El Centro, California

January 18 - 21, 2009

Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort, El Centro, California

First of all, I want to wish our granddaughter, Ella Kay, a HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY! Looks like she had a great day!

Also, Happy Birthday to our son-in-law, Chris, who probably spent the day working to open their new restaurant, J.R. Brody's. Anyone on the Cape, be sure to stop by after its opening! I'm sure it's going to be a great success!

This was quite a trip. In less than 100 miles we went from sea level to over 4,000 feet elevation and back down to sea level again.

We went through city highway driving, mountains of rocks (first big rocks; then little rocks), dry desert and now in irrigated farmland...all on "the 8".

WOW! It's so quiet here...I don't know if I can get used to all this lack of noise!

The first evening here, we went out for a bite to eat and some last minute groceries...now the plan is to stay put, play some golf, take some naps and generally veg out a bit!

Rio Bend RV & Golf Resort is located in the desert a few miles out of El Centro, California. It is a 55 and over park located on 120 acres with an 80-acre lagoon and a par-66 (and, believe me, challenging) golf course. A good 75% of the park is occupied by snowbirds with some park models, but mostly fifth-wheels, trailers and motorcoaches. If the park and it's amenities were located a bit closer to home, it would be a great place to call our winter home.

And the desert sunsets......

Good to our words...we walked in the morning, golfed the 9-hole golf course, followed by some down time in the pool under the afternoon sun. Back to the rig for some more relaxing before dinner. Then some TV before bed. Wow, what a way to spend a couple of days...and IT'S SO QUIET!!

We spent a morning watching the Inauguration. Our prayers and support are with President Obama as he takes on the task of righting this country; our prayers and thanks are with President Bush for keeping us safe since 9/11; and, our prayers are with our family and friends as we all try to get through these bad economic times.

Ken is making me tell this story: On day 2 of golfing, on the first hole, my 3rd shot landed on the hillside between two deep greenside bunkers. I walked to my ball and applied the brake on my push-cart and took out my sand wedge. The brake was struggling to hold and I no sooner turned when the cart started to roll toward the bunker. My stabbing attempts to grab it failed and in the bunker it went with clubs, extra balls, etc. falling out of my bag and into the sand. Ken comes over to help but I insisted on doing it myself. (Now understand there are golfers watching all this from the 2nd tee!) I got everything out of the bunker but putting things back in their proper place was proving to be difficult since the pushcart was still on that darn incline! Finally I was ready to take my shot when my water bottle decided I hadn't had enough yet and goes rolling by me and, you guessed it, landed back in the sand. Well, needless to say, I muffed my shot, ended up with an 8 on the hole and was exhausted before we even began!! (The people on the 2nd tee were trying very hard to hold back their laughter...you can bet my hard luck was a topic of conversation around the campground last night!!)

Next stop: Arizona! We arrived in California on September 4, 2008 and will be leaving today, January 21, 2009. We saw a lot of the entire state. It's hard to say if we'll be back this way...it's an awful long way from home. But, the memories we take from here will last a lifetime.