California!

Post by Henry

Yup, that's where we are.  The Golden State.  We arrived with flowers in our hair.

It was pretty gusty the day we left Yuma and our trip was headlong straight into the wind, which played havoc on the Ramblers fuel mileage.

Gusty Wind and Sand Blowing

The trip went smoothly, though, as we left behind the mostly brown desert of Arizona, and arrived in the very green San Jacinto mountains located in the coastal high desert of Southern California.

Green Mountains Covered with Wildflowers

On the ride in, we passed numerous wineries and nearby Temecula Valley is California's second largest wine region.

We spent nine (9) days at Jojoba (ho ho ba) RV resort in Aguanga (ah wan ga).

Welcome to Jojoba Hills

Jojoba Hills is an active 55+ community and is part of the Escapees RV Club.  There is a waiting list for Jojoba Hills membership, but for Escapee members like us, there are sites available to stay for up to 28 days a year. We had heard great things about this place, including seeing a 9.5 rating on the RV Park reviews website.  We were not let down.  What a place!

This is hands down the nicest RV park we have stayed at.  It is entirely built and maintained by Escapees volunteers.

Jojoba Hills
Built by Volunteers

The amenities here are outstanding.  There's a clubhouse with a huge pool and two spas.

Pool with a View

Hot Tub with a View

There's a library with thousands of books and videos.  There's an exercise room, card room, pool room with 3 pool tables, craft room, sewing room - including a long arm quilting machine.

There's more:

Tennis and pickle ball courts, horseshoe pits, bocce ball, miniature golf, and an airgun range.

Tennis/Pickleball Courts

And....

Arts Center, pottery studio, fully stocked wood and metal shop, four laundry/shower facilities that have clothes lines for hanging your clothes for that wonderful fresh air scent!

The landscaping here is beautiful, with mountain views from every site and six (6) ponds with benches for relaxing and enjoying the mild temperatures.  There's even a couple of waterfalls!

Floral Landscapes and Ponds

Blooms Everywhere!

Jojoba Hills is alive with activities like yoga, games, meetings, dances, dinners, and assorted workshops.  We attended Easter Dinner that included ham prepared by a resident retired cruise ship chef.  It was fantastic!

Top all of this off with a community of the friendliest people we've met.  Our arms are sore from waving to all the members of the park.

For a sample of the energy at Jojoba Hills, check out this recently released Video

While staying at Jojoba Hills, we visited nearby Temecula and walked the streets of their old town section which included antique shops, restaurants, and gift shops, among others.

Old Western Town of Temecula

Antiques in Temecula

Modern Temecula City Hall

Another day, we got in a hike on the Dripping Springs trail in the Agua Tibia Wilderness.  There was an assortment of blooming wildflowers and up high you could see the views of the surrounding mountains.

Hiking in Agua Tibia Wilderness
and
California Poppies

White Wildflowers

Lavender Wildflowers

Lizard Friend on Trail

We made a trip to Palm Springs to visit with our friends from the UK, Stuart and Jackie.

Palm Springs

The trip took us across a 5,000' high mountain and then dropping nearly all that elevation on a twisting and winding road to the palm desert where the temperatures were about 15 degrees warmer than Jojoba Hills.  And we finally got to enjoy some fresh seafood!

This has been a good start to our west coast trip of 2016.  In fact, we like it so much we are considering returning here at the END of our west coast trip.  That's a long way off, though, as we now start meandering towards the Pacific Northwest for the summer.

We're in the Wild, Wild West!