Needles, California KOA

For the first time on this year's trip, we broke 20C! We left Bakersfield Monday morning with a bit of frost on the truck, but by the time we pulled into the Needles KOA, it was 22C and not a wisp of clouds anywhere. This is definitely the kind of weather we came down here for - just a spectacular day.

On the way, we stopped at the Outlet Malls in Barstow and Paulette spent about 90 minutes looking at the shops but didn't find any great deals. We arrived at the KOA about 3:00pm so we had lot's of time to enjoy the warm weather while setting up our campsite. Needles is located on the borders of three states - California, Arizona and Nevada.

We're really happy with our RV site here as we literally back up right to the edge of the desert - here's the view from our campsite:

From Needles, California KOA

We can walk right from our 5th wheel right out into the desert for as long as we would like to - which, truthfully, hasn't really been all that far! Mo and Molly really love going for walks out there.

Getting the satellite dish setup was a bit of a challenge as there were two huge trees across the lane blocking our path to the satellite. However, after some juggling, we managed to get a lock between the branches and ended up with perfect reception. Having satellite tv is great as we get exactly the same stations as we did at home so we're able to follow the local news and keep up-to-date on what's happening.

Today, Tuesday, was another absolutely perfect day - 23C and not a single cloud anywhere. We are looking forward to this becoming quite normal! It is definitely time to dump the boots, sweatshirt and jeans for t-shirts, shorts and sandals!

We decided to take a run into Lake Havasu, AZ this morning to see if anything had changed since our 2 week stay there last January. The first thing we noticed driving in is that the shopping mall that was just under construction when we left last year is now open for business. So, naturally, Paulette had to check it out. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to get all the grime and dirt washed off the truck and then decided to take Mo and Molly for a drive over the London Bridge for a view of the city from the other side of Lake Havasu:

From Needles, California KOA

Afer picking up Paulette at the mall, we went back to the KOA and spent the afternoon lounging around before lighting up our first barbeque of the year - Jan. 12th, not bad! Also, I hooked up the second tv in our bedroom so I wouldn't have to endure 2 hours of the opening episode of American Idol tonight.

Tomorrow morning we are going to take the short drive up to Bullhead City and Laughlin in Nevada - it's only 30 minutes from Needles. After that we'll probably head back and begin to pack up as we are leaving first thing Wednesday morning for Banning, CA which is about an hour or so east of Los Angeles. The main reason we are going there is so that Paulette can go to the biggest Quilt Show in California which begins Jan. 15th at the Ontario Convention Centre just east of Banning.

But first, we're looking forward to another great day here tomorrow!