March 5 - 10 Los Angeles, California to Oregon

Thursday, March 5
After spending the night in Los Angeles we used mapquest to locate Agape International in Culver City, home to the famed Michael Beckwith, from ‘The Secret’. We both enjoyed browsing the bookstore and selecting several treasures.
Traversing LA, we checked out several of the famed beaches. On a right turn whim, we were delighted to discover the Getty Villa. Unfortunately, since it was late in the afternoon, and we had no reservations, we thought we might be lucky enough to see the outside. The woman at the gate most graciously gave us tour tickets and free parking.
Oil tycoon and avid art collector J. Paul Getty opened the Getty Villa as his second museum in a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, incorporating additional details from several other ancient sites. The Getty Villa holds Greek and Roman sculptures. The Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities are arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater and Stories of the Trojan War, housed within Roman-inspired architecture and surrounded by Roman-style gardens. We were impressed by the marble floors and walls. The number of levels and layout is representative of an archaeological dig.
There has been controversy surrounding the Greek and Italian governments' claim that objects in the collection were looted and should be repatriated. In 2006 the Getty returned or promised to return four looted objects to Greece: a stele (grave marker), a marble relief, a gold funerary wreath, and a marble statue. In 2007, the Getty signed an agreement to return 40 looted items to Italy. It is unfortunate that Paul Getty never lived to see this museum which he dedicated to the public free of charge in order to share his love of art with everyone.
We travelled on through Malibu drooling at the sight of the magnificent homes hanging off the cliffs and wondering at the tenacity of the kite water skiers. We also enjoyed a few chuckles over some of the signage like:
- “to be honest....I just want a beer’ panhandler sign
- A ‘do not give to panhandlers’ sign
- And on a more serious note a Tsunami warning sign!
For a relatively low fee for a state park, an Oceanside campsite just north of Malibu hosted us for the night.

Friday, March 6
There was a lovely couple, owners of two friendly black labs, who joined us for conversation while we enjoyed our morning brew. Heading north along the coast we passed both air and naval bases near Port Huenema. Some of the planes we saw were responsible for national security as they are equipped with specialized radar equipment to identify any type of ship or airplane. Workers were diligently tending the vast strawberry fields near the Channel Islands Air Guard Base. An employee of U-haul in Oxnard replaced our faulty hitch for the bike rack – what a relief! We continued on through rolling hills with the Santa Ynez Mountains on one side and the Santa Barbara Channel on the other, enjoying the cattle grazing and counting the multiple oil rigs in blueberry country. We laughed at the name of a park we passed – ‘Nojoqui’! and we decided not to stop in Buelton, home of split pea soup and Pork Palace where pigs are sold. The driving became a little gruelling as we passed through rockslide areas. There was a distinct change in vegetation as we drove through horse ranch and vineyard country near Los Alomos. We passed Camp San Louis Obispo which is the original home to the National Guard.
Arriving just before dark at Hearst Castle, we were transported back in time to the 1930’s when Hearst invited such notables as Churchill, President Teddy Roosevelt and the new cinema notables like Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Bob Hope.
Hearst Castle is the palatial estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It is located near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This National Historic Landmark was formally named "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill"), but Hearst usually just called it "the ranch".
Hearst Castle was built on a 40,000 acre (160 km²) ranch that William Randolph Hearst's father, George Hearst, originally purchased in 1865. The younger Hearst grew fond of this site over many childhood family camping trips. He inherited the ranch, which had grown to 250,000 acres (1,000 km²), from his mother, Phoebe, upon her death in 1919. Construction began that same year and continued through 1947, when he stopped living at the estate due to ill health. San Francisco architect Julia Morgan designed most of the buildings. Hearst was an inveterate tinkerer, and would tear down structures and rebuild them at a whim. For example, the opulent Neptune Pool was rebuilt three times before Hearst was satisfied. As a consequence of Hearst's persistent design changes, the estate was never completed in his lifetime.
The estate is a mix of historic architectural styles that Hearst admired in his travels around Europe. Hearst Castle features 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres (0.51 km2) of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and a movie theatre. Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and '30s.
Friday night karaoke at the local San Simeon Beach Bar and Grill enticed us to stay for a moonlight Oceanside walk and campfire with the company and marvellous wit of a self proclaimed California cowboy/school teacher. We certainly can find kindred spirits everywhere.

Saturday, March 7
At the pier near Hearst Castle we walked out to the end of it, noting that the tide was out. We stopped at a lookout where elephant seals were sunning themselves on the beach. What massive creatures – the adult male can weigh more than 2 tonnes! Just after Point Piedras Blanca Lighthouse we bought the most expensive gas of our journey at $3.34 per gallon.
On the recommendation of the Irish California Cowboy we stopped for dinner and the view at Nepenthe in Big Sur. The Nepenthe restaurant has been serving visitors since 1949. There is also the Phoenix Shop and Cafe Kevah at the same location. The word nepenthe means ‘no sorrow’ and true to its meaning it is a place invoking a feeling of serenity as you overlook the cliffs, the trees and the vast ocean.
The Cowboy also cautioned us to beware of the Big Sur crazy wildmen – saw a few by the side of the road but we decided to keep on truckin’.
The evening hours found us driving through more winding, steep rocky coast through forest toward Carmel, home of Mayor Clint Eastwood.

Sunday, March 8
After spending a quiet evening in Monteray, we took pleasure in the sight of scuba divers and a man hang gliding over the sand dunes just north of this resort area. The historic El Camino Real highway brought us through rolling hills farmland. We found an RV friendly site called `The Garlic Farm` in Gilroy and a recommended outlet mall where we, of course, went shopping for Patsy’s nephews shoes. Acknowledging that there was no rainy day in the near future, we finally did our laundry – only nine loads.

Monday, March 9
As we travelled into San Francisco we were surprised to see the rows upon rows of markers in cemetaries dedicated to soldiers. The Highway 280 honours America`s military. Housing architecture changed dramatically to an eclectic mix with flat roofs dominating the skyline. We fell in love with San Francisco, did everything short of wearing flowers in our hair. Pier 39`s sea lions amused us as did the fire eater and wandering minstrels. The hunk of milk chocolate with almonds from Chocolate Heaven was scrumptious. The city`s scenic drive signs guided us to the Bay Bridge, Fisherman`s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, and Baker`s Beach. Haight-Ashbury wowed us with shopping `60`s style and we drove by 710 Ashbury, early home to the members of San Francisco’s most beloved band the Grateful Dead.

Tuesday, March 10
After a great rest roadside we drove through evergreen forests – starting to look like Canada. Rounded a corner and were awed by a white capped mountain in the distance. Turned out to be Mount Shasta which has an elevation of 14, 162’. Stopped for an RV lunch in Yreka surrounded by mountains then headed north on Highway 5 toward Oregon.
Late afternoon we crossed into Oregon, where bikers are cautioned to wear helmets and motorists told via signage to ‘Click-it or Ticket’. Our ears were popping as we climbed to 4,000 feet above sea level. We thought Texas was long at over 880 miles across but never imagined that California from south to north would be over 796 miles.

Wednesday March 4 Oceanside, Los Angeles

We left the rest area north of Oceanside on I-5 and drove by Camp Pendleton manoeuvres which included a war ship just off the coast and helicopters and a Hercules dropping loads of supplies, just like in the movie ‘Mash’. The US Customs and border patrol and some sort of power station were all part of the scenery as we sped along under beautiful cumulous clouds. We turned onto I-1 toward the ‘Beach Cities’. Oops, then we took an incorrect exit. Marilyn, the navigator, was not fully functional yet, but yeck, we got a great photo of the flowers and tall ships in the harbour at a giant yacht club in Dana Point. Further along Hwy 1 there were more than six offshore oil rigs as well as tankers, barges and pumps that went on for several miles not far from Huntington Beach.

Our first glimpse of downtown LA was pretty hazy. Shopping resulted in gluten free bread for Marilyn and yummy sushi for us and a picnic by the sea at a marina in Long Beach. It was interesting to see the “Queen Mary” ship, now a hotel, right alongside a Russian submarine! We found Grauman’s Chinese theatre and took pics of some of the imprints left by famous actors even Shirley Temple! Our day ended with a bit of shopping on Hollywood Blvd and Beverley Hills and camping out Chez Wal-Mart in Culver City.

Tuesday March 3 San Diego and Coronado Island

After driving through San Diego to Coronado Island we stopped at the Hotel del Coronado. “The Del” was built in 1888 and is still one of the largest wooden hotel structures with one of America’s finest family beaches. So today we visited the hotel and walked the beach and ate at Chez Patsy’s seafood travelling bistro. Price was right and reservations weren’t required.

We travelled along the coastline past the amphibious naval base near the Silverstrand State beach. One wrong turn and ten minutes and we would have been visiting Tijuana Mexico.
Instead we raced chasing the sunset to traverse San Diego via a very busy I-5 to Oceanside Pier. This 2000 foot wooden Pier is longest wooden pier structure in America. It sure has one of the best red and pink sunsets we have yet seen over the Pacific Ocean.

Monday March 2 South Carlsbad State Park and Beach

Patsy started the day with breakfast outside with the squirrels and then later her mood changed to a little bit of ire at the unforgiving park volunteers who proceeded to remind us 3 times that it was actually 3 minutes past twelve. Oh my God, check out time was noon, imagine! The parks was at least 80% empty.

After finally leaving this State Institution, we proceeded to a parking lot next to a very popular surfing location where nobody harassed us and the cost was zero. In Del Mar parking lots surfers actually change into their wet suits holding up only little towels. There was also many other attractions such as guitar playing and tight rope practice between the trees. Flocks of Pelicans dazzled us with their synchronized flights along the cliffs and through the waiting surfers.

We proceeded along the coast until we reached La Jolla Cove. There below a very large Life Guard lookout station many families of seals were basking in the sand and trying to bed down for the night. Some with attitude and a very difficult baby seal who was determined to be nocturnal and stay in the sea returned to the sea but got nudged repeatedly back to shore by an anxious Mom. This performance was showcased against the setting pinks and reds of the sun and the crashing waves of the Pacific.

Sunday March 1 San Bernadino (ugh stinky) Valley to South Carlsbad State Park

We both were affected by the quality of the air in San Bernadino so we travelled directly to South Carlsbad State Park. We decided on a small camping spot on the ocean cliffs while Patsy climbed out from the “flue abyss”. Marilyn wandered the beaches admiring surfers, speaking to locals, and observing squirrel colonies that inhabit the very fragile sand cliffs. Earlier the next day our sightings of black fins close to the surfers was a little disturbing until we realized that they were probably whales not sharks!

Saturday February 28 Las Vegas to California.

We travelled most of the day through Mojave Desert to California and their Agriculture Inspection station. Later at Peggy Sue’s Diner near Barstow we noted across the road in a large fenced in army facility many army tanks being unloaded from flat bed train trailers. Occasionally, just occasionally we are reminded this is a country at war.

Peggy Sue’s Diner is all 50s and juke boxes, penny candy and Marilyn had an old fashion milkshake. Patsy may have started the flue with their hot dogs that were on display on Peggy Sue’s counter.

Thank goodness Marilyn drove to Lake Elsinore in California where we slept that night.

Friday February 27 2008 Las Vegas The Orleans Casino

Have you ever listened to the music of Kenny Wayne Sheperd. Give it a try! I think it could repair a whole in anyone's soul.

We felt privileged to spend the evening at a Kenny Wayne Sheperd concert in The Orleans Showroom. This performer is without a doubt the most accomplished guitarist of our age. We were very tempted to stay in Los Vegas and attend the next two shows with most of his loyal fans! During the show Kenny was accompanied by a superb band but an unexpected guest, the drummer from Wings, Paul McCartney's band, also got on stage to share a few tunes.

After the show Patsy did a little gambling while Marilyn enjoyed a little Zydeco in one of the lounges.

Thursday February 26 Las Vegas and KA at the MGM

After eating too much at the Brunch buffet in Excalibur Hotel and finally signing up for free gambling bucks we headed out for the Cirque de Soleil show that was highly recommended; Ka. Ka stands for Fire in Japanese. We dressed for the occasion in t-shirts that we had previously purchased for the event. As we sat spellbound in our speaker loaded chairs the multiple stages moved sideways, upside down, on end, on their sides as the acrobatic actors portrayed a legend and a love story. Each scene became progressively more amazing than the last. The costumes, the props, the stunts and the acting were astounding. This show is by far one of the best Cirque Shows on the planet and Patsy has seen a few including “O” which is hard to surpass.

Later that night we travelled to downtown Las Vegas to view the famous Fremont Street LED experience. This Vegas signature attraction on the pedestrian promenade has Viva vision, the largest LED screen in the world, coupled with one of the biggest audio systems at 550,000 watts. We also had a Vegas experience in a little historic Vegas Casino where we had breakfast at 1:30 am. When we tried to continue our evening on Fremont Street the bars had lights like cafeterias. What was that?? We know Fremont Street is famous for lighting but by then we knew it was time for sleeping.

Wednesday February 25 Las Vegas

Marilyn’s positive thinking won 2 free tickets and the gift of a third for the Extreme Magic Show with Dirk Arthur with his rare collection of exotic wild cats. When Dirk poled the audience for where we were all from it seemed everyone was from Canada and he said we were ruining his “shtick”.

After the magic we proceeded to eat out in the exclusive Mason Marilyn’s in the RV at the Excalibur parking lot. Yes, she outdid herself with rice pasta and spaghetti. Mellowed by the cabernet sauvignon and conveyed by taxi to the Colosseum in Caesar’s Palace, we arrived in the nick of time to the Cher show. Yes, I know, tough life but someone has to do it.....hey...the magic show tickets were free. Cher out did herself once again with acrobatic dancers, amazing costumes and a voice that never disappoints.

After Cher we walked next door to the Bellagio Casino for drinks and dancing in Fontana’s bar. This location has a balcony which overlooks the Fountains of Bellagio. This musical water spectacle consists of more than 1,000 choreographed dancing fountains. Patsy finally found the awesome merino glass ceiling in the Bellagio lobby above a golden horse. We strolled into Bellagio’s conservatory and botanical gardens. Currently the theme there is the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. Can you imagine at this late hour coming across an 18 foot tall Chinese God of Wealth and Fortune flanked on one side by three six foot tall giant pandas and on the other a fifteen foot long water buffalo. The buffalo alone was comprised of more than 10,000 living plants. Surprises in Vegas are just around every corner.

Tuesday February 24 Las Vegas on Patsy's Birthday and GINGER!

We started Patsy’s birthday with a big Brunch in the Sherwood Forest Cafe...yummy steak and eggs, French toast and everything... Marilyn bought Patsy her traditional Birthday tiara so that her “bad” acting could provide reasonable excuse to strangers “Marilyn says for once...lol”

We spent the afternoon walking and walking while visiting The Los Vegas Strip especially The Venetian and Paris. No Merino glass ceiling...Patsy wants to know where it is?

All dressed up for the evening we headed downstairs in the Excalibur to the Thunder Down Under show, the most recommended male revue in Las Vegas....Dancing Australians...Oh, by the way, we had the best seats in the house and yes not only were the Australians dancing but Patsy was invited on stage to dance with ladders and oh the ‘fireman’ Mr. January. Now Marilyn has her own story. Marilyn’s jaw dropping experience...just ask her!

Patsy had a great birthday even though she missed her loved ones. Thanks everyone for your messages and good wishes it sure helped the "homesickness".

Here.... I must thank Bev and Ken for taking care of my new puppy "Ginger" until I get home. Their Grand Pyrennes Birta had a litter of 12 puppies and it took less than a week to have them all spoken for except of course for Ginger....they saved the best and littlest and cutiest and smartiest and....okay just for me...thanks with lots of love on top!

Monday February 23 Las Vegas

After a night at the Luxor we moved to the Excalibur hotel. With the exception of locating our room the Luxor was satisfactory but we had previously booked the Excalibur for the week. I must admit the service at the Excalibur was excellent although not the same "class" of hotel.

Since the grizzly gross Body Exhibit at the Luxor did not appeal to Patsy she worshipped the mattress while Marilyn visited this intriguing Bodies....the Exhibition at the Luxor. This first ever showcase of human body specimens, dissected and preserved through the process of polymer preservation. She even took in the optional exhibit of the progression of the foetus to child.

It was a great night when we repeated our Dinner at Legends, red wine and lobster tails and dancing at the Celebration Lounge.

Sunday February 22 Lake Havasu, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas

Patsy loves hiking at Lake Havasu. She actually hiked over 4 miles along the trails while Marilyn worshipped the mattress. Marilyn’s regular Sunday routine. Lake Havasu seems to provide! Again we were lucky that some of our really irritating RV issues were solved here. It sure is good to have our ongoing annoyances gone. Marks on the front of the RV fixed with tooth paste, cleaning of a very dirty ceiling fan, and most appreciated was the solution to finally stopping the fridge door from opening on every corner. No more flying beer bottles! Oh, and the closet door no longer whips open on the opposite corners.

The traffic was very dense at Hoover Dam so we managed to take our pictures on the move. As Bev said an "Engineering feat for the 30s" Completed in 1935, it was both the world's largest electric power producing facility and the world's largest concrete structure.

Later we stopped for a great dinner at the pass overlooking Lake Mead. Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. It is located on the Colorado River about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam, it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water.

On arrival in Las Vegas we checked into the Luxor Hotel for one night. It is truly a unique design in the shape of a pyramid but requires some orientation skill in order to find your room. The elevators travel diagonally and it feels like a space rocket. After a little stress over lost time we found the room and got ready for our first Las Vegas show Zumanity. The Zumanity seats, second row aisle center stage, were perfect for this type of Cirque du Soleil show. As a matter of fact, we were included by the “Mistress of Ceremonies” as she quizzed us on our relationship status in front of the audience. One of the comedians also felt it was his duty to include us in his performance. Don’t sit too close in this show if you are shy. It is billed as “18 and over the sensual side of Cirque”.

Saturday February 21 Kingman to Oatman on Route 66

What fun it was driving along Old Route 66 – it took forever as there were so many photo opportunities. We stopped at a reconstruction of a store called Historic Cool Springs Gift Shop and Museum. The owner entertained us with stories about her pet, a wild road runner; apparently they are meat eaters! Because this female road runner is fed so well, each year all three of her babies survive; this is contrary to the norm, where only one survives.

We arrived at Oatman where the main attraction is the wild mules who eat carrots from people’s hands. So of course this became our ‘ass’ photo day! When we first arrived we were confused as to why all the small white mules (babies) had stickers on their foreheads. On closer examination, the stickers showed a big ‘x’ over a carrot similar to the ‘don’t drink and drive’ symbol. It was explained to us by a shop owner that sells the bags of carrots that the young mules could choke on carrots. A crazy Irish one man band loaned us his green hat and glasses. Needless to say, we could tell the taverns were open. We helped control traffic for the mock old west bank robbery gunfight - Marilyn winced with every shot fired. Oatman is certainly very historically interesting but it does not seem to have the same community or state support as say Tombstone. The potential certainly does exist to develop tourism further in this "mule" of a town. Given that we couldn’t find a suitable place to have supper we returned to the RV to eat and leave as the sun was going down. Much to our surprise the mules started to leave town at sundown too. One adventurous fellow stuck his head in the driver’s window insisting on a rendition of ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner!” It was difficult to discourage this rather stubborn mule – who knew? – but we finally found our way back onto Route 66. We drove to our favourite state park in Lake Havasu while enjoying another fabulous sunset.

Friday February 20 Lots More Grand Canyon

We spent the day stopping at dozens of canyon lookouts doing the paparazzi thing... posing for each other...wait till we show you the photo of the “Grand Canyon at the Grand Canyon”. Every view was beyond belief. The changing light had a profound effect on the scene. From moment to moment each and every time you looked again what you saw was unique. The width and the depth of the views could not be captured adequately by our cameras. It was so exciting to do a photo shoot with two volunteer wild elk on the side of the rode – they seemed to be comfortable with their celebrity status! We were pleasantly surprised to arrive on time to visit the Indian Watchtower on the eastern end of the South Rim. This location gives the widest possible view of the Canyon and the Painted Desert. It was designed by Mary Colter in the 1930’s to harmonize with the environment. The distinct images, painted by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, depict various aspects of Hopi mythology and religious ceremonies. We exited the Grand Canyon Park after sunset over and travelled to Kingman via I-40.

Believe it or not, we went dancing in Kingman the same night. We found a small local bar where we overheard that other than this one DJ bar there was only one more venue for a Friday night, the bowling alley. We skipped the bowling and stayed in the parking lot of this quiet local bar. Can you believe that Kingman, a city with more than 27,000 people can not even support a cinema or Blockbuster?

Thursday February 19 Sedona to the Grand Canyon National Park

Patsy checked out her favourite Sedona clothing shop and bought a designer lace jacket at ”Dahling It’s You”. Early b irthday present for herself. Patsy has routinely indulged herself in purchasing at this shop whenever she visits Sedona.
We spent some hours visiting vortexes around Sedona. Vortexes are places on the planet of increased energy exceptional natural beauty and act as an amplifier of our physical, emotional and spiritual energy levels. Interesting that Sedona always provides an exhilarating feeling. Many different experiences have been recorded when visiting certain of these sites. We had the pleasure of visiting not only the Holy Cross but the Airport Mesa. In truth, we felt that every square foot of Sedona is energizing.
At the north end of the city is the stunning Oak Creek Canyon, a breathtaking view of red and white cliffs, parks and creeks that meander along the scenic drive. Then we travelled more north through Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.

Upon Marilyn’s first view of the Grand Canyon, and distracted by the beauty, she fell on icy steps. The irony of the event was that she was cautioning others to be careful. Luckily she grabbed the railing and missed the chance to be another statistic...a three year old had just been rescued by her dad and an ambulance had arrived. Yes, there was snow and ice due to the altitude...made us miss Canada...lol...actually we’re much more empathetic.

Patsy’s lifelong dream was fulfilled when we spent the night in a room right on the rim with a full view of nature’s masterpiece in the historic El Tovar lodge. As the sun was setting in the West and we were walking the rim, an adorable creature crawled up the stone wall and sat there staring at us. It appeared to be a cross between a raccoon, weasel and a squirrel. Later we identified it as a Ringtail.

We lucked out when we went to the bar beside the restaurant to be entertained by Dave Hahn a great song writer and entertainer. He generously gave us his CD as he appreciated our dancing.

On returning from our delicious prime rib dinner and our dancing we saw several deer grazing within about six feet of us right beside the sidewalk. They ignored us completely as we desperately tried to get their picture in the dark.

Wednesday February 18 Sedona

Left Phoenix and our first stop on I-17 on the way to Flagstaff was at Montezuma Castle in the Verde Valley. This is an abandoned habitat of the original southern Sinagua people who lived in this region in the early 1100s. It stands in a cliff recessed one hundred feet above the valley.

As we drove through the Coconino national forest we were awed by rock monoliths named Coffeepot, Cathedral and Thunder Mountain. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, one of the vortexes on a hill in Sedona, provided us with awesome views of the area. The serene church atmosphere was perfect for prayer and reflection. Later our good luck lead us to find a fine dining “Takashi” Japanese restaurant with good local company and conversation.

Again later, are you ready for this? We danced to a juke box in a sports bar to the wee hours and spent the night in a parking lot under the watchful eye of a huge statue to Merlin the Magician (Marilyn's nickname in highschool...lol)

Tuesday February 17 Phoenix

Picked up a friend at the Phoenix airport. Before we left Phoenix we had a few sites to see. We drove to South Mountain Park and Preserve. This park is 16,000 acres and is the nation’s largest municipal park. We enjoyed the views from the heightsthe and the Mystery Castle. As we proceeded across Phoenix to the Camelback Mountain we drove past luxurious homes and golf courses in Scottsdale. Scottsdale is a rich playground in Phoenix, loved by many Canadians. We drove up the mountain known as the city’s most famous landmark. It resembles a crouching dromedary covered with palatial homes. Yes it is impressive.
A last minute decision brought us to the vintage Orpheum theatre downtown Phoenix where the International Belly Dance Superstars performed classic and fusion belly dance before touring the rest of North America. After this awesome performance we stayed in Chez Wal-Mart overnight.

Monday February 9 to Monday February 16 Phoenix

After spending arrival night in a Wal-Mart parking lot, we arrived at Destiny RV Park in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a fine week of dining and getting in touch again with Gloria and Hazel. The excitement of Gloria’s, our friend’s engagement announcement was just the “icing on the cake”. We had a great time playing tile games, exercising, shopping and even going to bingo. Hazel treated us to lunch and Gloria treated us to a night at Macayo’s with Marguaritas and Mexican food. How spoiled we were! It was very difficult to leave but it was time to resume our “Dance across America" Road Trip.