Caliente Springs Resort

Caliente Springs Resort 

70200 Dillon Road

Desert Hot Springs, CA  92241

760-329-8400 or 888-894-7724

5/7-5/11/13, 11/23-11/30/2014, 2/24/2016, 4/12-4/19/2016

2016 UPDATE - We absolutely love this place...now April the entire place is deserted with only a few nightly visitors but many of the long term residents are here. The staff is exceptional and very accommodating. We highly recommend staying at this location...even with the occasional high winds it is a great place.

We paid $15 per night with our Coast to Coast points with NO additional charges for water, electric, sewer, on a level, sandy site with a patio.  Our Verizon MiFi and phones had great reception but they offered WiFi at no charge.

Just about the only negative was that they have only one trash area located at the entrance which was such a pain to get to so we just held on to our trash for the four days we were here until we left. 

They have a 9-hole Golf Course that was reasonably priced to walk the course or bring your own ride.  

We played billiards, ping pong and shuffleboard in the game room.

The restrooms and laundry room was kept clean, as well as the grounds were maintained well. 

The hot spring pools area was fabulous that we enjoyed several times.

This resort is a gem in the desert and even though we have been in this area so many times we could not get into this resort with our membership but it was a quiet time of the year when all the snowbirds had already left and we had the place almost to ourselves. It was so nice enjoying the hot springs, the weather was a little warmer then we like it but it was a great visit and would highly recommend it and we will visit again.  

NOTE 2014 UPDATE - Most of the resorts in this area are mainly for long term stays but we fit in as well.  Their staff is friendly and very accommodating, we were checking in on a Sunday and the office is closed that day so they called the day before and gave us all the information needed to check in on Sunday and then advised us to come see them on Monday morning.  It is a quiet park with beautiful views and sunsets.  This is our number one pick of all the resorts we have visited while in this area and we would most certainly recommend it and we will stay here again.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Heat...Cool...Heat...What a Difference a Few Hundred Miles Makes...

We stayed in Orange, California at Orangeland RV Park, just a short drive from DisneyLand but we had no plans to visit Mickey this time but we get fireworks every night. We actually worked in Mission Viejo which is about 25 miles away but this was the nicest and best priced in the area to our location. Check out a separate blog of our review of the park and a few of the restaurants we ate at during our stay.

The weather threatened to rain the entire time but we only had a few sprinkles which was really nice but it was cool so we soaked it in since we will be in the heat for the next month.

Once completed we headed back to the desert for a week of rest before we begin a brand new adventure with Lt. Blender, we will let you know how that all goes. For now we are in Desert Hot Springs at one of our Coast to Coast parks and the winds have been fierce for a few days. We are taking advantage of the hot springs and soaking daily before we head to Palm Desert to work at the Sam’s Club for 11 days.

We are learning how to follow our hearts and do what is best for us in so many ways lately…life is too short to waste on stuff we do not want nor like to do. Case in point we walked into Katella Grill which we thought would be a good place for lunch but instead it was like a diner and not at all as we expected. So even though we were already seated, instead of feeling embarrassed as we usually feel and just suck it up and stay, this time we just got up and said our goodbyes and left.

For many of you that may not be a challenge but for us it is and we are getting so much better at doing what is most important for us and not doing things just because we feel uncomfortable saying no to it. We are just trying to enjoy every single moment of our lives and not wasting any more precious time.

Orangeland RV Park

Orangeland RV Park

1600 W Struck Avenue

Orange, CA 92867

714-633-0414

4/8-4/12/2016

We paid $58.50 per night with a Good Sam 10% discount for a back in, water, electric, sewer site with free WiFi which was a bit iffy, but was fairly flat on concrete, with free WiFi. The sites were very tight, we tried to reserve a premium site for more room but they were totally full.

They offer a shuttle for $3 per person to Disneyland which we did not partake in but we heard the fireworks every night that is how close this place is to the “Happiest Place on Earth”.

The staff was wonderful, cheerful and very accommodating each time we dealt with any of them.

The park itself is well maintained, manicured and filled with citrus trees which are free for the picking. They have a map in the laundry area that shows where the oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes are located.

From what we observed this park stays mostly full all the time, we were parked in the long term area but even in the other parts of the park turned over daily. If you ever plan to make this place a stop pay the extra $10 for the premium site that would be our plan if we do.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Chili’s Grill & Bar

Chili’s Grill & Bar

1411 W Katella Avenue

Orange, CA 92867

714-771-4071

4/11/2016

Now this is the type of food and service we LOVE! We stopped for lunch across the road at Katella Grill but it was all wrong so we got up and left and came here instead and we are glad we made that uncomfortable decision.

The atmosphere was fun and even though we were on our bikes we were only a few blocks from our site so we decided to indulge ourselves with a few Margaritas. Jerry had the Presidente and I had the Triple Berry, both were sinfully delicious.

With our drinks we ordered the rich, cheesy Queso served with the most thinnest, crisp and tasty chips, the salsa had just the right heat to leave you wanting more.

For our main course we shared the Fajitas and Baby Back Ribs, we were not disappointed with either choice. The shrimp had an excellent touch of chili pepper, the chicken was tender and succulent and the beef was charred to perfection which made the perfect fajita. The ribs literally fell off the bones and we both caught ourselves sucking the bones because the flavor was phenomenal.

We know this is one of the chain restaurants and we usually like doing the individual type of places but we were quite satisfied with our choices.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Tilted Kilt

Tilted Kilt

1625 W Katella Avenue

Orange, CA 92867

714-633-5458

4/8/2016

Have you ever felt uncomfortable in a place that you should not feel uncomfortable? We understand that this is a Sports Bar and neither one of us are prudes but we were waiting for the girls to get up on the tables and give some of these guys a lap dance. The girls would sit with the customers (guys) at their tables, especially the single ones. There were very few woman customers and NO male wait staff, the only male employee we seen was the bus boy.

It was so dark we had to bring out our phone flashlights to read the menu and that is not showing our age but the atmosphere of this place.

All that being said…

We started with the sampler to try a variety of items and each was very tasty, the fried pickles were our favorite but the pretzel loaf was quite yummy too and the sauces each had a very smooth, unique taste to them…

Jerry had Sadie’s Stuffed Breasts which are chicken breasts stuffed with applewood smoked bacon, cheddar and Jack cheese with a Dijon cream sauce and it was delicious, just the right amount of bacon and cheese and the sauce was excellent…

I had the Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese which we are not sure about the matching of these two items. Each on their own were great but combined, well the vote is still out. They use white and yellow cheddar and the pork was tender with the Guinness BBQ sauce drizzled over it that had a great taste, smothered with crispy shoestring onions and green onions was a great addition…

We will not be trying any of the other franchises they have around the country and we would not recommend to others since the uncomfortable feeling totally outweighed the good taste of the meals.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Cherry Valley Lakes RV Resort

Cherry Valley Lakes RV Resort

(CRA) Colorado River Adventures

36805 Brookside Avenue

Beaumont, CA 92223

951-845-4965

4/7/2016

Using our Coast to Coast membership, we paid $10 with no extra charges for a water, electric and sewer site on gravel that was fairly level that included free WiFi.

This park is part of the CRA Colorado River Adventures resorts and by far our least favorite. It is a small park that has tons of open space for storage but when it comes to the sites, there is NO room at all. We are able to touch our neighbors from our window…NO KIDDING!

We didn’t feel comfortable going for a walk and that is why you only see photos we took from our rig. Even though they have rules it seems that most of the sites are occupied with permanent residents that do not follow the rules concerning their pets.

It is located right on the freeway but you have to drive a few miles up and back before getting to it. Even though this could be a convenient area to stop overnight and it is in a spectacular area we will not be returning to this park.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Active Travel Day

Talk about multitasking…we had to travel today to get to our job in Mission Viejo by Friday but were in the desert where the temps were getting high in the upper 90’s for a few days but we also had a meeting with one of the other company’s we work for at 7am so we decided to do it all.

As we pulled out this morning at 6:30am we knew we had to also deal with the wind BUT as we looked ahead there was a strange cloud or something. 

At first we thought it was just moisture in the mountains, then became concerned that it might be a Haboob due to the wind and we were heading right into it. But then we realized it was a fire and it was growing quickly.

It was getting closer to I-40 and we are glad we made such an early start since we are now hearing it is out of control and burning fast due to the dryness and the high winds. Luckily we had a tail wind, something that is often unheard of but we had it so we didn’t feel much pushing around. It followed us for most of our drive.

Made it to Ehrenberg which is 145 miles from Bullhead City and the winds are bringing the smoke this way…seeing the brown cloud all around us is a bit concerning but we are in for the night. Temps are up in the high 90’s and we had laundry to do and tomorrow we will be out of the desert and back into the cool part of California with 40 to 50% chance of showers our entire time there. Yipeeeee!

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

A Day Spent with Friends…Christmas Tree Pass…Classic Cars…River Walk…Water Taxi Ride

We met Al and Jan Schwartz back in 2009 when we worked at Camp Hatteras in North Carolina and continue to meet up whenever we are in the same area and that is what we did. They are hanging out in Kingman for a few more weeks and we of course are in Bullhead City so they drove to us so we could spend the day together.

We had thought a drive through Christmas Tree Pass would be fun. For so many years we wanted to check out all the hype that we had heard about breathtaking views and that there were also lines of Christmas Trees decorated with all sorts of unique items…there were supposed to be trees with shoes and all sorts of other items hanging but if they are there we did not find them.

The road is positively horrendous, we almost got stuck once because the road was so bumpy and the ruts were so deep BUT we did see some magnificent views. If you plan to take this road we suggest going in from the entrance closest to Cal-Nev-AZ since it will give you the best views. We kept turning our heads and cameras so to catch some of them. Definitely not what we had expected and even though the scenery was awesome, the road was so bad we would not recommend it especially since there were no decorated trees like we expected.

For lots more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

We then headed over to Laughlin where we parked sort of in the middle at Colorado Belle and proceeded on the river walkway, the water was clear and higher then it we have seen it in a long time. We went over to the Golden Nugget where we had lunch and drinks on the outdoor patio at Bubba Gump’s, we all enjoyed our drinks and meals. Jan had “I’m Stuffed!” Shrimp Large Shrimp with Crab Stuffing; Al had Shrimp Scampi; Jerry had Forrest’s Seafood Feast; and I had the Grilled Seafood Platter. My platter included some great shrimp and the Mahi Mahi was lightly blackened and was the best I have ever tasted.

Of course we had to take the short walk to see the Monkey’s so Jan could get a photo with them and then our next adventure was to take the Water Taxi to the Riverside where we checked out the Classic Cars.

For lots more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

It is so funny how when you don’t see someone for years and when we finally do get together it’s as if it was only yesterday since our last visit...That is always how it is with these guys…

Thanks Jan & Al for being a part of our journey through this wonderful lifestyle and we wish you all the best upcoming events and safe travels…see you soon!