets.

Fun Fact-Huell Howser visited this museum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfqjhhFBprE

Admission is free with a suggested $5 per person donation. They do have a gift shop on site to buy your own glass as well. If your interested in visiting, they are open on weekend from 12-4p.m. https://www.cityofredlands.org/post/historical-glass-museum

Also while in the area, we are known to visit college campuses for no reason other than just curiosity. This trip was no different and we drove around CSUSB. The school was opened in 1965 and not a very big school but the views were amazing with the snow capped mountains

On our way back, I was excited to see the town of Victorville because it was new to us. We thought about visiting the California Route 66 museum but only had 30 min. till closing and we didn’t think we could do it justice. Although we only saw a small portion of Victorville, we were not all that impressed with what we saw.

We enjoyed our stay in San Bernardino and learned a lot. Stayed tuned for our next episode, we are staying in a ghost town.