A Tree, White Water Preserve, Some Churches and Cochella Preserve Oasis

We finally found a vendor with our head light Assembly. We thought that parts would be easier to come by for a 2006 Holiday Rambler Ambassador PLQ40. As normal, we thought wrong! Two months of searching finally paid off when my mechanic (Shown above) removed the light assembly. Turns out it is a Halgon set made by Halo lights in Germany. When we removed the light housing we found a sticker with the three part numbers, one of them turned out to be a common part number in the maritime industry and via e-bay we were able to get one sent to us out of Newport Beach California. When it got here, it took me about a day to assemble the light housing and to prep the assembly for the RV. My dedicated mechanic was able to slip in behind the generator and install it. Two months and $70.00 later, we are street legal again!

It’s December, and you know what that means? All your women start saying I need a tree, and I need a tree in my house today. So you say let’s go to Darin and Athena’s website The Redneck Naturalist and order an artificial one, but no, they have to have a live one. One final compromise later and you make your final offer to throw in some pine-sole to deliver that fresh pine scent. Next thing you know you are hiking out of your camp ground going where thousands have gone before you to look for the ever so precious Christmas tree. As you start the trek across the fields in search of that perfect tree, you look down and notice the foot prints in the sand all lead away from camp…..

Like all great men before me, I scored! Big time too. I found a Noble Fir in depths of the blazing hot dessert and brought my prize home. Fortunately for me my women informed me that the sands of the Alacazan were not where I had to go for a tree. They grabbed me and stuffed me in the car, and drove to Home Depot (This is where modern man gets his tree I see.) I told the ladies only a 2 to 3′ tree the RV is not big enough for a full size tree. I am so glad, I told them 3′ max. Any taller and their 6′ tree would have required an additional skylight. Any way, they paid $35 for a wonderful full size Nobel Fir. It is now being set up at my desk. Guess Athena is the bread winner, so it’s fair, and she is happy. (Remember if Mama’s not happy taint no body happy!)

Sarah made the star, and she’s a beaut! I hope she can travel down the road at 70MPH. I’ll keep the door closed so it does not try to drive when we do 70 to 0 in 2 seconds speed test.

Well, the tree is up, and we go to see the White Water Preserve. This place is worth a trip! It has some something unique to the Cochella Valley – Water! From Palm Desert head west on I-10 and get off one exit past the Joshua Tree National Park exit. Turn right (If the road looks like it goes no where you made your turn correctly.) Go until you see a paved road on the the left. (It should have a sign that says some scary things about fire, no trespassing, and what they will do to you should you ignore the signs. The sign is easy to miss, so keep going) Continue past all the warning signs and drive until the road dead ends in a parking lot. There are two lots with ample parking. I would guess maybe 70 cars could fit. There were about 40 cars today. This place is a cattle ranch that became government property. The cows are now happily being raised where they belong in feedlots, and the free range has been preserved for our enjoyment. This is our first watering hole. Now littered with 36″ trout! (They are not native – trucked in) — Well, the tree is up, and we go to see the White Water Preserve. This place is worth a trip! It has some something unique to the Cochella Valley – Water!
From Palm Desert head west on I-10 and get off one exit past the Joshua Tree National Park exit. Turn right (If the road looks like it goes no where you made your turn correctly.) Go until you see a paved road on the the left. (It should have a sign that says some scary things about fire, no trespassing, and what they will do to you should you ignore the signs. The sign is easy to miss, so keep going) Continue past all the warning signs and drive until the road dead ends in a parking lot. There are two lots with ample parking. I would guess maybe 70 cars could fit. There were about 40 cars today. This place is a cattle ranch that became government property. The cows are now happily being raised where they belong in feedlots, and the free range has been preserved for our enjoyment. This is our first watering hole. Now littered with 36″ trout! (They are not native – trucked in)

They cased the watering holes in cement. The guys who made the ponds made them very pretty. They also raised the price of free range steak!

I hid behind a bush to get some pictures of my angels. It is weird being down to two.

Cool waterfall that transitions the ponds. This place is so cool, we thought of Grandpa Bob and his pond. We know this is his calling.

Sarah playing the Thinker and thinking. She scares me when she does that.

The water is clear, you can see this guy’s feet in the water. Clear water in the south, is more rare than proper breast jobs and quality cheap jewelry.

We head out on a short trail. It goes to Canada 2440 some miles. Head snowbirds out on this trail, that will get rid of us. Whoever came up with this idea, did not think it through most of us snowbirds are too old to walk, or don’t get around so well. In order for this trick to work, they need to put in a tram with a dining car that serves steak and dinner entertainment such as the Follies.

We continued until the White Water River showed up. (Note to my single little brother: You have to come to California alone and with a DSLR camera. Women take their clothes off for men with cameras. We saw this happen in Santa Barbara on the waterfront, and here on the river.) These women are nothing to sneeze at either. Once you get one, you need to move her back to the northwest where it will be too cold for her to take her clothes off when the camera comes out. Maybe the lab could give you a California assignment and you take weekends off and cut your work back to 12 hour days while you’re out “touring” with your camera.

The water is clear and has a white / grey look to it due to all the granite particles. Athena is checking the temperature. The water is cold, but warmer than the Atlantic off the furthest point of Cape Cod in January. Odd, for snow melt to be so warm.

Looking toward the South, we see windmill blades passing over the hills. I hate windmills, they are ugly. I am sure glad Obama Care defunded the windmills.

White water has probably 30 stone picnic tables and hundreds of colorful trees.

This winter, we are hitting different churches hoping to learn more about our beliefs as Christians.

We tried Revival Community Church in Menifee, Ca. A Small Christian church in a school in Palm Dessert, Ca. and Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells. Revival and South West Community Church were alike in that they are both very populous churches. All the churches were similar in that the service was like a show, and meant to be entertaining, but yet our 13 year old is still bored thought the services. Maybe the life of Christ needs to be distilled to a video game much like the Nancy Drew series with high stakes. At any rate it is obvious that a church is a business that relies on huge numbers of peoples to support the building, the staff, and outreach. To what length a church will go, we have yet to find out.

Revival is geared around college students, they play their music loud! Sarah’s ears were ringing for days after the service. The players reminded me of 80′s bar room rockers playing contemporary music. The problem we had at Revival is was rather funny, we walked all over the place trying to find the entrance leading to the sanctuary. We finally had to bother a guard at one of the doors and get directions. We came in through the A/V entrance where they had TV’s cameras, computers and sound systems beyond my wildest imagination. So much so, that it would be fun to come in during the week and stealthfully fire up the equipment and do Madonna imitations on stage. The sermon was good enough, but it escapes me today. The church is a great place to attend if you like your music loud, no hearing aid is required here.

South West Community church has one of the prettiest nicest laws we have had the privilege of being allowed to walk on. I would attend this church just for the lawn! Lawns in this area could soon become an endangered species: there are those who are in high positions lobbying to remove every last bit of green in the valley. Do they not know how precious green is? Obviously the members of this church do not know its value. While one of three parking lots was indeed full, two others were empty, and yet the members are parking their cars on the front lawn. Is this stupidity? Laziness? or a publicity stunt to make people driving by think the church is so popular the members have no where to park but the front yard?

Once in the church it was not obvious where the sanctuary was. We had to stop and watch the natives that did not park on the lawn and follow them to the service. Compared to Revival their technology was antiquated, but they really knew how to use it. The sanctuary was dark, so dark I tripped over my feet and landed in some empty seats, which I choose to use. On sitting down, we noticed they had fogged the stage, had some spinning can light sending light rays across the room, spinning fire on the ceiling, electric guitars and poorly dressed men and women rocking out on stage. Reminded me of my last concert with the Bangles in the mid 80′s. The speaker had a good message to ponder for the holidays. Mary, was seen as illegitimately pregnant by her family, it was not millionaire acres for those people, it was likely lots of fits. If Christ family had it rough, what makes us so special. He did not say how to handle this. At the Holidays my advice, is be ever so pleasant, the grumpy ones around you need the example. Forgive what you do not feel the need to forgive, be long suffering, and steal as much rest as you can.