As promised, here is another review of a Thousand Trails resort. Like the one we shared about in Palm Springs, Soledad Canyon is included in our membership.
Soledad Canyon RV Resort is located in the Antelope Valley. It was a pleasant hour and a half drive from south Los Angeles.
Its an enormous park with lots of full hook up sites to choose from.
Its very cold here this weekend but I took a very nice walk and got a lot of pictures of the amenities.
There are lots of cabins for rent.
Im hoping it will be warm enough to get in the pool and jacuzzi today.
There are cute little playgrounds throughout the park.
The recreation lodge is very nice and well equipped with billards tables, puzzles and comfy chairs.
Soledad Canyon offers RV spots that you can lease year round. These people have theirs set up very well.
I love to walk and explore. I’m looking forward to checking out this walking trail when Kathy can join me.
While the coldness is not ideal, Soledad Canyon offers a peaceful and spacious get away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. If you are interested in a Thousand Trails membership or have questions about the RV life please contact us at boltraveling@gmail.com.
Category: retirement
Goddess Experience in the Hood!
There’s a little piece of heaven in Los Angeles, just east of Crenshaw on Olympic Blvd. The Olympic Spa is a traditional Korean style spa and a place of respite and bliss.
I used to come here a lot when I was primary caregiver for my mother, now deceased. For $15 I would enter, turn off my phone, sink into the mugwort tea hot tub and let all my cares float away. The $15 is now up to $25 which is still a great value. Called the “simple soak” it includes use of all the spa facilities including jade laden steam sauna, the hot “mugwort” tea pool, The Himalayan salt therapy room and the healing heat of the mineral sauna.
You can stay all day (the spa is open 9 to 9) and even enjoy a delicious Korean meal in the cafe. I always take a little nap on the heated jade floor too.
Thailand has spoiled me with regular massages. For this visit I decided to treat myself to the Goddess spa treatment.
According to the website it is
“the ultimate moisturizing experience. We start with a full body Korean Scrub to exfoliate the skin, followed by an aromatic seaweed body shampoo. Now relax and enjoy a wonderful Aromatherapy Massage to melt all those knots away. A rejuvenating essential oil scalp massage will instantly lift your spirits. It doesn’t end here, your face is then massaged with toxin releasing strokes and a purifying facial mask is applied to refresh and tighten the pores. After an aromatherapy hair shampoo and rinse, a luxurious body emulsion is soothingly applied to hydrate and moisturize. This treatment is exclusive to us and not available anywhere else.”
They do not lie or exaggerate! Expensive by my Thai standards it was 1 hr 45 min of pure bliss for $155.
The Goddess includes use of all the spa facilities. In addition to the mugwort bath, I especially love the Himalayan salt therapy room. It is a super heated cave like room filled with Himalayan salt crystals. It is a great idea for detoxing and relaxing.
For obvious reasons, I couldn’t walk around the spa (naked women everywhere) taking pictures. So I grabbed the above images from the web. While doing so, I came upon this sister’s blog post. It’s a beautiful blog about her dance with cancer. Turns out the Olympic Spa was one of her favorite places. Rest in paradise, Caridad, thank you for sharing.
BOLT Reviews: Palm Springs Thousand Trails RV Resort
Kathy and I recently joined the Thousand Trails RV system. For about $500 dollars per year we can stay for 2 week periods at a wide variety of RV parks in California, Nevada and Arizona. Additional states can be added for under a $100. This seems to be a great deal for RVers. The average one night stay in most RV parks is $30 in California.
The Palm Springs park is our first Thousand Trails stay. I’ll be reviewing all the parks we visit.
This is a very small, basic park. It’s like a big parking lot. However, we find it quite pleasant. There are palm trees everywhere and I find them beautiful.
There’s a wonderful pool and hot tub…very clean, uncrowded with plenty of lounging areas.
There are nice, air conditioned areas for family and adult activities like games, poker and billiards.
There’s a very small playground but not much else for children to do. It’s very hot so the pool is the spot to be.
There are really cute little cabins that visitors without RVs can rent.
Our first Thousand Trails experience has been a good one so far. We will be here for a week. If you are interested in a Thousand Trails membership please let us know. We are happy to answer any questions or help you to arrange a visit.
Sonoyta Border Crossing
Compared to our last border crossing (Tijuana with a 6 hour line of cars and bomb threats), today’s crossing was a breeze. We left Puerto Penasco this morning around noon headed for the border at Sonoyta.
Sonoyta is a small town in the Mexican state of Sonora. It’s right next to Lukeville, Arizona. The crossing station is only open from 6am to 6pm daily and is little used. There was one car ahead of us when we crossed at 11:30 am.
We had our passports ready and encountered no real problem. A U.S. Department of Agriculture agent did come into Winnie and left with a carton of eggs, some frozen chicken, potatoes and soy chorizo. Had we known we could have left those things in Puerto Penasco. Here’s a link for what foods can be brought from Mexico to the U.S.
The drive after crossing was quite lovely. Lots of cacti and small towns. We took highway 8 all the way. Right now we are spending the night in Campo, California and enjoying a beautiful sunset. One great thing about RV life is that home is where you parked it!
Descanso, BOLT Style
Descanso means rest in Spanish. After 7 lovely days on the road in Baja California, Mexico we crossed over into the mainland. We are currently in the Mexican State of Sonora in the town of Puerto Peñasco.
Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, is a Mexican fishing and resort city on the Gulf of California. It’s known for dune-backed Sandy Beach and Bahía la Choya’s tidal pools.
For BOLT, Puerto Penasco will be a place of rest. We have found a lovely RV park, just blocks from the beach, and plan to stay a month.
Sunset RV park has a beautiful salt water swimming pool, an area for barbeques, laundry facilities and everything else we need.
Kathy and I are looking forward to a wonderful month of descanso and exploration of this part of Mexico. We are very close to the U.S. so please come visit!
Cooking with BOLT!
One thing I love about RV life is lots of time for cooking. I didn’t cook much in Thailand because, well, Thai food!
Anyway we cook a lot while road tripping. The kitchen in Winnie is small but it has everything I need. From time to time I thought I’d start sharing some of my recipes with you.
It’s cold here and so I thought today was the perfect day for my Lentil Chilli. Here’s what you need and what to do:
- 1 white or yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 green or red bell pepper
- 1 pasilla chilli
- 2 zucchini or chayote squash
- 2 large ripe tomatoes
- Olive oil for sauteing
- pound bag any color lentils
- Chilli seasoning (garlic powder, cumin, chilli powder, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper)
- Grated jack or cheddar cheese
- Fritos
Cut all veggies into chunks and saute in the olive oil until tender.
Add lentils and cover with water.
Cook on medium heat until lentils are tender (about 2 hours).
Add seasonings to taste.
Serve topped with grated cheese and Fritos.
Perfect for a chilly day in Baja California! Healthy and vegetarian too!
Chiang Mai to Ensenada… We made it!
I’m too tired and jet lagged to write much but the BOLTs have arrived safely in Ensenada, Baja California Norte, Mexico.
We are reunited with the BOLT dog, Kahlo.
And are back in the cozy Winnie.
The trip was grueling with a 5 hour layover in Bangkok and a 12 hour one in Tokyo. We ventured out from Narita Airport, by bus, into Tokyo. I don’t recommend this. The bus ride is 3 hours round trip and all we saw was the big, bustling, business part of Tokyo. We will definitely visit Japan when we have time to explore and enjoy.
We arrived safely in San Diego after a 10 hour flight. From San Diego we enjoyed the Blue Line Trolley which took us right to the Mexican border.
Crossing the border was easy, the Mexican immigration folks are lovely and friendly.
We took a taxi from the border to Ensenada, less than 2 hours, for $80. There are cheaper ways to go (by bus) but we were very tired. We arrived safely at the Mona Lisa RV park. And are enjoying the Pacific Ocean Views.
Chiang Mai Magic!
There’s just something about Chiang Mai! Kathy and I came here over 3 years ago and stayed over a year that time. Yes, we visited other cities and countries but we always came back to Chiang Mai. This time we came and have stayed a solid year. Except for a brief visit to Bangkok we have stayed in Chiang Mai for the whole time.
It’s hard to describe the magic that happens in Chiang Mai and I’m not sure if you can feel it during a brief visit.
Chiang Mai Magic occurs in the over 300 temples, places of such sacred beauty that I never get tired of visiting them.
Chiang Mai Magic is at the San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, one of my favorite places to practice self care.
Chiang Mai Magic is in all the wonderful festivals that occur throughout the year, especially Yi Peng, the Flower Festival and Songkran.
Chiang Mai Magic is overwhelmingly at Inthakin Green Village. There is so much magic and healing here that I have written several blogs about it.
Chiang Mai Magic happens for Kathy on the motorbike. She experiences magic on her many rides in and around the city. If you want to experience Chiang Mai in this way, I highly recommend the Honda Safety Riding School.
Most of all I think Chiang Mai Magic is the people, the beautiful Thai people, the fabulous members of the African American community here and beloved friends and family who have visited. The magic is in planned events and random meet ups. The magic happens just walking down the street where I always see and greet someone I know.
We leave Chiang Mai and it’s magic tomorrow. I’m sad to leave all this magic behind. However, part of the magic of Chiang Mai is that I know we can’t stay away for long. BOLT loves you Chiang Mai and we’ll be back soon.
Thailand Road Trip!
I love a good road trip and yesterday was the perfect one! We set out in the morning from Inthakin Green Village in Mae Teang. We headed north, destination Chang Dao, just a few kilometers from the Myanmar border.
Most of the drive was along the Ping River which was lovely in itself. We traveled through small villages and lots of lush greenery.
Our first stop in Chang Dao was the temple /home of a local monk. It was wonderful to see him again, he had given us a special blessing a few months ago. We also got to see our friend, Pi Oi, who lives near the monk.
No road trip is complete without delicious food. The gyoza at this small restaurant is amazing!
After our bellies were full, we headed up to this amazing wat (temple) . Called Wat Tam Mung Na, it’s building it built onto a cave. There’s an easy trip up several levels of ramps to the top where you find the cave and are surrounded by soothing chanting and can join in sitting meditation.
Many people come to spend the night or several days in meditation and chanting. There were tents everywhere.
These are the views from the top of the temple.
The temple grounds were very beautiful with lots of amazing statues.
There’s even a cute little coffee shop, which also offered amazing views.
Kathy and I had a truly fabulous day, made even more special because we spent it with people we love. Thank you Wanvisa, Jen and Ajan Sai for a perfect day!
Living That Chiang Mai Life!
“Living that Chiang Mai life!” is a favorite expression of our dear friend, Ken. Kathy and I are truly doing that and it’s a great life!
Folks ask us all the time, where do all these Black folks in Chiang Mai come from?
The answer is the answer that is true for Black folks everywhere…from all across the diaspora.
Many of us are from the U.S. as evidenced by this election watch party, but even then there was a Canadian in the bunch.
We are from South Africa as well as other countries in the Motherland. Some of us are from Europe.
No matter where we come from, we find a lot of joy and community in Chiang Mai.
We participate in community theater; we work as teachers, digital nomads or entrepreneurs. We volunteer and we are students.
We are tourists and residents. Some come for medical care or spiritual growth. Like Kathy and I, many are retired. Some of us stay briefly and some are here for life.
I really wish everyone reading this post could come and experience the beauty of living that Chiang Mai life! Kathy and I are happy to help.
BOLT: Black Old Lesbians Traveling 