We left the Elk’s in Chula Vista and moved less than two hours away to an Escapee Cop-Op park that we’ve visited before: Jojoba Hills in Aguanga, CA. We stayed here a week last year after Thanksgiving. This time we are staying before we go to another Thanksgiving in Borrego Springs. Which is where we’re heading now, after getting a lot – and nothing much – done this past week.

Disclaimer: One thing I did NOT do this week was take any pictures. (So be prepared for a whole lot of words only.)

As travelers, we often criss-cross with fellow travelers and are able to meet up when our paths cross. So we were very excited when we pulled into the park just minutes after our friends Mark & Patsi.  We came in from different directions, but we are both heading to Barrego Springs for Thanksgiving, so this was a great place to meet. This was their first visit to this SKP park, but we felt very comfortable in the place as we’d been here before. We all know many couples that have “bought into” the park and absolutely love it here.

Our timing turned out perfectly as we got settled into our dry-camping spots just in time to head up the hill to a free ice cream social. Then we found out that there was a free lunch the next day – a big founders day celebration – and we were invited to attend. So we dressed up and went and learned a lot more about the history of the park and the hard work that was put in by the early volunteers. Volunteerism continues to keep the park running at its best.

We enjoyed the hot tubs on several evenings while we were there and there was even another ice cream social that we took advantage of. And on the last night we were there, we were invited to a Howling at the Moon party to enjoy watching the rise of the full moon. Lots of fun stuff.

This poor picture is the only one I took at the park. We are watching the moon rise.

On the weekend we were there, we heard of a vendor fair across the street at another RV Resort, so Patsi and I went over to check it out. Mark and Tom stayed home to get some projects done. Tom’s was a stinky one: he had to replace the ball socket/flushing unit on our toilet. It was a good time for me to be out of the house!

Across the street, we looked at a lot of handmade stuff, visited with a lot of nice people and even got to tour a couple of new rigs they had on display for the event. The new Winnebagos looked so streamlined it reminded me of being on a fancy ship or airplane. The RV Resort was huge and we wanted to show the guys, so the next day we planned to go back for lunch at the park’s restaurant.

We started there, but got distracted by a sign that said there was an art show three miles up the road, so we went to find it and found ourselves at a winery. Temecula Valley is Southern California’s version of Napa Valley in Nor Cal.  In addition to wine tasting, the winery was having an art show with heavy hors d’oeuvres, so we looked at all the paintings and pictures, bought a bottle of wine, filled our plates with free food and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather outside. We even played a round of bocci ball on their courts. It was a nice happy-accident kind of day.

Did I take a picture of us having fun? NO not one! I took a picture of the glass door that got smashed by a stray bocci ball! It wasn’t us. – but it is a pretty picture!

In addition to Tom’s big toilet project, we used our time here to get other things accomplished as well. We are preparing to be in a remote area for a few weeks, so I had to get stocked up on shipping supplies and I was working to get new products listed.

We did some re-arranging in the RV by moving our table against the wall instead of perpendicular to it. This means we eat side by side while looking out the window which I think will work out very well. The arrangement allowed me to get the printer off the table and onto a little stand we found which means it feels more like a dining room again. (I still can’t believe I didn’t get before/after pictures.)

We had to head down into Temecula twice to pick up parts or shipments, and we splurged on fast food chain lunches both times. Plus we stocked up on groceries even though we can only fit so much fresh food in our small fridge. We are starting to envy our friends with full sized refrigerators!

And just like that it was time to leave. Why is it that we used to move every three days and now that we stay at least a week somewhere the time goes by just as fast? It’s hard to believe we had been there a full seven nights. And now we’re heading southeast across the mountains down into some more familiar territory. We’ll be meeting up with more friends and that will make it all a new adventure. And I promise to take pictures! Starting with this cloud formation we saw on our drive over the mountains:

What does this cloud shape remind you of?

Happy Travels,

‘Peace & Love, Joy