A Trip to Dog Beach and a Golf Lesson.

We took Moose and Cody to the Dog Beach which is nearby and they had a great time! This beach allows dogs and as a result, dogs were all over and all seemed to get along just fine. Cody, of course, was very interested in the water and eager to fetch the retrieving bumper, however, this was the first time he had ever seen salt water or surf.

He dashed out to the bumper, but was submerged by a big wave. He was a bit surprised, but did not seem to mind. In fact, he quickly seemed to learn how to surf the waves as seen here.

Here is a happy dog! In fact, he was very excited to find another old bumper that washed ashore. Naturally, this was the one he wanted from then on.

Unfortunately, after retrieving it several times, he couldn't stand it and had to shred it, which he did with great joy and enthusiasm!


We had a nice day today and did some varied things. Jerry and I moved to the driving range where he was kind enough to share some pointers on golf and helped me work on my swing (which needs lots of work!).


Here you can see my new driver -- a Taylormade Burner which I really like. I think this will really help my game and I am looking forward to using it.

The Pacific Aquarium in Long Beach

We spent a wonderful day today in the harbor area of Long Beach. This is a truly beautiful location with a excellent harbor walk, shops of all kinds, and the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific facility. We parked right across the street in the parking building ($7) which is well positioned for exploring the area.
Orinda was very impressed with the life-size whale exhibit that greeted us when we arrived. This large facility focuses on the sealife in the California area and includes kelp displays, sea lions, sea otters, sharks and much more.

There were several aquariums featuring jelly fish -- these were fascinating. These particular jelly fish are called Moon Jelly fish and were very graceful in swimming.
Jellies have to be housed in a special round tank to make sure they do not get wedged into a corner.

Some of our favorites were the very colorful anemones which were featured in several displays. A common native of southern California, these grew in many different types and sizes.
This very large crab looked fierce and comes from the very cold water of the northern Pacific. I admit that I thought of inviting the crab to dinner - after a short encounter with boiling water, crab legs would be enjoyed!

After touring the aquarium, we walked around the bay area which is very extensive. There is a large commercial area near the marina that included this beautiful tall ship which is used to provide summer camps at sea for youth.

Rick kept his eye out for larger cruising sailboats. There were several docked at this area.

This is a very active area and features the Long Beach Container Terminal and can handle many large ships. Two interesting vessels that we saw were the Queen Mary and the Carnival Pride cruise ship. Even though we were on the other side of the bay, these large ships were very impressive.

After a very enjoyable day in the Long Beach Bay area, we stopped at the driving range so Rick could try out his new driver. He bought a driver a couple days ago, but after trying it out, was not happy with it. Fortunately, the store where he bought it offers a "buy it, try it, and exchange it" if you are not happy with it, so Rick took them up on it and swapped for a Taylor made Burner driver. After hitting a number of balls on the range with this, he seemed very happy with his purchase!

The Pomona RV Show

We went with Jerry and Irene to the Pomona RV show which was about 30 miles away from us in Long Beach. This is typically a very large show and is unique in that it is produced by the manufacturers of RVs. As luck would have it, at the entrance to the Fairgrounds was this excellent railroad exhibit. My favorite was this Union Pacific 9000 locomotive.

There were about 1,000 rvs at the show representing all sizes and descriptions. While there were plenty of manufacturers represented, sales reps and other factory representatives, there were very few folks attending. Indeed, this was the first RV show we have ever attended where we almost never ran into another person looking at the same RV we were in. Needless to say, the sales folks were "hungry" for a prospect and we had absolutely no problem getting our questions answered.

Orinda thought this Airstream was cute, but decided she might prefer to fulltime in our 40' motorcoach instead.

This 40' Foretravel was more her style and was beautiful inside and out. This coach had a number of great features and attention to detail, but was priced more than a bit out of our price range!

Orinda had read of a famous hotdog spot called Pinks which is located in Los Angles. She was therefore delighted when I pointed out the Pinks Hotdog stand right here at the show!


As you can tell, there is nothing better than a good chili hotdoog with all the trimings. We all enjoyed the dogs and had a nice rest while eating.

We had a great time at the show, but ended up deciding that our Tour was the perfect coach for us. That is my idea of a great RV show -- see lots of fun stuff, learn about new rigs, and not spend any serious money!

Rick takes up golf

I enjoyed the game of golf over the years, but gave it up for a number of years due to some health issues. I have decided that it is time to give the game another shot, so decided to take a look at the new equipment. I was amazed at the advances in the clubs today and decided to go ahead and get a new set. I settled on what I think to be a great set from Cleveland Golf called the Hibore XLI Irons that are some of the new hybrid irons. I was delighted at how well I struck these clubs, although aiming still needs some work.

I also looked at a different driver, but was not at all pleased with the initial selection. Fortunately, I can exchange it for another one and will do so in the next few days. We will see how that works.

Bottom line -- I don't think I am quite ready for the tour, but had a great time using the new clubs and look forward to practicing in the future. Who knows, perhaps some day we will get down to that 18 handicap!

I-40 to Long Beach, CA

We left Barstow this morning on our way to Long Beach. I-40 runs directly through the Mohave Desert which really impressed us. The desolate nature and lack of water really yield an unforgettable landscape. It must have been a scary thought to contemplate going across this desert in a covered wagon or on horseback.
I-40 climbs and then drops for several miles and I was glad to have our compression brake on the coach. This kept us from gaining too much speed or having to use the regular brakes so that they overheated.

As we approached the Los Angeles area, traffic picked up dramatically (big surprise!). We were amazed at the number of different freeways that serve the area and the amount of traffic on all of them. This might have compounded by the wildfires that were buring to the north of us. Still, we moved right along and reached our rv park in the Long Beach area. We plan to visit the Long Beach aquarium, the Queen Mary which is berthed nearby, and many of the other attractions in the next couple weeks.

To California and the Mohave Desert

We left Laughlin, NV and motored on to Barstow, California. We drove most of the day through the huge Mohave Desert which is a very impressive sight. This area was much bigger than I had expected and is measured in the many miles.


I was amazed at the mountains which had no vegetation on them at all. A very desolate, but enchanting area and a beautiful one.

Upon arrival at Barstow, we went to the Fred Harvey House which was built in 1911 as a rail hotel and inn. Unfortunatley, the house was closed (it is open on the weekend), but it was a beautiful building that now houses two museums.


While the museum was closed, there were several great rail displays outside, so all was not lost!


I always love to get up close to engines and equipment, so this was great.

Laughlin, NV -- a true entrepreneurial success

We spent the last two days at Laughlin, NV which is right on the Colorado River and next to Bullhead City, AZ. This is a casino-oriented town, but a real study in one man's vision and entrepreneurial drive (part of the following from www.visitlaughlin.com ). This started after the Davis Dam was completed which controlled the Colorado River and created Lake Mohave directly above Laughlin.

In 1964 Don Laughlin, owner of Las Vegas' 101 Club, flew over Laughlin and offered to buy the property. In less than two years the motel and bar, now called the Riverside Resort, was offering all-you-can-eat chicken dinners for 98 cents, play on 12 slot machines and two live gaming tables. Guest accommodations were available in four of the motel's eight motel rooms. The Laughlin family lived in the other four rooms.

Don's current facility is shown below and called the Riverside Casino. Amazingly, he is the only person I have ever heard of that built and donated a huge bridge to the community!

South Pointe was renamed Laughlin when the U.S. Postal Service inspector insisted Don Laughlin give the town a name-any name-in order to receive mail. Don Laughlin recommended the name of Riverside or Casino, but the postal inspector used Laughlin instead.

As the area continued to grow, it was clear a bridge from Arizona to Laughlin was needed, so in 1987, Don Laughlin funded and built the Laughlin Bridge at a cost of $3.5 million. He donated the bridge to the states of Nevada and Arizona and the bridge carries 2,000 vehicles daily. This has enabled the area to really boom and now there are 14 casinos in the area including this one, the Edgewater.

We enjoyed our visit (and left a few bucks with Don's facility) and visited the growing area. We will be on our way to California tomorrow, but would enjoy returning sometime.