After the fun we had in Arizona, we were disappointed to be leaving, but we knew we had some really fun adventures ahead of us so despite the disappointment, we were still really excited to continue on our journey. We had an easy day of driving from Cottonwood, AZ to Thermal, CA. It was about a 6-hour long drive, but we had another time change so we gained an hour of our day. 

We now have a 3-hour time difference between us and our East Coast family and friends.

Along the way, the cats got along really well. They hardly screamed at all on this leg of the trip. They slept most of the way and Sammie only woke up screaming when she was hungry. After eating her lunch, she went back to bed. It was great having a break from the constant screaming they typically do on the car rides.

We enjoyed the route we drove along to get to the next RV park where we would be staying. We traveled through uninhabited roads in the desert until we came to the town where we would be staying for 5 nights.

We decided to stay in the warm, sunny region before we ventured to our final (temporary) destination. At this point, we had known where our first travel contract was located so we wanted to enjoy the southern sun before heading north where we would be staying for 3 months. I was more than happy to enjoy the sun and the palm trees a little while longer.

We stayed at Oasis Palms RV Resort. It was a small park with a nice pond that had a fountain. We were lucky to get a spot right next to the pond. We also happened to have the public fire pits in our “backyard” and since they were so close to our home, other people didn’t even try to come over to use them. It was great having them all to ourselves. 

Once we arrived at the campground, we decided we needed to go grocery shopping. Ryan had suggested that I go alone so that he could set everything up at the campground since it was getting late, and we were both tired. He figured it would save us time if we split up the tasks, but I didn’t feel comfortable going to the store in a new area alone, especially in the dark.

So, we drove 15 minutes to the nearest grocery store that was off a very busy road. When we took our exit to the store, we saw that there were very few buildings in the area and the ones that were there looked abandoned. The “grocery” store, which was more like a convenience store, looked wicked sketchy with no streetlights in the parking lot and a partially lit up store sign. 

Even the inside of the store looked dark from the outside. At first glance, I thought it was closed, but once we saw the open sign hanging in the door, we proceeded to go inside. It seemed perfectly fine for a convenience store and it served our purpose, but I was glad that I made the smart decision not to go alone. 

Luckily, we found much better grocery stores in the Palm Springs and Palm Desert areas, so we didn’t have to venture back to the convenience store.

During our stay at Oasis Palms, we enjoyed watching the sunrise every morning. We had a wonderful view right from our bed of the sun slowly rising up casting its orange and pink glow over the pond with the palm trees in sight. It was the perfect way to start the day. Watching the sunrise was my favorite part of staying at this RV park. Just for this reason alone, I would go back to this area.

The kitties also enjoyed their time here in the sun!