Babe's at the River

We checked out Babe's that Barry and Joan always went to, down at the River in Rancho Mirage.

It has the oldest micro-brewery in the Coachella Valley, they say.
Not sure who Babe represents, but she sure is pretty.

                    This is a very pretty spot on the banks of this small river right beside busy Hwy 111.

 We copped out and went to The Olive Garden, enjoyed their soup and salad thinking of all the fun times with the Vanc Island crowd and Debbie and Peter.

Old Friends

We got together with the Corkill Palms group and our dear friend Vicki was visiting. An absolute treat.

We three girls went thrift saleing Tue. and I found a bear from Ketchikan Alaska where we were in May 2011.

I noticed some lovely Mosaic pieces some one had done.

Singing the Birds

I went to the Palm Springs High School where they had a Bird Song and Dance Festival with the local Cahuilla tribe. The logo below shows the round rattles and wht white is the design on the bottom of the women's dresses.

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            There were about 12 booths of handmade items, all beautiful.

Birds inspired the Cahuilla people to migrate, after seeing the birds following the seasons. The bird songs and dancing tell the story of migration in an earlier language no longer spoken, this being their oral tradition.

The bead work done locally just blew me away. It was stunning.

This is the bottom of a basket which is made from 'horse grass', looks just like any long stemmed grass you see along the road. I love the history of these people.

Always Interesting People

We were at WalMart in Palm Desert and saw this amazing vehicle parked in their lot. Yes, that is a Volkswagen Van welding on the top of the bus.

I talked to a young woman living in it and they'd just come from 'Slab City' by the Salton Sea. That is a very old area of concrete slab foundations from a previous 'military?' establishment from the WWII era? A lot of people just boon-dock for the winter there.
Yes, that is a Volkswagen Van welded on the top.
They are going next to Kentucky I think she said to a 'Happiness Festival' and they'll just cook large amounts and yell 'free food'. Being kind to everyone I guess.

Fun with Friends

We went to the VFW for our annual Taco Treat with 6 others.Fun to catch up to them.

This is an organization for Veterans of Foreign Wars.
 The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service: Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or veterans' pension for them,and they were left to care for themselves.
In their misery, some of these veterans banded together and formed organizations with what would become known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. After chapters were formed in Ohio, Colorado and Pennsylvania, the movement quickly gained momentum. By 1915, membership grew to 5,000; by 1936, membership was almost 200,000.
Since then, the VFW's voice had been instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 20th century, the development of the national cemetery system and the fight for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. In 2008, VFW won a long-fought victory with the passing of a GI Bill for the 21st Century, giving expanded educational benefits to America's active-duty service members, and members of the Guard and Reserves, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The VFW also has fought for improving VA medical centers services for women veterans.
Besides helping fund the creation of the Vietnam, Korean War, World War II and Women in Military Service memorials, the VFW in 2005 became the first veterans' organization to contribute to building the newDisabled Veterans for Life Memorial, which opened in November 2010.
Annually, the nearly 2 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliaries contribute more than 8.6 million hours of volunteerism in the community, including participation in Make A Difference Day and National Volunteer Week.
From providing over $3 million in college scholarships and savings bonds to students every year, to encouraging elevation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the president's cabinet, the VFW is there.
Quite an amazing organization.

Catalina Spa in Desert Hot Springs

We arrived here Sunday with beautiful sunny weather.
We're busy with bocci twice a week, Mini Golf Tournament Thurs, and Pool, Wed and Sat.
Ron and Ray came 1st today and John and I came second winning a soft ice cream cone.
It was 85 today and hitting the pool to swaps tales usually happens every afternoon.

FMCA Rally in Indio

We drove down to Indio CA, Wed for the FMCA Rally (Family Motor Coach Assn).  They really have things well organized and parking down to a science. All went smoothly as we lined up to unhook our towed vehicles and then were escorted to our spots.

I was really startled and impressed with the ‘Escaping your RV in case of Emergency’.  Diesel driven Class A’s are the worst as they usually only have 1 door. It was scary but we got a ton of valuable information  and 5 women actually climbed out the escape window where it's about 7' to the ground.

The theme is Dogpatch USA so the parade was fun.

             This poor fellow had too much of his homemade 'corn'.

 The seminars are 1^st class as always. I enjoyed Janet’s Convection cooking again, tried an Inverter class – bored to tears.  I figure it’s like the car, if it goes when you start it, fine, if not call for professional help.
We were connected to generators and one was 3 times this size.

We were parked at the Indio Fairgrounds but were very surprised to see people walking the sheep around.

Off to Desert Hot Springs CA and our home park Catalina Spa on Sunday.

My Movie Reviews

We enjoyed our annual Champagne Brunch at the Riverside Sunday and have seen our usual bunch of movies while here. 

We really enjoyed American Hustle. Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence are great. There are lots of twists and sometimes you don’t know who is conning whom. I recommend it.

I saw Saving Mr. Banks, a poignant story about the making of the Mary Poppins movie with Tom Hanks and Ema Thompson. Good acting by both and fun to see some of the original scenes.

When Ron was buying the tickets for The Wolf of Wall Street, the gal said you should be aware that this film is barely above a porno flick. Well, if you want nudity, tons of swearing and buckets of drugs, you get it here. I wouldn’t be bothered to see it. Hate to support that stuff.

I also saw Nebraska, which surprised me in black and white but it really fit the movie. This is very factual story of an old guy that thinks he won a million dollars and wants to go to Nebraska to collect. It shows rural country and simple country folk and some old fashioned behavior. The son is a great actor and kind fellow. Gets funnier by the end.
It's fun having seen these movies and with all the revues coming out and nominations for all the awards, I just want to see more.

Old Friends

We had a delightful reunion today with Sandy and Michael, and Rich and Tina. We met the 1^st at a blogging class in Cat Spa in 2006 and the 2^nd at our DHSprings resort in 2009. This was when we all went on a Panama Canal Cruise for 14 days and this is the first time we’ve been together since. Sure good to get together.

They are staying at the Fiesta RV Resort in Bullhead and it is very nice. Got lots of amenities and is very friendly.

Laughlin, NV

We are having lots of fun here. The Riverside is our favourite casino and there is much to do. We played some pool which was a laugh as the cues and table cloth are as old as the desert hills surrounding us.

                          The bowling alley is always busy and is very large.

You can walk along the river from one end of the strip to the other on the Riverwalk.

We toured the car museum where there is much history. Look closely at this old-timer pick-up truck, it has a metal hand extended as a left turn signal.

I didn’t know the story of Emilio Scotto from Argentina. He spent 10 years on this bike going around the world.

Very good exhibit with incredible memorabilia from 100's of countries.