Home Again

This was one of our most tiring trips over the 22 years of  RVing up and down I 5. Wed's wind was so trying when we left Barstow west on 58 that we pulled into Mojave and parked it. Beautiful trees and the owner didn't even know what they were.

Thur. we passed the Edwards Air Force base and got over to I 5 and up to Santa Nella where we fueled and boondocked overnight at Love's.

Fri. we started with sunshine but went into bursts of wind then rain. Shasta Lake only had a little more water it seemed and CA is seriously in a drought state.

We passed beautiful farms and fruit areas and arrived in Phoenix to O/N at the Peartree RV Park behind the Petro. My jaw dropped when I saw Diesel $3.49.9 but alas, that is for truckers with their PUC ticket.
 ( Public Utility Commission? ) We paid $3.79.9 cash price, the lowest on the trip.

We alternated between all weather through ORE and up thru Seattle where we had a delicious buffet at Tulaylip Casino and boondocked overnight.

Home Monday to sunny White Rock with the best sun in weeks

 and settled in a sunny spot beside great friends in our home park.

On the Road Again

Tuesday was final pack up and Wed. we head north for home.
Past the windmills and away we go.

Guess I Lied

Well another Happy Hour today with our Panama crew Sandy and Michel and Rich and Tina, and Mike and Linda as well when we saw they were the back to back neighbors

.Here's the first 4 playing pickle-ball at Catalina.

Time to Wrap it up - Wiily and Ron have their final Cognac.

One more - with our VFW crowd.

            And it wouldn't be complete without

Willy and Ron having their yearly Cognac together.

4 Happy Hours in 5 Days

It just dawned on me that although we've been here 2 months there are 3 groups we haven't really visited with. We got together with the people we cruised the Panama Canal with  last Wed, Thur we met Jan at Chipotles, Friday 9 of us went up to Desert Hot Springs for Chinese food on 8th Ave. We sat at a round table in an alcove and it's so much fun introducing different groups.
Sat.we had happy hour here with our old Vancouver Island crowd.

                It is such a pleasure to enjoy company outside in warm weather.
We missed Joan and Barry, Lois and Art, several other couples not traveling any more and sadly Debbie and Peter and Vicki and Pete. We have so many memories of those fun days.

Pool Tournaments

Every Wed. and Sat. we have small tournaments at Cat Spa. We now have 3 women playing regularly and we really have fun. Here's Phyllis and Andy.

Andy beat her but I hadn't lost yet so Andy would have had to beat me twice but we had guests at 3:30 so Andy and I just chose a prize and just rushed back to our place to join our friends. We nearly missed the party.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

We took Jan here and then Andy and Sharon - we go out for a different lunch every Friday. We first heard about Chipotles, (which looks like a Mexican Subway, going down the line to get your lunch made)  on an Oprah Winfrey show 5 years ago and love it. Its name derives from chipotle, the Mexican Spanish name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.
Steve Ellis opened the first one in 1993 and there are now 1430 locations in the US plus more around the world.

                     The T-shirts are fun.

My favourite was 'Black beans rule.'

Shields Date Shakes

Could not resist. I was in the area and stopped at Shields for a date shake and had to buy the date crystals that Mr. Shields invented 30 years ago which help make these wonderful date shakes. I first brought my kids down here in 1976 to see Nana and Papa and they love them.

He imported his original date palms from Europe and continued cultivating them over the years. He made this film about the self pollinating and cultivation of the trees. The seats are original and as old as the hills
behind you.

They have modernized and now have a lovely garden restaurant out back overlooking the date palms.

Dramatic Sky

There was a storm over in LA and the wind blew wildly for a 1/2 hour here.

You can see through the clouds out the pass to the coast, then came the sunset.

There's Mt Jacinta with a little snow on top.
Usually evenings show a lovely display of the shadows on the hills.

Jan's here

Our good friend Jan from our home park is visiting for 3 days. She was ruthless when she played crib with Ron as you can tell - she could hardly stop laughing.

                 We watched Ron at Bocci,

then went for mani/pedis and home for the pool.
We puddled around in the pool with the 10 am crowd, the after lunch group, the 3 o'clock bunch and went down to lay back in the pool and watch the stars at night. Such a good time.
Ended up with a happy hour at Maureen and Ed's with the bocci crowd.

Hog's Breath Inn in Old Town La Quinta

I was going to say that I'd thoroughly enjoyed lunch today at one of Clint Eastwood's restaurants with very old friends. What I mean to say is that dear friends Carol and Wendy and I had a great time together.

 We met in Crescent Beach and here we are at 14 years old. I will have to learn how to post the old picture.
Thanks gals, loved it.

Palm Springs Art Museum

Sharon and I went to see this museum today. What a delight. It is 3 floors.

This is glass in their store but there was an amazing collection.

There are about 10 different permanent collections at all times. One was Remembering the past - 30 years of collecting. The chair on the bottom right is made of rolled rubber pinwheels of different sizes.

There were sculptures on 2 patios outside the garden cafe.
Here we are.

Daily Fun

Part of the bobbing around in the pool is finding where everyone is eating out.
We went down to the Windmill Market on Indian Ave, a tiny store and deli and enjoyed a lovely Wed. special of beef stroganoff. You eat out in the back garden which is secluded with vines, one a deep blue/purple morning glory which screens out the busy road.

Back to the VFW

We joined friends for tacos. Always fun to be together. It's such a change these days - we used to have 20 out for this.
Some of the cacti are blooming - just gorgeous.

Joni and the Thrift Stores

Before we hit the stores we stopped at the 99 cent store. This one has food as well and I bought about 20 items for $18.59. Unbelievable. Joni was pushing the art to the car and the wheels locked, got too far from the store I guess. Here's Joni dragging the stubborn cart backwards to the trunk while we laughed ourselves silly.

.

We found this pretty lady in an Antique store. The place was nearly a museum, everything imaginable.