December 20, 2024 – Friday
Time to head south, this time with Daniel and Nicole in tow! The two of us went to the RV to pack up a few things and connect the tow car, while Nicole took her cats to the boarding place and Daniel finished up some stuff at the house. Nicole texted when she got to the house, where she’s leaving her car, and we drove the RV to the house to pick the two of them up about 10:30. Then we hit the road for an uneventful day except for a little rain. Arriving at Seven Feathers RV Park about 5:30, we first parked in the dry lot and went into the casino to update our club cards and get free sodas.  Across I5 we gassed up before checking into the RV park. Unfortunately, their $39 special was not good on Friday or Saturday nights so we had to pay $75 for the night. The slides were acting up so we decided to play it safe and keep them in until we get to Sun Vista. With just an electrical hook-up we had chili with pasta and tortilla chips for dinner, relaxed a bit, and turned in about 9:00.

December 21, 2024 – Saturday
We woke up to steady rain and waited until 7:45 to leave when the rain had let up and it had lightened up outside. Everyone slept well. It was a very gray day with off and on rain and fog, but improved somewhat further south into California later in the day. Dad was well caffeinated so we decided to make it a long day (so Sunday would be shorter) and ended up checking into Bear Mountain RV Park ($41.29) in Bakersfield about 7:30. After a manicotti and cheesy bread dinner we hung out until bedtime at 9:30.

December 22, 2024 – Sunday
We were on the road just before 7:00. It was mostly cloudy but dry and had started to brighten up already. The drive went smoothly the entire day, including driving through the mountains in California. We arrived at Sun Vista about 2:30 local time and spent the rest of the day settling into our home-away-from-home for about the next 3 months (10 days for Daniel and Nicole). We were able to get the slides out with a bit of coaxing. The temperature in Yuma was in the mid-70’s and sunny. Dinner tonight was pappardelle in the Instant Pot with garlic bread sticks.

December 23, 2024 – Monday
Our first full day in Yuma with warm, sunny weather. We hung out in the RV in the morning. Early afternoon we went swimming making use of the indoor pool and hot tub since the outside pool area was crowded. After three days on the RV the swim followed by showers felt wonderful. We put the hummingbird feeder up and immediately started being visited by hummingbirds in the morning and again late afternoon. Dad and Daniel finished the afternoon fixing a small water leak at the Hydrohot under the RV. After garlic butter tilapia with leftover pappardelle as a side, Nicole led us on a long walk around the park where there were lots of holiday lights and decorations to see. Her choice for the evening was to start a short TV series (9 episodes) called “The Last of Us”, which was kind of creepy but very entertaining. We had an intermission for Laurie to fix us all delicious milkshakes. By 9:15 we were all in bed.

December 24-31, 2024 – Tuesday-Tuesday
The weather has been consistently pleasant with a mix of sunny and partly cloudy days. No rain or even windy days. During the mornings we usually hung out in the RV and had breakfast. Afternoons and evenings we found a variety of fun things to do such as:

• Enjoyed the pools and hot tubs, and the showers afterwards.
• Shot pool in the pool room several times.
• Went for walks around the park.
• Played mini golf and shuffleboard.
• Watched the first season of “The Last of Us”.
• Watched the movies “Dark Water”, “Zombieland Double Tap”, and “Margin Call”.
• Lit Hanukkah candles and had chocolate gelt.
• Went to Lin’s Chinese Buffet for a wonderful dinner.
• Watched some beautiful sunsets on the patio.
• Hiked the very scenic Painted Desert Trail and visited the tank display on the Yuma Proving Grounds – about 45 minutes away.
• Laurie and Daniel had fun playing Factorio together on the computer.
• Pat and Nicole had a shopping outing to Walmart.
• Nicole baked some delicious sugar cookie bars.
• Visited Martha’s Gardens to get some tasty date shakes. (Now up to $7.50 each!)

January 1, 2024 – Wednesday
Happy New Year!  Played a few final games of pool then lit the last Hanukkah candles (so we could do them with Daniel and Nicole) before we left around 1:30 for the Palm Springs airport. It’s about a three hour drive but we gained an hour due to being on California time again. When we were near the airport we parked in a small, quiet strip-mall parking lot to have a picnic dinner of sandwiches, chips, and Nicole’s sugar cookie bars. The airport wasn’t busy at all when we dropped them off about 4:00 to await their flight which boarded at 6:20. We were sad to see them go but had a fantastic time when they were in Yuma and greatly enjoyed their company.

January 2, 2025 – March 18, 2025
The remainder of our time in Yuma was very relaxing. There was a short stretch of temperatures in the 90’s, but mostly the weather was comfortable and dry but with some windy days. We finally had some rain near the end of our stay including lightning, thunder, and strong winds. Some of the things we did during this time:

• Bike rides in the park.
• Made the 2 hour round-trip drive to Costco in El Centro, CA
• Relaxed in the sun on the patio.
• Pat finished up a cross-stitch project and started on another.
• Laurie played his Factorio computer game, comparing notes with Daniel who was also playing the game.
• Laurie did various repairs needed inside and out of the RV.
• We did some planning for our future cruises and the ports we’d be visiting.
• We made another trip to Lin’s Chinese Buffet to celebrate Pat’s birthday.
• Evenings we watched movies, and the series “Westworld” and “Humans”.
• We both did some reading. 
• On the morning of our last day Pat’s computer blue screened, sign of a major issue. (Another project for Laurie’s list of things to do when we get home!)

We originally planned to leave Yuma on March 12th but there was nasty weather in the forecast for several days throughout California and over the passes in California and Oregon including heavy rain, near hurricane winds, and heavy snow. So we stayed for another week until the weather improved.

March 19-22, 2025 – Wednesday-Saturday
We departed Sun Vista about 8:15 in the morning on March 19th, a cloudless day. Our stop for the night (about 3:15) was Buttonwillow Rest Stop where it was a little bit noisy during the night. Day two we departed about 7:30, made a stop for 35 gallons of gas (35 gallons was enough to get us to much cheaper gas in Oregon), and arrived in the early afternoon at the Rolling Hills Casino Truck Stop in Corning, CA. Day 3 was our longest driving day – departing about 7:00 and arriving at the French Prairie Rest Stop in Aurora, OR, late afternoon after contending with some heavy traffic. The weather wasn’t so nice with lots of rain and a short stretch with some very fine snow in the air. There was a little bit of snow on the ground but none on the road. We also stopped at Seven Feathers to fill up with lower priced gas. The rest stop had three sections and the middle section we parked in was very quiet overnight. Each day we stopped for lunch and then had leftovers from the fridge/freezer that we had packed in Yuma for our dinners. Finally our last day of driving! Leaving about 7:00 we had mostly dry weather with a little bit of light rain and fog. Then we ran into heavy traffic in Seattle. At last we arrived at the storage unit about 12:30. After moving everything from the RV to the car we were soon home where we were greeted by Daniel and Nicole’s smiling faces! They both helped us unpack and put things away. Daniel did a great job of taking care of the house while we were away. We visited for a bit then Nicole left so we could continue to settle in. As always, it was wonderful to be home.