Del Mar Races

Decided to take it easy this morning and recover from the traveling.  Bryan called a few places trying to get a replacement for the windscreen wiper.  No luck so far but a couple of places are supposed to be looking for one for us.  I researched some campgrounds here in San Diego for when we leave here but they were either full or ridiculously expensive.  We really wanted to stay here until it cools off a little before heading back across the desert.  Will keep looking.  Ryan was working until 4 or 5 and the races started at 4 so we decided that Christina would come with us and we would meet Ryan there.  Christina came to the house and we left about 4 to go to Del Mar Races. It was not too far but the traffic got worse as we got nearer.  We eventually got there in time for the 5 o'clock race.  Now, none of us had been to the horse races before.  When I was a teenager my grandfather owned racehorses in England and I once went to the racecourse but I couldn't remember much about it.  I remember more visiting the stables where the horses were trained and my granddad giving my brother & I polo mints to feed a resident goat there.  Well, my brother decided he would eat the mint and not give it to the goat.  The goat promptly butted him in the stomach and my grandfather laughed out loud.  I don't remember seeing my granddad laugh very often and so it was good to see him laugh.  My brother didn't think so though.  :)
Back to the races - I had researched how to place a bet on the website and so Bryan & I made our way to the window to place our bets.  $2 each, mine was "Show" on #8 which meant the horse could come first, second or third and I would win.  Bryan's was to "Win" on #4 which meant the horse had to win.  Obviously you win more if you select the "win" and the horse does win rather than the "show" when the horse can come first, second or third but it also depends on whether you select a favorite or an outsider.  Christina didn't want to place a bet and just enjoyed cheering with us for our horses.
We both ended up winning, yay!!!!  Bryan's horse came first and mine was third.

Sue's horse before the race

Bryan cheering for his horse

We were amazed and went to get our winnings and place our bet on the next race.  We won $13.40 between us, woohoo!!!  We had four more races and it seemed that our first win was beginners luck, however we both got one more win each.  Bryan's win came when his horse went from last to first in the final furlongs and so was exciting. Mine was in the last race when my horse "BackintheAcademy" came in first.  We ended up slightly ahead on the night which wasn't bad.  Ryan arrived with two races to go and wasn't as lucky as us.
We decided to go to Outback for dinner and as we had no idea where we were, we decided Ryan was leading.  This was easier said than done as the traffic to get out was horrendous.  I programmed the address in my phone but my battery was dying.  We managed to follow him and after a couple of frantic calls to Christina where Ryan had to stop and wait for us to catch up we found our way to La Jolla which was where the restaurant was supposed to be.  We couldn't find the restaurant and the resort was packed as usual so we decided to go home and get Wendy's on the way.  Ryan was very good in making sure we were following him as we really didn't know where we were going until we got closer to the house. Phew, we made it!!!  I'm sure Christina thinks we are a couple of nutcases but hopefully she won't hold that against Ryan.

CLICK HERE for pictures of Del Mar Races

On the road to San Diego/Admiral Baker RV Park

We survived the night again and after breakfast packed up and got on the road.  We are glad to be heading towards cooler temperatures.  The roads to San Diego are pretty uneven and everything was rattling around in Lily.  The basket that held the sugar bowl amongst other things fell on the floor and ,of course, broke!! There was sugar all over the floor, hmmm.  Time to get a plastic sugar bowl with a lid.  I don't care if it doesn't match the salt and pepper pots........
We made good time and decided not to stop for a break.  We arrived at Admiral Baker RV Park early afternoon and got settled in.  Got caught up on e-mails and internet as we didn't have a good connection in Calico.  The phone signal was pretty erratic as well.  We are still working on the booster we got to help with that, hopefully we will be able to figure it out.
The sites here are pretty close together but we are circled around a grass area with playground equipment.  So we can go straight out onto the grass. The park is full and we are trying to extend a few days but it doesn't look as though we will be able to.  We will keep trying. There are two 18 hole golf course here as well.  I want to try and start playing golf but I don't think it will be here.  I need to find a small course where I can practice a little.
We let Ryan know we had arrived and he arranged to come over when he finished work.  His girlfriend Christina was coming over as well.  We got pizza and before we knew it they were with us.  It was so good to see Ryan again.  Bryan had seen him when I was in England but I hadn't seen him since Christmas.  We got caught up on what we had been up to.  The evening went too quickly and they had to leave but we will see each other tomorrow when we are going to Del Mar horse races.

Calico Ghost Town

Well we survived the night, the ghosties didn't get us, but it sure is quiet around here and still hot, 104 degrees.  We explored Calico Ghost Town today.  Found out that when silver lost its value in the 1800's, the population of miner's left town thereby making it a "ghost town".

The entrance fee of $8 was included in our campground fee of $35/night.  Although we have full hookups the site is not really worth $35, however if we take the entrance fee off it makes it a bit more bearable.  The town was interesting and we did the mine tour as well for an extra $2/each.  We skipped the train trip as it was $4 and we didn't feel like being out in the heat anymore than we had to be.

CLICK HERE for pictures of Calico Ghost Town

We had a relaxing evening getting ready to leave tomorrow for San Diego.  The campground is empty except for a couple of tents in another loop and it is VERY dark.  Bryan got the flashlight and went to take CoCo out, she took a couple of steps outside and froze she didn't want to go any further!!!  So back in they came and we were a little spooked. She doesn't usually worry about the dark.  It took a while for me to get to sleep but everything was fine.

Travel to & arrival at Calico

Well, our first day on the road didn’t start too well.  Last night when Bryan was taking the covers off the windscreen a spring in one of the windscreen wipers popped out which meant that the wiper wouldn’t spring back against the windscreen.  He tried to fix it but it was too tight so we decided we would go to the RV store in town this morning.  This just happens to be where we bought Lily from originally.   We got packed up and ready to go and headed there.  They were NOT helpful.  It seems they had no one available and couldn’t tell us when anyone would be available, not even tomorrow, not even to just take a quick look and tell us if it was repairable or if we would need a new arm!!!  So much for looking after your customers!!! I must admit we haven’t had much luck with RV repairmen so far.  I’m not sure if we expect too much but surely customer service is customer service.  Since we have moved into Lily we have used a mobile RV tech that came to us.  He took far longer than he should have, although was very proud of the fact he had saved us money on a part.  It definitely cost more for the hours taken to figure out the problem in the first place.  We used Johnnie Walker RV in Las Vegas.  Now we had bought the trailer we had before Lily from them and have nothing but good things to say about their sales dept.  They are not pushy and listen to what you want without trying to sell you something you don’t want.  The service department is a different story, no customer service skills at all.  And now we are finding the same with RV Superstore in Pahrump.  Sorry, rant over.

We decided we would tape up the wiper and proceed to Calico as rain was not forecast and hopefully we can find someone in San Diego to help us. 

On road between Pahrump and Shoshone.  The windscreen wiper is taped up!!!

This meant that we didn’t leave until later than we anticipated but off we headed.  We took the back roads to Baker and had a chuckle at a sign we saw that advertised “Death Valley Health Center”   Just amused both of us.  J

We stopped at Baker for lunch and once again saw the Worlds Largest Thermometer. It was 104 degrees today. Not as hot as it could have been but hot enough. Phew!!!

The largest thermometer in the world at Baker, Ca

We have driven this road to California so many times that we both commented that we won’t be back this way anytime soon.  We arrived at Calico Ghost Town at 3.30pm.  It was so hot that I really was exhausted and ended up with an upset stomach.  We haven’t got a good phone or internet service here. Both are very sporadic.  We will go and explore the town tomorrow.  The campsite is very sparse and there are not many here.  It really is too hot to be outside. 

Parked in our campsite.  This will be home for the next two nights.

Hope the ghosties don’t get us tonight!!!!

The adventure begins tomorrow.....

Well we have packed up as much as we can ready for our departure from Lakeside Rv Park, Pahrump tomorrow.  We plan on getting to San Diego on Thursday after stopping at Calico Ghost Town for two nights.
On Friday we will meet up with Ryan & his girlfriend Christina and go to Del Mar races.

We went for a short drive to test the road that we will be taking tomorrow and nearly decided to go back through Vegas, although this would add an hour to our journey.  Have now decided not to do this and will stick to our original plan of the back route to Baker, Ca.

The last week has been quite an adventure in itself.  I have fallen over twice, both times on wet concrete and both times I had my flip flops on!!!!  Duh, should have learnt the first time.  The second time I twisted my knee and so I am now hobbling a little.  This could be classed as my first injury on the road.  Looked up on the internet how to treat this and so icepacks and a little rest and the knee is getting better.  Bryan also fell when CoCo pulled him out of the motorhome, she was eager for her walk, and he fell down the steps and flat on his back.  He hurt his ankle, so we are like the walking wounded.
On a brighter note, here are some pics from one of our early morning walks around the lake.  We have a resident heron, who seems to be in the same place every day and almost looks like a statue but I have seen it move so know it's alive :)

We bought a planter and some plants for outside the motorhome to personalize it a bit.

Do you like the "Bobby" whirlygig?  His arms go round in the wind and he looks like he is directing traffic, so cute.  Someone that Bryan met at the airport where he worked made him for us when he found out I was English!!  That was so, so nice of him and we saved it until we started traveling in the motorhome.

Here is the view of the park and lake from our motorhome. It is really nice here and I will miss the walks around the lake.

Went into Vegas last week to say goodbye to old friends and workmates.  It was nice catching up and seeing everyone and still can't really believe we are leaving after 20 years here.

We have booked our tickets for Daytona in February 2014, so we will be parked in the infield for 7 days for the Daytona 500.

Well, that's about it for now, until next time, take care.