Palm Springs Art Show

It's always fun to see art shows in different areas. This one had beautiful work. I really enjoyed some photographs and paintings - wonderful colors. The sculptures were fun and of course, being Palm Springs, there was a flamingo in front of the store with the pink Christmas tree.

Shields has Changed

We've had a busy fun week. We moved to Desert Pools for the week, I attended a computer class and tried to find the Grayhound Bus Lines. Suz and family are arriving Dec. 4 and I'm going to meet them at Disneyland. We went to the address but found it had moved 2 years ago. We got directions to Indio from 2 characters on the street but there was no one in the depot. Calling the 1-800 number started me in West Virginia pushing buttons to try and find a way. Thankfully an attendant came out from the back finally and I got my $28 ticket which will take me to L.A and then back to Anaheim.
Since we were in the neighborhood, I had to have my date shake. They've added a cafe with lovely outdoor eating patio, garden store and fountains in the back. Delicious as usual.

A Rainbow

I swam my lengths this morning and it must have been raining somewhere because there was this pretty rainbow over our coach as I came home.

The Elephant Bar

I did my strenuous walk this morning with Ida before we met at this restaurant for lunch today. The food is delicious and the decor is fun. They have palm frond fans swinging from the ceiling in the bar and statues, pictures and fabric in animal prints.

More Friends Arrive

Angeline and Roy have arrived so it's been fun catching up on all the news.
We're busy with the many activities here at the Park. I was in a bathing suit fashion show Monday, so I picked up a new suit and a black velour track suit .
We have a weekly Mini Golf Tournament. You draw for partners, so you meet lots of new people and just have lots of fun. Ida and I tied for 2nd so had to play off to win our ice cream cones. It's quite funny here. You can tell who the Canadians are - we're all in shorts.

Ed's Birthday

I zipped around 3 patio sales this morning. It's the thrill of the hunt - got 2 sun hats, a corkscrew, and a flashlight for $1.25. They give this stuff away. I only wish I could be here when we move back into the condo where we don't have 1 stick of furniture.
I laid around the pool in this wonderful sunshine, then played pool at 2 p.m. where I struck it lucky. Only 4 of us showed up and I beat the 3 guys - so a hamburger prize for me.
Joan and Barry and Ron and I walked over to Maureen and Ed's to celebrate his special birthday. It was a fun visit.

Remembrance Day

Although we are away from home, sitting in the sunshine, this is always Remembrance Day for me. I watched the services across Canada and always think of the incredible gift from our fallen soldiers and have a tear in my eye. I was at the Tomb of the Fallen Soldier in Ottawa summer 2009 and saw the ceremony there today.

Water Volleyball Championships

This is the 4th year Catalina Spa has held the Annual Water Volleyball Championships here in the desert. Thank heavens we have 2 pools, so the upper one started at 7 a.m. this morning and they play for 3 days. There are even 2 teams from Mexico so it really is International this year.

Gay Pride Parade

I went to this parade and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was part of the 24th annual Greater Palm Springs Pride Festival. The LGBT ( lesbian, gay, bisexaul and transgender) community brings together people, regardless of race or gender, living in all cultures imaginable. It was very informative as well as entertaining. The parade was about 1 1/2 hours long with everything you would expect
- horses, marching bands with cheerleaders and gymnasts, local politicians, floats from businesses, banks and many community organizations. As people marched along, they called 'Happy Pride' to the bystanders. Their flag is the distinctive one of all colors. One slogan was One Heart, One World, One Pride on a float with flags from around the world. Pride stands for honesty and integrity, feeling good about one's self and possessing self worth. There was a huge crowd from many different cities. One couple beside me carried 2 signs - Straight but not Narrow and Our son is Gay - We're Proud.

Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory

Before we went over to the very historic town of Sonoma 10 days ago, we went down to Fairfield where we toured this factory. The Halloween decorations were all displayed. We saw the entire process, which included pouring and curing the jelly bean centers, coating the centers with a candy shell and polishing and seasoning the jelly beans before they are packaged. We started with a tour of their scary Halloween display and then had the 40 minutes tour of the entire factory. Did you know that it takes 21 days to make one jelly bean? Unfortunately, no cameras allowed. It was fascinating and we tasted several along the way before receiving our own package when we were finished. There were many pictures of famous people made entirely out of jelly beans. One here is John Wayne’s nose. We really enjoyed this.

Back to the VFW -

We made our annual visti to the VFW - stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars, similar to a Legion. Their special on Wednesdays is $1.50 tacos and beer. We found Ed and Maureen our neighbors from PBRVPark 6 years ago and they came along while we met Barry and Joan. Lots of fun as you can see,
We're having a heat wave here. Records were broken right back to 1900. It was 98 today - November yet!!! Lots of time spent in the pool.

46th Annual Golf Cart Parade

Apparantly golf carts were given a streeet legal status, for local use in Palm Desert, 46 years ago and they have celebrated every year since with a parade. It was about 1 1/2 hour long with bands and kids and lots of fun. You must remember that under every float is only a golf cart moving it along. the pumpkin had a guy in a coffin behind.