Steve and Mary are about to begin another adventure. Last year was our first warm winter and we just LOVED it!!! So this year we are heading south again.

We will spend January in Loma Linda, California where we will see some of the sights we missed last year and Steve will get a yearly checkup which will be great of course. His PSA has gone down to .99 and he feels great. It will be nice to visit friends we made while we were there.

In February and March we will be in Scottsdale Arizona. The only time we have spent in Arizona before was helping our son move home from Mesa. We are looking forward to visiting friends in Phoenix, Mesa and Sun City. We have no idea what to expect from Arizona except for much loved warm weather.

What with Christmas arriving faster everyday we have had little time to research the offerings of Arizona but we are excited about the adventure that lies ahead.

We Are On Our Way Home

This has been our humble abode for the last 3 months and it has been nice. It's about 1000 sq ft and has a nice porch with chairs that we have often sat in reading and enjoying the sunshine. We have worn shorts more than 2/3 the time and enjoyed every minute of it.

Well, Steve only has ONE more treatment. It is with mixed emotions that we will be leaving here tomorrow, Thursday morning January 29th, 2009. We have met lifetime friends here in this special atmosphere of healing and love. We believe that none of us are here by accident, we have been led here for a reason. As we have discussed our different stories they are also similar in the miracles that brought us to this place. We have been in a little bubble here without any responsibilities to keep pulling us in different directions, it's been great. Steve is coming home healed.

The gantry crew that has worked with Steve and the other ~155 prostate cancer patients here have been extremely professional and have become his friends also. You can't believe the love that exists is this special place.

Our itinerary coming home is a little loose and may change on the way. (I told Steve that I would like to come home via Texas where it is still warm, there is a lot to be said for warm winters)

Our plan at this time is to leave after Steve's treatment Thursday morning and arrive in Newport Beach in time to attend a 5pm temple session. Friday morning we will go to San Juan Capistrano, then head to Santa Monica and spend time on the pier and beach. We will then head to Hearst Castle for a couple of tours, then Napa to visit my niece and on up to Vancouver to visit my grandfather.

Finally, we will make the last leg of our trek from Vancouver to HOME anywhere from Tuesday to Thursday, where I am sure it is a lot colder than here! It will be good to be home again with our family, friends and good neighbors.

More Service

We have met some RVr's that go around working on service projects throughout the US. They are called Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service - RVICS. They are retired Christian couples (non denominational) living in RVs who are willing to help others. It is basically a maintenance and service ministry but they also do small construction projects and only serve non-profit fundamental christian college, schools, camps, conference centers, etc.

Well, Steve got the opportunity to get with some friends here who are RVICS and went a short distance away to Moreno Valley to help at a Baptist retreat called Victory Ranch which is on 86 acres.

There turned out to be a coule of RVICS groups working at the ranch doing different projects. Steve worked with a group fixing up this mobile home. Steve actually worked with a glass man and they made and fitted the windows around the porch on this home. Steve once again enjoyed helping others.

I was busy packing so didn't go this time but Steve and I did drive up again today just to look around the valley area. The terrain was a little different than where we live, it's sort of like living in the country. We saw dairy's, sheep ranches, orange groves (of course) and what looked like wheat just starting to grow. It was a beautiful valley.

Getting Around California

Getting around in California is not always easy. Here are some "must know" travel tips:


1. Pull your seat belt tight and keep your eyes on the road at all times!


2. Have a map or maps with you if you are fairly new to ANY area for many of the reasons listed here. We used to carry an Atlas, a state map, a city map and two county maps (you never know where you might end up.


3. You rarely get on a freeway the same place you got off. (Don't ask us why)


4. The names of the streets change at almost all intersections. In the same town. (Don't ask us why)


5. Driving in rush hour can be easier than other times; people are a little more courteous knowing that they two must soon change lanes to get off.

6. When changing lanes there is always someone on your tail and in your blind spot.

7. The speed limit signs are only a suggestion. There are only 2 speeds to travel (1) fast, about 85 or (2) slow, about 5. Go with the flow or get run over.


8. Beware - motorcycles can drive on the white line between lanes of traffic on the highways and they do zip in and out.


8. When asking directions - don't - nobody knows where anything is.


The best way to find your way around is to have a personal navigator with you with the proper tools and an eagle eye. (You will always need a map)


GOOD LUCK !!

Huntington Library

As I have said before there is no end to the cultural enrichment opportunities available here in Southern California. Once again we took advantage of the rich opportunity here and went to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Another fantastic experience.

The Huntington Library is a nonprofit institution founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate developer Henry Edwards Huntington and opened to the public in 1928. It is a research and education center on 120 acres of gardens with three art galleries, a library and botanical gardens.


The libraries rare books and manuscripts constitute one of the world’s largest and most extensively used collections in America outside of the Library of Congress. We saw one of the remaining Gutenberg Bible, manuscripts by Jack London and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and much, much more. There was just sooooo much to take in.




The art collections are distinguished by their specialized character and elegant settings in three separate galleries. The Main Gallery contains one of the finest collections of full-length 18th-century British portraits to be found outside of Britain, and provides an unrivaled opportunity to study British art. Masterpieces include works by such artists as Constable, Romney, Reynolds, Van Dyck, and Turner, as well as the Blue Boy by Gainsborough and Pinkie by Lawrence. I wish I had room to include all paintings and sculptures I took pictures of here.


The botanical gardens are divided into more than a dozen thematic areas on 120 acres and include more than 15,000 different species of plants from all over the world. We visited the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden.

The 3 main elements of a Japanese garden are water, rocks, and plants. All gardens have each of these or the symbol or illusion of each such as a water basin instead of a pond or a dry gravel stream bed.


The Chinese Garden combines the beauty of nature with the expressiveness of literature to give deeper meaning to the landscape. We wandered through the traditional Suzhou-style garden, featuring a 1.4 acre lake bordered by craggy Tai Hu limestone rocks. There were seven pavilions, a canyon waterfall and five hand-carved stone bridges set against a wooded backdrop of camellias, bamboo and plum trees, that were just starting to blossom at the time we were there.

The two were distinctly different and yet peaceful and thought provoking in their own ways.

We went with another couple from our group Dick and Lillian from Hillsboro Oregon and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Side Trip

After we saw Gublers Orchids we headed down the road a little farther because of a domed building we saw and thought we would check it out. We thought it might just be a domed house or maybe an observatory of some kind. It turned our to be a little more than we initially thought.

At the road into the building was a sign that said "Integratron." I had never heard the word or had any idea what it was. We met some people there that had rented it for the day so we couldn't really see it but they gave us some literature about it.

It was created by George Van Tassel in the 1950's. It seems that this is a world famous dome built at the intersection of geomagnetic forces in the Mojave Desert. (?) This one-of-a-kind building is a 38-foot high, 55-foot diameter, non-metallic structure originally designed by Van Tassel as a rejuvenation and time machine. Today, it is claimed to be the only all-wood, acoustically perfect sound chamber in the U.S.

It is rented to musicians, recording artist, astronomers, wedding parties, family gatherings, and more. Facilities include exclusive access to the Integratron, fire pit, shaded courtyard, BBQ, outdoor living room, hammock village, and a 10 inch telescope. It also includes a Sound Bath which is touted to be a 30-minute sonic healing session in the deeply resonant Sound Chamber.




On our way home we saw a notice of a Harley-Davidson Museum and thought we'd check it out. Well, it was really a Harley dealer who had a few older motorcycles but they were really interesting to look at. This is a 1912 Harley with a leather belt drive. Almost looks like a regular bycycle. Isn't it cool! I wonder what kind of sound it made.

Orchids in The Desert

We were looking for something close to home to do the other day and heard of orchids in the Twentynine Palms area so off we went to investigate. You have to realize that when you get out of town you are in the desert. We turned north at Palm Springs, went through Yucca Valley and then further north to a "town" called Landers. This area is in the Little San Bernardino Mountains and as you look around all you see for 50 miles is desert, cactus and dirt. So we are thinking someone was really fooling us.

Finally, thinking this might be a wasted trip we came across the Gubler Orchid hot houses. Look at the land behind me and what do you see - NOTHING, we are in the middle of nowhere!

But what a sweet surprise. They have over 50,000 square feet filled with over 5,000 different orchid hybrids. I didn't know there were that many. They gave us a personal tour and we saw a large variety of beautiful orchids.

We learned that Gubler Orchids is one of the nation's largest orchid growers and they ship throughout the US and the world. Mr. Gubler settled here in 1975 because of the great growing conditions and had a dream of building a business from his love of orchids. He certainly did that.

The trip was well worth it and we would recommend it to anyone in the area.