April 2009

April started out with Mike’s jeep trip on the Mojave Road Trail……from Needles to Barstow California. An old saying goes…….if you leave a rock on this pile, you will have a safe trip.

The wind really blew on this trip. Mike slept in his Jeep and they made coffee in the restroom.

The wild flowers were beautiful. This beaver tail cactus was in bloom with hundreds of blooms yet to open. All in all, Mike loved the trip…the snakes, the cactus, the wind, the tunnels…all of it.

Toward the end of the month, we headed out of Indio to Moab Utah. We had 5 rigs all together. We stopped for the night at a Casino parking lot in Mesquite, Nevada.

Our first night in Moab, we went out to dinner (I was beat – much too tired to cook!)

Mike went on a jeep run called Poison Spider. This was his lunch stop. Beautiful…..yes!

We will be in Moab for the next 2 weeks.

March 2009

We started out March in Parker AZ. We were in Parker for an FMCA 4-Wheeler Off-Roading Rally. We spent 6 days in Parker and had a great time at the rally along with 100 other coaches!. The picture above is from “Horsehead Canyon”


We returned to Outdoor Resorts just in time for the “Mardi Gras” golf cart parade. It was a great parade……..a lot of fun!

Later in the month, we took a trip up to Jullian, CA. Had a great time seeing the sights and best of all was the “Apple Pie.” We took an off-road trip back to Borrego Springs.

The resort is beautiful.....It's my favorite time of the year. The bogenvilla are all in bloom and everything looks so nice.

We’ve had a visit from home…….Flat Stanley has come to visit us. Flat Stanley was mailed to us by our grandson Ben and will be visiting with us for about a week, then we will write a blog about his stay with us. We’ve got some great shots of Stanley and his wonderful visit!

We’ve finished out the month of March with Mike planning a two day off-roading event along the Mojave Trail. He will be taking the trip with four other guys and he is really looking forward to the journey. I’ll let you know more about the trip next month.

February 2009

This month, we took a day trip over to Simi Valley and toured the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. A great trip!


President Reagan is buried at the Library in an incredibly beautiful setting.

When the last “Air Force One” was retired, it found a home at the Reagan Library. We were able to walk through the interior of the plane and then we had lunch at the restaurant located under the plane.

Mike rode his bike 103 miles in one day in the Tour d’ Palm Springs on Valentines Day. Not bad for an old guy!!

It snowed in the mountains above Palm Springs and off roading in the white desert was beautiful!

Both Mike and I follow and really enjoy professional bicycle racing. When we discovered the last stage of the Tour of California ended in northern San Diego, we just had to go. It was GREAT! All the big international racers were there and we had front row seats near the finish line.

January 2009

The economy is plummeting all around us but the sun still shines every day and life goes on. We choose to focus on the positive.

Mike & I have joined a Wii Bowling League…….yes you heard me…….a Wii Bowling League. It is so much fun and it’s a great group of people that meet with every week !

We had a “Welcome Back Fiesta” party this month and the resort is filling up with people from all over the US and Canada. It’s been a pretty rough winter all over the country but beautiful and warm here.

I went with three other gals to the “Road To California” – the southern California Quilt Show. It was big……so much to see. We had a fabulous time ! I came home inspired to start some new projects.

Our winter home is fantastic……see what I mean about beautiful clear blue skies?

The geraniums and petunias are all in bloom……yes – it really is January.

Mike took his annual golf trip to Bandon Oregon with Marc & Brandon. He always enjoys his time with the boys and is already looking forward to next year.

Mike continues to enjoy his time climbing rocks with the Jeep. We see some beautiful scenery and interesting places in the desert and he has some crazy friends that love “wheelin” as much as he does.

December 2008

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Mike & Janet

This month, we flew up to Portland to spend an early Christmas with our kids & grandkids. The Portland area was experiencing it’s worst winter storm in 25 years. School was cancelled and Camryn, Anna, Colby & Ben played outside and enjoyed every minute!

The sleds, the snowballs, eating the snow………what fun!

Grandma and Papa loved every minute of our family holiday!

We have a new member in the Fox family……His name is “Jake” and he is a 9 week old Chocolate Lab. He is in to everything and has the cutest little innocent face.

Back in Palm Springs, we enjoyed a beautiful sunny Christmas day at our clubhouse. We sang Christmas carols, enjoyed a great ham dinner and spent the day with wonderful friends.

We wish a Happy New Year for our family and special friends.

November 2008

November has been a great month getting settled in for the winter and renewing our “Winter Desert Friendships” The weather has been in the high 80’s the majority of the month and we have had some beautiful sunsets!

We got quite a scare this month when Mike’s brother-in-law John Soukup had a heart attack. I’m glad to say John is doing very well and is already back to work.

Mike and some of his buddies went up to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Manufactures) The guys had a great time checking out the latest and greatest gadgets that are coming to the market. Mike also saw some celebrities - he shot this picture of Ron (his brother-in-law) with Clint Boyer (NASCAR driver)

Stoli had an infected cyst removed from his back but is now totally healed and is back to off-roading in the desert – He is as good as new!

Mike went on an off-roading trip out into the desert east of here and they found the remains of a cabin that General Patton used when he was training his troops during WWII.

We went to Mimi’s Café for Thanksgiving with great friends….it’s not the same as a big family gathering but we had a good time none the less.

We ended the month with a Palm Springs Tailgate party for the Oregon State Beavers / U of O Ducks Civil War Football game…………Bad news – the Beavers were over run by the Ducks and lost their bid for the Rose Bowl. Oh well – maybe next year!

October 2008

The first part of this month found us in Sacramento to celebrate our nephew’s wedding. Rob and Serena were married October 4th in a beautiful outdoor wedding.



After the wedding, we (along with Pat and Ron) headed down the Southern California coast. Our first stop was near Pebble Beach. What a beautiful setting near Monterey and Carmel, California.

TheThe Pebble Beach country club area is very upscale. Golf is a mere $495 for 18 holes with another $35 per person for the cart. Needless to say, none of us played golf there.

Further down the coast, just west of Paso Robles, we spent a day touring the Hearst Castle. Amazing! Incredible!

It’s hard to imagine that Mr. Hearst had so much money and such an architectural imagination.

Further down the coast, we visited Solvang (near Santa Barbara) and a brief stop in Ventura.

We arrived at our winter home in Indio California on October 15th. It’s great to see so many of our friends and catch up on everyone’s summer.

Our first fall off roading trip took us up in the mountains to 7000 feet. It was beautiful! In the mountains the temperatures are in the 70’s and down in the valley it is in the mid 90’s most every day.

I had a great birthday this year. A special “surprise” BBQ, a great lunch with some girl friends and a wonderful dinner with my sister Jeri, her husband Brian and their very close friends David and Bonnie.