March 26-28 - Shannon and Bill’s Birthdays

Finally made it to Nevada City on Shannon and Bill’s birthday. Bill and I went to Maria’s Mexican restaurant to celebrate then to Treats to meet Shannon, Carl and Arlo for dessert. 

Thursday was Arlo’s day to go to daycare and we got to pick him up and take him to his house to play till Mommy got home. 

Lots of story book reading and playing with trucks. Arlo showed us his new room and all his trucks. 

Saturday it was storytelling at the library. He listens intently. 

Arlo loves books, especially those about trucks so we got to read a few more stories before bedtime. 

March 25 - Hidden View COE Campground

We were pleasantly surprised to find a Core of Engineers campground close to our route. Hidden View Campground is just north of Medera, CA. It is aptly named. It’s tucked away from city life. This is our view from Belle. You can see the tops of the Sierras

Took a walk around the campground. Lupine and a few other wildflowers are blooming here in the Central Valley. 

Evening sunset. 


I was happy to get up with Lenny to see the morning sky and sunrise. 

Tomorrow we’ll be in Nevada Cite for Bill and Shannon’s birthday and getting ready to play with Arlo. 

March 24 - Tehachapi, CA

We chose the Harvest Host site, Dam Ranch to stay tonight. When we were driving to the location, we remembered we had stayed here once before. It’s amid horse farms and vegetable fields. Quiet spot but we are at 3,800 feet elevation so it got cold at night. 

Main reason we stayed here was to visit the Cesar Chavez National Monument for another stamp in my book. 

As I was driving through a steep canyon, I saw a sign for the Loop Train. Had to learn more so read their website. 

In the 1870’s the Southern Pacific Railroad Company wanted to connect its Central Valley lines with its Southern California lines. The only way to make this possible was for tracks to be laid east from Bakersfield over the Tehachapi Mountains into the Mojave Desert and back to Los Angeles. The need resulted in one of the greatest engineering feats of its time, the Tehachapi Loop. 

Once I arrived at the Cesar Chavez NM, I was amazed at the outdoor landscape. Beautiful native plants around a fountain. Very tranquil spot. 

Widely recognized as the most important Latino leader in the United States during the twentieth century, César E. Chávez led farm workers and supporters in the establishment of the country's first permanent agricultural union. His leadership brought sustained international attention to the plight of U.S. farm workers, and secured for them higher wages and safer working conditions. 

I also learned that Barack Obama was the president that  signed the order to create the National Monument in 2012. 

Tuesday we travel to our last campsite before we reach Nevada City. 

March 23 - Chiraco Summit, CA

We are camped in a dispersed camping area at the Chiraco Summit, just 7 miles from the Cottonwood Visitor Center in Joshua Tree National Park. 

Banjo likes it here because he doesn’t need a leash. 

After lunch we hopped in the truck to drive to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center to get my Passport stamp. Then a drive through Joshua Tree park. There are several different climates here, where the Mojave Desert meets the Colorado desert. First we saw chollas growing in the vast wilderness. After about 30 miles, the Joshua Trees came into view in rugged, desolate country. 

Love this place. 

March 20-22 - Watching Wrestling at Shady Lane TV Park

Coffee and breakfast over, let’s get this wrestling started!  We are in Pacific time, so wrestling will begin at 9 am

Blue skies and warm temps here in Quartsite, AZ. Sitting outside in between sessions, riding bikes and visiting Beer Belly’s for some beer and music. 

This is a huge snowbird area. A lot of those have left and some businesses have closed but for us this is a good place to land to watch the 2025 National wrestling Championships. 

As we were driving in to Quartzsite, we kept seeing references to camels. Decided to visit the Hi Jolly monument to find out more. Who knew our Army had a camel corp, although short lived. Definitely an interesting history lesson they don’t teach us in school back east at least. 

On Sunday we’ll continue west, probably to Joshua Tree, CA. . 

Decided to move our wrestling watch party outside for the finals. A little difficult to see but nonetheless exciting to watch as Starocci and Penn State made history. 

A colorful last evening over the Kofa Mountains. 

Now it’s time to move to our next destination. 

March 19 - RV oil change in Phoenix and Quartzsite, AZ

Belle needed to have an oil change so Bill made a reservation at Onsite Truck and Equipment Repair in Phoenix. While Belle got her oil changed, we got breakfast and had a walk. Bill had to troubleshoot an issue with the light bar we have to use on the truck. He called the company and the tech walked him through some things to check. Bill took the bar apart, diagnosed the problem and fixed it. He always amazed me with his electrical and mechanical skills. 

We were finally on our way to Quartzsite by 12:30 with working lights and an oil change! Woohoo!

Rugged landscape as we drive through a canyon. 

Setup at Shady Lane RV Park so we can watch the NCAA Wrestling Championships. 

March 17-18 - Globe, AZ

The Globe City Park isn’t anything to write home about so I won’t say more about that, except they have a very clean laundry room. 

This area is also a huge copper mining plant. 

This “campground” is in the historic part of town. It’s also close to the Tonto National Monument which is where we drove today to get my stamp. Loved the park. It is a dog friendly park, so Banjo and Lenny were able to hike to the ruins and became Bark Tanger dogs. 

Tonto National Monument preserves the homes of the Salado Culture from 1250-1450. The people were farmers, foragers and craftsmen. As you can see we are in saguaro country. 

After visiting the ruins, we drove to Roosevelt Lake to check out the camping for the next time we are here. We really enjoy this part of Arizona. 

After lunch we decided to see what Stairazona was. The town of Globe is built on hillsides. The steep streets put Bellefonte streets to shame. The Stairazona are sets of stairs that take you through some of the historic parts of the town. Their local artists made it fun to climb all those stairs. 

With the walk to the ruins and these stairs, we got our 10,000 steps in today. 

Sunset was pretty. 

Next up is a drive to Quartzsite, AZ to watch the NCAA Wrestling Championships.