090313 - Smart GPS

Smart GPS

You know my belief system … there are no accidents … everything happens for a reason…. Well … From Niland to our next RV Park at Indio, we set our GPS and headed north. It was a straightforward route and I wasn’t paying attention to the turn-by-turn directions. As we neared out designation, the GPS told us to turn at the next intersection and so I moved over to the left hand lane and made the turn. Somehow, it did not seem right because I expected to go straight for a while longer so I pulled off the road at the next corner, into a small parking lot with a small white square building on it. Now I had made out a letter to mail last week and expected to drop it at our next campground. As I stopped the Beast to review a map, I noticed that there was a mailbox directly in front of us. As I got out to drop off my letter, I looked more closely at the small white building, and it was actually a local post office. Of course, I was in need of stamps. Coincidence, I think not. Apparently, my GPS knew exactly what I needed and where to go … could it have been reading my mind?

Getting back to the map – it appears that the route our GPS had chosen was actually a good shortcut and I elected to follow its advice. As we got closer to Indio, Peter went over to sniff his bag of dog food and discovered it was less than a ¼ full, which to him was reason to be concerned. He has been insisting that I put an electronic warning device on the bag to alert us when it is dangerously low. I consulted Google Maps on my Palm Treo Smart Phone and found a Petsmart Store nearby and bought another large bag. He was one happy dog.

We finally arrived at Indian Waters RVP and Peter was happy with what he saw out the window.
Instead of the weird green trees (cactus) and brown grass, he was looking at familiar brown trees with green leaves and green grass. He was obviously anxious to get outside to survey the area and search for P-mail.

The park is large, with lots of amenities, including a nice pool, dining room, social room, poolroom and shaded patio when we need to get out of the direct path of the hot afternoon sun. It may not be officially summer yet, but the weather is warm (in the 80’s) with cool nights (in the 60’s). We can live with it.

So far our only complaint about the park is its size and our location in it. – It is very big and we are far away from the clubhouse and pool. Too far to walk – therefore I must use the scooter. Peter walks slowly due to the heat and the arthritis in his paw joints, but the doggie Vioxx seems to keep him from limping and hopefully reduces pain. When he wants to, he manages to jump up on the bed or the couch if he thinks theres a cookie there or he has the possibility of getting a belly rub.