April 29 - May 3: Colorado River Adventure - Emerald Cove

From Joshua Tree NP, we headed to the Colorado River near Parker, to stay at Emerald Cove. This was our first use of the Coast to Coast membership ($15/nt to stay at this associated resort), and though the park had a great location, we were disappointed to be treated as 3rd class citizens. Only CRA members could stay on the waterfront; Coast to Coast members were confined to the 4th row back, in what was essentially a big gravel parking lot. The waterfront was nice and our deck would have been quite comfortable there, but periodically a big wind would turn the beach into a swirling vortex of sand and dirt. The pools and hot tubs were divided by a bar / restaurant which ran down the middle, and one pool / hot tub was shaded while the other was sunny; it was a very nice setup, and and the service was friendly. The park had two golf courses (one mini, one regular size) and we had fun playing miniature golf on their excellent and very well-maintained little course. They had WIFI but it did not work in our RV; had to go up to the clubhouse.

One day we took our little Zodiak up the river towards Parker Dam, but only made it about 2 miles upstream and that poor little electric motor was done in (too much current and wind to fight). So we ended up driving up to the dam the next day. Parker dam is deepest dam in the world; 3/4 of the dam is below the original riverbed.

It was great timing to be there, as we were able to meet up with a good friend from Capital, Michelle, who just happened to be in the park right next door to us! We had dinner with Michelle one evening, and then she was gracious enough to invite us out on their boat. So we had a great time cruising the Parker Strip in their Bayliner with Michelle and her brother Jerry. We cruised the entire strip and stopped for lunch at Roadrunners (good food, cheap).

April 27 - 28: Joshua Tree Blooms - Spring in JTNP can't be missed!

First up - Joshua Tree National Park in the spring

Our first stop this trip was Joshua Tree National Park. We had visited a few times thoughout the winter, tent camping recently at White Tank Campground. This time, we stayed 2 nights at Cottonwood campground, the first campground upon entering the park from the south (I10 freeway).  It was still cool but warming up, covered in beautiful spring blooms, and the best hiking we've done in quite a while. This is a fantastic place to visit in spring. We did the Mastadon Peak trail and enjoyed a view all the way to Salton Sea (had no idea you could see it from up here). At night, it was so quiet it was surreal. Unlike at White Tank, we did not hear any coyotes, and the wind was calm. We did find a Horny Toad (aka, Desert Horned Lizard). Fortunately, he was friendly and did not squirt blood from his eyeballs as legend would have it.

Lori and Sami came up to visit in the afternoon. First thing Sami says is, "let's go swimming!" She must have thought we'd packed up the Sky Valley pools and brought them along, of course! If we could find a way to bring along a hot tub, we would. 

Goodbye to Sky Valley - Desert Hot Springs

We're finally off on the road again after 5 months at Sky Valley. The resort was a very nice park; the 4 pools and 9 hot tubs (all from mineral springs) are fabulous and we miss them already! It was far off the beaten path (about 15 miles from town and groceries, etc.) and consequently was very quiet; frequently at night, we would hear coyotes yipping as they roamed the desert. We had terrific neighbors and a fantastic sunset view across the valley to Mt San Jacinto. Throughout the winter, the air was clean and clear, the weather warm (and windy!); really can't ask for a better place (weather wise) to spend winter. Now in April it began picking up that smoggy haze as it warms up, and the park becomes a ghost town as all the snowbirds head north, including us!