Back in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Back up to Canada...poor Daniel, he hates the cold up here. LOL

Obviously, it is not that cold up here. These are a couple of my Ya Ya's at the spa in Parksville (just outside of Qualicum) We met here in the hottub before we all had dinner togeather.

Julie, Sue and Sylvie (who gets married to Norm in July)


All of my Ya Ya's at dinner at the resort in Parksville. I was so happy to see everyone and get caught up with all of them again. Nothing like seeing someone in person ,you know.Then just a couple of weeks ago, my friends, Joe and Julie had a 50 lb halibut that they had to get cooked up. So they invited a bunch of folks to come and bring their best recipe to cook up halibut. We put a good dent in the 50 lbs but they still had a little left over.
Dana,Rick, Julie (hostess) Bob and Anne on Julies deck where we were deep frying halibut with fish fry from the east coast. Yummy.
Vickie, Julie, and Dana still enjoying the deck. We also poached some halibut on the bbq with a asain mushroom salad dressing that was a great hit too.
Isn't the greenery lovely. This property goes down to a river where we spend some time in the summer tied up on the "pary barge" just letting the world drift by. Very relaxing and fun to be with Julie and the gang.

La Quinta, California

After leaving New Mexico and heading through Arizona and up to Las Vegas, we got a chance to relax with our friends in Vegas for awhile. It was great to see Steve and Jackie and the "gang" from LV

We also got a chance to go to La Quinta, California, where some more of our friends spend the winter. They have a lovely home with a "casita" for their guests.

This is what the views are like in the La Quinta area. It is located near Palm Springs, and it also hosts lovely golf courses and of course, El Paseo Dr is very close by...lol

The entrance to our "casita" at Bob and Sherri's house in La Quinta. It was so nice to spend the week with them. Thanks you guys...

And our nicely private bedroom....
with its own sitting area...There is also a big shower and closet with a fridge, coffee maker, tea, coffee, and peanuts for Daniel. Thanks Sherri.

The lovely pool with the waterfall from the hottub area....so pretty. Daniel and Bob spent a good amount of time installing lights for the garden and building a patio area for the bbq. It looks so nice at night.

Then, off for some golf. The boys heading out in the golf cart.

And Sherri taking a picture of my swing to help me try to golf better. Again, good advice from my friend.

Then some relaxing time on the patio. Very quite and special with the flowers in bloom.

Our friday evening outing. Bob and Sherri's friends brought the car to take us out to Palm Springs for a dinner at a restaurant that used to be Carey Grants home. That was fun. The food was awesome and the company lovely.

Roger,Nina, Daniel, and Bob enjoying some good wine that our hosts for the evening had brought for us.
Myself and Sherri enjoying the ride into Palm Springs.


We had lots of fun. Golfing, cooking,eating and enjoying good wine. Taking care of some landscaping lighting and patio work, relaxing, and playing with the cats. Thanks again Bob and Sherri.

Juarez Mexico

I thought that I had better get some updating done on the blog. After leaving Alabama we headed back south through Mississippi and then west through Louisiana, Texas (yes it does take days to get through it) and into Las Cruzes New Mexico.
The RV park was lovely...I adore the architecture of south.
Daniel eating breakfast outside with a awesome fire. They burn a wood there called Pinion wood. The aroma of the smoke is amazing...very down south smell of cowboy campfires.

Some more pretty architechure. This is heading into the mineral spa...awesome at night with the stars shining so nicely in the big sky....

One day, we hopped onto the "borderjumper" (yes it is really called that) and headed into Juarez Mexico. Now that, is a step back in time...lol. You travel over the Rio Grande and arrive in Juarez where you can "trip" around the Mexican village and check out all the stores and markets and beautiful churches. We had an awesome lunch at a restaurant (which I forgot the name of) but they made great margaritas and the food was YUMMY.
This was huge prawns wrapped in bacon and baked in the oven. Somehow, the bacon in Mexico is so good.
The central market. These are always fun to go to. Especially with Daniel as he can get the Mexicans bartering like crazy. To the point that they usually want him to work for them!!!! A beautiful pinata....how fun would that be for the kids hey? Me included.Some funny looking dolls we saw along the way...

Our great bus driver. He took us back across the Rio Grande back into the US...very freindly fella. The bridge is filled with cars, trucks, buses and a large amount of pedestrians crossing from both sides of the border...lots of folks on foot. The line up to get into the USA was huge but since we were on a tour "bus" we got to go to the front of the line...thank god. It would have been a long wait.I know that the Rio Grande sounds so BIG but this is it...at the border crossing the river has been diverted farther back west to help with irrigation of the farm lands on both sides of the border.Notice the sign, USA to the right and Mexico to the left....that is the divider. Weird hey???

It was a funny adventure....

THE MAKINGS OF A MOTORHOME

Our motorhome is built by Tiffin Motorhomes, in Red Bay, Alabama...our chasis is made from Freightliner, and our engine is a Cummins 400 hp diesel pusher (rear end engine) The body and interior are built by Tiffin and the model is an Allegro Bus. 40 feet long with four slides...

We got to tour the factory, which was very unusual as we were allowed to walk around the whole factory without much restriction. A lovely old gentlemen, named Red (82 years old) hosted the tour.

At the start of the tour you can see the "naked" beginnings of the coach. They weld a complete frame just like a house onto the running gear...

Then, they add the floor.

These are the side panels, or walls. Notice the cutouts for where the slides and window are going to be.... Before the sides or "walls" are put on, they put in the interior walls, including appliances. This is the back end of the coach, and they have installed the washer and dryer already.
And, the front end of the coach, sans windows (tee hee) And, yes, they do put in wonderful, comfy, seats that recline and have great support for long drives. Thank goodness they don't leave in the one in this pic....

Here is a completed coach without full body paint....and, they are missing the bottom cargo doors. Notice the grey panel just left of center in the pic below the small window. This is a new design for Tiffin. This is where the flat screen TV is located...it allows for more storage space in the bottom cargo area....and you dont crane your neck to watch TV outside...crazy hey. I still think that maybe we should be doing something other than watching TV when we are outside. Mind you, I have sat out and watch a show or two, so, I should't be saying anything about it...LOL

And, finally, these are the boys in "Bay 9" who took care of us for our repairs...this is a awesome place where customer service is really the bottom line...they did everything that needed to be done for us and did it with such wonderful gusto, that we were in awe.

The list of our repairs were: replace front drivers side window, repair both bedroom windows, fix dishwasher, repair keyless entry, and repair kitchen drawer. So, they did all that within 3 hours and it only cost us $123.10. Can you imaginge???? Then that night when we were washing our dishes, the washer stopped again. So, we went first thing next morning and talked with the boys in "Bay 9" and they sent some folks over the fix it. But then, when, the boys from Bay 9 came over on their break to make sure we were OK, it still wasn't fixed, so they took it their own hands to get it done right. AWESOME...

So, we had the afternoon to waste in Red Bay (there isnt alot to do in Red Bay, but that is a whole other story) so we washed the coach and noticed a scratch in the front window....and the short version of this part of the story is that after some consultation with the window repair dept., the local window repair shop (we thought they could just fill it in) and then Daniels early AM visit to the "top dog" at the window installer at the factory, we ended up with a brand new window, at NO CHARGE...lets remember that the warranty has been over for awhile now. They just felt that the scratch in the window should not have been there to begin with....

Now THAT, is customer service.

Our advice to anyone who is thinking about buying a motorhome, please seriously consider Tiffin Motorhomes. They have such a great repair and warranty center. It includes a RV park that only costs $10.00 a night and if you are there under warranty, then it is also free. And, you can call the owner of the company and talk with him directly if you want to. Where do you still find that kind of service in todays times??????????

So, needless to say, we are very happy with our coach and very happy with the service that we have had with the factory, as well as their repairs and installs.

There are a few ways to travel around New Orleans... two of the ways that we found and enjoyed were both bathed in history...
The refurbished street car that takes you into the "american" side of Canal street...

It is a lovely old thing that they brought back to life. And locals and tourists alike can enjoy the ride into the garden district.
Daniel the conductor........there are two conductor stations. One at the front and one at the back of the streetcar. So, the conductor travels up town one way and switch to the other end when travelling down......fun
Passing the other car....VROOOOOM
The interior is beautiful and they have restored seats that have a back that is on a hinge so that if you are travelling up then you flip it one way and when you are travelling down you just reverse it....cool. The other way we found was on a reconditioned steamship. (I thought of my freinds Keith and Ron Young, who maintain the old steam saw mill on Vancouver Island)

It is very hard to see but on the top middle part of the picture, there is a lady there who is playing the steam organ....the sounds of which can be heard from blocks away....cool to see and hear.
We were "rollin" on the river. The Mississippi River. How many people can say that they have been on a steamship on the Mississippi...I am a very lucky gal.
The "other" end of the steam ship...

And the end of this part....see you soon.

SOME NEW ORLEANS SCENCES

We saw so many cool things and people in Nawlin's....I have to share. A parade that appeared on Burbon street while we were enjoying some music at a blues club
Big Al Carson.....man could that man sing the blues...VERY GOOD
A "shotgun" house. Some say it is because you can open the front door and shoot a gun right through to the back door without hitting any walls. They are long and narrow. I also heard that the name comes from the African Americans that ended up here as slaves and they called them Shogun homes. I am not sure what the name meant to them but it is interesting to hear the two different versions. This home was in need of some serious repair but I thought that it bore some good history...

Some masks that you can find most places in the French Quarter.....
Free music is abundant in the streets of the French Quarter...this is the square. Someone said that the buildings in the background were the first ever "apartment" buildings in North America. Interesting...but it is so great to grab a cup of Cafe o Lait and some Beignets (french doughnuts completely drowned in icing sugar) from Cafe Dumond and listen to some free tunes....

A family celebrating the 40th birthday of their daughter...don't they look like they are having fun...
"Rooster" is a fellow who we loved. He sang blues in the Blues club on Bourbon street. We got to see him a couple of times. He really played the crowd and got everyone involved in the fun....