Chapter 44 Escapees' Rally- The Alberta Roamers

The Alberta Roamers' annual visit to the wonderful Organ Stop Pizza was very enjoyable. The huge wurlitzer and its symphonic stops delighted and thrilled all the listeners; the pizza, although quite good, is secondary to the wonderful sounds of this beautifully restored instrument. Organ Stop's Mighty Wurlitzer is one of the largest and finest theatre organs in the world today. Its nearly 6000 pipes, numerous percussions, and countless traps are masterfully presented by The Musical Staff who are world class musicians.

Two tours were planned and we chose the one to the Queen Creek Olive Mill. Twenty-five acres of olive trees produce and sustain an olive oil business, just outside Mesa AZ. The olive fruit ripens and is harvested in November and December; cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil is produced within a few hours of picking. The Queen Creek Olive Mill is a family owned company that grows and presses olives for the production of high quality extra virgin olive oil from farm to table. The farming practices and the products offered exemplify dedication to the environment by using solar and no pesticides. Queen Creek is the only olive mill in Arizona. An interesting tour! Because we now know how black olives become "black", we will not eat another!

As usual, the sunsets at Usery Mountain Recreational Park in Mesa are gorgeous. Does this remind you of the Arizona licence plate? Peace and quiet, wonderful friends, terrific food (we Roamers love to eat and eat well, we do), fun geo-caching and hiking, lots of crafts, a competitive baseball game (Bill scored the tie-breaker, a homerun, but it was Spring training!) and sharing stories by the campfire, made for a wonderful week. Bill and I have volunteered to help organize the rally for 2012. Fun!

On to Yuma

Our trip to Yuma via Anza Borrego State Park and the Slabs was very warm and uneventful. We installed an inverter at the Slabs so that we can boondock for a short time and then moved on to Pilot Knob in Winterhaven CA, just west of Yuma. Here the temps became very warm to hot, but we cannot complain. "Midnight at the Oasis" was a great event...over 1000 classic cars paraded into Yuma and set up in the park...what a sight! The ocotillo cactus were in full bloom with their feathery poker orange tips, a harbinger of more desert cactus blooms to come.

Bill is carefully inspecting this '56 T-bird for our friend, Blair as well as this hot-rod, a dream of his. This brought back memories of cars our parents drove, ones in which we began our driving experiences and former vehicles we have owned. WOW! They sure were pretty! It is really something to see them parade down the street all "spit and polished", ready for show! A lot of work and a lot of money!

Unknown to us, Bill's sister and hubby were also in Yuma. They were supposed to meet us in Jojoba in February, but due to travel delays, they postponed a California visit. We were very happy to see them and they us, with the promise to meet in Gold Canyon for a week or two in mid March. A visit to Casa Grande before we arrived at the Chapter 44 Rally March 13th followed Yuma.

The Elfin Forest and Lake Hodges Overlook

Billie Outlaw in the red hat, leader of our hikes, is checking the maps for our 6+ mile hike in the Elfin Forest, back to the Lake Hodges overlook. We crossed a rippling stream that evidenced a recent flood, circumvented the large dammed Olivenhein Reservoir and climbed a long grade to the overlook of three lakes, one of which is Lake Hodges. Many mountainous wildflowers greeted us as we trekked the rugged hillside; Chuparosa, Desert Lupine, Poppies and Primroses dotted the sides of the trail. Mountain biking is a favourite sport on this trail, so we needed to beware of them in front and behind us.

It is truly amazing that some of these fragile looking flowers, in this case the Desert Lupine, can survive in so little earth, mostly sand, with so little water. It doesn't take much of a rainfall and warmer temps to bring out the blooms. Yes, and it keeps the bees busy as they visit blooms and pollinate as they go. Love the colours in so many unexpected places.


Hidden, curled and in strike position is a small rattlesnake! If you look very closely, hidden deeply in the foliage of the upper third on the left side, framed by twigs and toward the centre, you may be able to see his brown-black looking body...he is rather well camouflaged, but he is the first I have seen, ever! This is as close as I want to get to a yet hibernating? rattlesnake! It may be just my eyes, but can you see a gold coloured "R" on his side????

Jojoba Hills and Aguanga

The month of February we will be located at Jojoba Hills Escapee Resort, our favourite place to be in California. It is located about 17 miles east of Temecula; driving distance to San Diego, south, or Los Angeles, west, is about an hour and a half. This is another of those parks that is nestled in the mountainous desert on windy 79 away from the busy nearby cities. The air is fresh, the sky is bright blue, the mountains have a skiff of snow on top and at night one can hear owls hooting and coyotes yipping in the pitch dark! Love it!

The sunsets are glorious! Usually nightly, the setting sun in its splendour of reds and pinks reflects its beauty on the fluffy clouds above! There is so much to do here and the SKPs as they are called are such a friendly lot! Hiking, playing cards, crafts, especially quilting and pickleball are some of our favourites.


This is our hike to the Aguanga Falls; all 24 of us set out from the resort to the nearby falls on a 3 mile hike; this is probably the largest group of hikers ever! A pretty little falls that we are told flows all year round...interesting as this is the desert! Most of the hike is through a sand wash where every few hundred yards a small stream will appear on the sand, only to go underground a few feet later. Following this view, we hiked back to the Outdoor Resort which is across the highway to view the radio operated planes that some of the residents own and fly. Gliders, biplanes and gas operated planes "buzzed" this little man-made "airport".

The little "metropolis" of Aguanga consists of this general store and the nearby Post Office. This is a good place to go for basics of bread and milk when the 17 mile trip to Temecula is not warranted. The Mexican owner posed for us and was delighted to see us as we hiked back to Jojoba. We love it in this resort area so much that we have placed our names on the waiting list (3-5 years) for a permanent site when we are ready to "settle" and no longer travelling.

Ramona Canyon

Loved this place! About 4 miles out of Ramona on the way to Santa Ysabel, nestled in a narrow canyon along the curving and windy 78, Ramona Canyon Resort can be found. We stayed here for two weeks, but it could have been much longer. Deposits of tourmaline, mostly black, can be found on the hillside and twice weekly a volunteer takes hikers on a gem hunt. The bikers in the area love the road as it heads to the once-mined and scenic town of Julian; the road twists and turns and changes elevation and bikers can be heard for miles as they wend their way up the canyon.

New poles are being erected at nearby Santa Ysabel. As we enjoyed our Julian Apple Pie at the factory, we watched this helicopter transport poles and large buckets of cement "down the line" and then come back for more. While hovering overhead, it would lower the towline into the maintenance yard at Santa Ysabel, be loaded and then off it would go. Quite an operation! By the way, the apple pie was wonderful too...just like my mom used to make!

Feeding the Visitors

During our stay at Pio Pico, a park near Chula Vista due east of San Diego, these colourful visitors delighted in the feeder that was suction-cupped to the passenger window of the motorhome. Five and six at a time would try to perch or "fight" each other, jockeying for a position on the two available perches. Some days, food was added twice in a day...hummers were numerous in this location.
We stayed in this park for two weeks with electric and water only, so Bill made a trip with the motorhome to the "dump" station, a week into our stay. While he was doing this, I held the feeder in my hand. I could not believe how trusting these little guys were. At times, I had five and six "fighting" for food. The adult male Anna's, as these are named, have an iridescent crimson-red crown and throat, and a dark, slightly forked tail. Annas are the only North American hummingbird species with a red crown. Females and juveniles have a green crown, a grey throat with some red markings, a grey chest and belly, and a dark, rounded tail. Purple headed Costa's also frequented the feeder. Up close and personal as they were, their little "tongues" are amazing to watch, as they "drink" the nectar. Awesome!

Countertops in the Rexhall

We have been busy in the last few weeks with renos in the motorhome. Our countertops throughout were the original formica type with an oak trim, which needed to be updated. I found this wonderful product online that, when applied correctly and in the prescribed order, looks like granite. Sort of a "paint-by-number" process, while it is time consuming, the final result is, as advertised. Here is a picture of the "before" speckled formica;
and here is the finished product. We are thrilled with the finished counters. And yes, they do look like granite. The topcoat is a very hard automotive type sealer which gives a very hard and durable coating to the paint. Bill carefully siliconed around the sinks so that water cannot seep under the paint and lift it. What a difference! It is hard to believe that this is paint. Everything came in the kit...the brushes, sponges, rollers and paint tray along with the paint in numbered cans and a CD to outline the steps. I would highly recommend this product...it works on any wood or laminate product! It is an American product, but it can be purchased in some Canadian stores. Fantastic!