27000 BOUQUET CANYON

SAUGUS, CALIFORNIA WAS ONLY A FEW HOURS DRIVE FROM PALM SPRINGS, WE WERE SORRY TO LEAVE EMERALD DESERT RV PARK,  BUT IT WAS TIME TO GET TO WORK. WE  LEFT A LITTLE LATER IN THE MORNING  HOPING TO MISS SOME OF THE LOS ANGELES TRAFFIC. WE DIDN'T MISS IT....IT WAS JUST  AS BAD AS I REMEMBERED!

WE EVEN CAME TO A STANDSTILL FOR A WHILE.

I WAS SO GLAD TO SEE THE TURNOFF FOR NEWHALL  AVENUE!! WE WERE ALMOST THERE!

WE FOUND  RAILROAD STREET THAT TURNED INTO BOUQUET CANYON....

 AND THEN WE SAW THE ORANGE TENT!

WE HAD ARRIVED AT OUR DESTINATION!

 DOUG AND GREG WERE THERE WORKING, SO WE GOT TO CHECK IN WITH THEM. DOUG SAID THAT THIS WOULD BE A BUSY LOT, IT IS HIS 3RD BEST PUMPKIN LOT.

GREG HELPED DARRELL GET THE RV IN IT'S SPOT.

WE SLEPT GOOD, IT IS QUIET HERE. WE GOT UP AND STARTED WORKING.....SCRUBBED CASH WRAP FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
THE NEXT DAY GREG AND CREW BROUGHT THE BOUNCIE AND BIG SLIDE.

THESE ARE BOTH BRAND NEW! OF COURSE, WE HAD TO TRY THEM OUT!!

DARRELL WENT DOWN THE BIG SLIDE....

BUT IT WAS TOO HIGH FOR ME....I DID GO  DOWN THE SMALLER SLIDE!!

ON SATURDAY MORNING I WALKED IN CENTRAL PARK, WHICH IS RIGHT NEXT TO THE PUMPKIN LOT.

I AM STANDING IN CENTRAL PARK TAKING THIS PICTURE.....THIS IS HOW CLOSE IT IS.  WE GOT OUR BIG MACS TODAY!

ON SUNDAY MORNING THEY BROUGHT OUR PUMPKINS AND WE OPENED FOR BUSINESS!

TONAPAH, ARIZONA AND PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

SADDLE MOUNTAIN RV PARK  IS A PASSPORT AMERICA PARK AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT  IT WAS ADEQUATE. THERE WASN'T MUCH TO TONAPAH AND THIS IS  SADDLE MOUNTAIN.  I WASN'T IMPRESSED.

WE LEFT THE NEXT MORNING HEADED FOR CALIFORNIA AND EMERALD DESERT RV PARK. IT WAS JUST A SHORT DRIVE TO PALM SPRINGS.

YOU COULD TELL AS SOON AS YOU CROSSED INTO CALIFORNIA THAT EVERYTHING WAS EXTREMELY DRY. WE SAW THIS ORCHARD OF DEAD TREES.

WE WERE AT OUR RV RESORT BY 12:30, THE TEMPERATURE ON THE TRUCK READ  102 DEGREES.

 IT IS A BEAUTIFUL RESORT, AGAIN, NOT VERY MANY PEOPLE AND WE WILL BE  HERE FOR 8 DAYS! 

WE WENT  SWIMMING AND TO THE HOT TUB, AS SOON AS WE COULD GET SET UP.

IT GOT HOTTER......106 DEGREES.......WHICH IS NORMAL FOR HERE. IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT  THIS WAS THE FIRST DAY OF FALL.

 THE NEXT MORNING WE WENT TO RITE-AID AND GOT OUR FLU SHOTS, WASHED  CLOTHES,  AND THEN SWIMMING AND TO THE HOT TUB....ANOTHER DAY OF 106 DEGREES.  WE WERE DRIVING ON STREETS THAT WERE NAMED AFTER FAMOUS  MOVIE STARS....

GINGER ROGERS, 

DINAH SHORE,  THE RV PARK WAS ON FRANK SINATRA DRIVE.

I WANTED TO GO ON A TOUR OF MOVIE STAR HOMES, SO ON SUNDAY WE HAD A RESERVATION FOR  THE BEST OF THE BEST TOURS. 

IT WAS VERY INTERESTING...... THE TOUR GUIDE HAS LIVED HERE ALL HIS LIFE, SO WE WERE TREATED TO A LOT OF THE HISTORY  OF  PALM SPRINGS.  HE WOULD PULL UP TO A HOUSE AND GIVE US HINTS AS TO WHO LIVED THERE OR WHO HAD LIVED THERE....MOST OF THE TIME WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GUESS. THESE HOMES WERE  JUST"  LITTLE GETAWAY PLACES...."

AND ELVIS PRESLEY'S HOME WAS AT THE END OF A STREET SO HE COULD HAVE HIS PRIVACY.

WE SPENT THE NEXT FEW DAYS RELAXING AND PREPARING TO LEAVE FOR SAUGUS AND THE PUMPKIN/CHRISTMAS TREE LOT. THE VACATION WAS COMING TO AN END!!

THE SAGUAROS

WHEN WE DROVE THROUGH TUCSON LAST YEAR HEADING  TO TEXAS TO SELL CHRISTMAS TREES, I NOTICED THE GIANT CACTUS GROWING ALONG SIDE THE INTERSTATE,  BUT WE  DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO STOP AND CHECK THEM OUT, SO WHEN I PLANNED OUR TRIP, I MADE TUCSON A STOP. WE STAYED AT ANOTHER REALLY NICE PASSPORT AMERICA PARK. IT WAS A HUGE RV PARK, BUT AGAIN PRACTICALLY DESERTED!

THE GIRLS ENJOYED THE BEAUTIFUL LAWN AND WHAT AN UNUSUAL TREE!

IT HAD A BEAUTIFUL POOL AND HOT TUB!

WE WERE IN THERE EVERY CHANCE WE GOT!

BUT, MOSTLY I WANTED TO SEE THE MAGESTIC GIANTS! ON SUNDAY MORNING WE HEADED OUT TO SAGUARO (PRONOUNCED SAH-WA-RO)  NATIONAL PARK.

WE WENT TO THE VISITOR CENTER AND WATCHED A FILM ON THE SAGUARO.

IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO LEARN ABOUT THESE CACTI! THEY LIVE TO BE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD!

THE INDIAN TRIBE FEEL THAT WHEN MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILY DIE, THEY BECOME ONE OF THESE SAGUARO. THEY SORT OF DID LOOK LIKE PEOPLE AND THEY ARE ALL VERY  DIFFERENT.

I WAS ENCHANTED BY THESE MAJESTIC GIANTS!!

I FOUND AN AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RESTAURANT ONLINE. SO AFTERWARDS WE WENT THERE AND HAD THE MOST DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI !
WHILE I WAS WALKING ONE MORNING I NOTICED  THIS TREE WITH FRUIT ON IT, I REALIZED THE FRUIT WAS A KUMQUAT......THEY WERE DELICIOUS!

I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO STAY LONGER IN TUCSON, BUT WE HAD RESERVATIONS IN PALM  SPRINGS,  CALIFORNIA  FOR THE 23RD OF SEPTEMBER AND WE WERE QUITE A FEW HOURS AWAY. THE NEXT DAY WE WERE HEADED FOR TONAPAH, AZ AND SADDLE MOUNTAIN RV PARK.