BACK IN CALIFORNIA

When we pull into our driveway in Cool, California on Thursday, we will have been on the road for 106 days for our Winter trip.  This trip only involves time in Southern California and Western Arizona and covered about 2,400 miles.

SO CAL -- AGAIN

Unless we are doing the Pacific Northwest or traveling the Midwest to the East Coast, our journey to the Southwest takes us through the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs both coming and going.  Our stay this year on our way home was at the Sands RV & Golf Resort in Desert Hot Springs.  We have stayed here a few times and have dealt with their narrow spaces. While the shot below looks like a lot of space, our passenger side slide is not extended because of heavy winds we experienced most of our week.

 

We requested a spot near their spacious, clean, and grassy dog park which made Star very happy.

  

GOLF and MORE GOLF

As mentioned back in my blog in mid-January, when traveling in the Indio/Palm Springs area we enjoy getting together with MerrieAnn and Jeff Martin, RVing friends who winter in Desert Hot Springs,  MerrieAnn and I enjoy playing golf and we ask the guys to join us for meals out. 

This trip through we first played the 9-hole Sands course that had a beautiful mountain view.  We then played 18 holes on the Martins’ home course, Mission Lakes Country Club.

PALM SPRINGS

Thursday nights in Palm Springs means a street fair with vendors and lots of people watching.  We had an early bird dinner with MerrieAnn and Ken at a popular downtown eatery, Lulu’s California Bistro, and then had a chance to stroll down the street to take in the local scene.  Sometimes the local color comes in the form of pigs and statues.

The pot-bellied pig (above) attracted a lot of attention and is apparently a “regular” on scene.  The sidewalks throughout the downtown feature “stars” for local celebrities.  This featured fountain statue and star were dedicated to Sonny Bono, former Mayor of Palm Springs and, later, a California Congressman.  Yes, he is the same Sonny Bono that sang with Cher.

 

The famed “Palm Springs Follies” will end their run at this landmark Plaza Theatre this year.  Unfortunately, we never stopped to see it.

Strolling Palm Canyon Drive

 

When I took this photo, the gentleman on the right did not realize that the “statue” was alive.  A good startle occurred when the statue moved.

 

 

ROSES IN DECEMBER

Before leaving SoCal we drove over the San Gorgonio Pass to visit Boomer friends Fran and Bill Rayner.  They purchased a “stick” house in the Sun Lakes Country Club development in Banning, CA and they invited us to dinner and a local production of “Roses in December”, a readers’ theatre production by their local drama club.  We had fun getting caught up on each other’s travels (not trials) and tribulations.

HEADING NORTH

Our next destination was the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, CA, less than a mile from where our daughter and family live.  We have found it is much easier for all if we stay in the RV rather than doubling up on the office futon.

During our five days there we helped our oldest grandson Taylor celebrate his 14th birthday at Hana Japan Steak and Seafood Restaurant, a teppanyaki-style performance venue.  Taylor invited a friend and they enjoyed sitting grill-side.

Our other grandson Tanner, 11, is on the “DL” (disabled list) from Little League.  He has apparently cracked a bone on his knee cap but they cannot put a cast on it or put a brace on the leg.  He has a month of “no weight” on the leg and is dealing with crutches and “hopping” a lot.  This week he received a wheel chair and is trying a new sport for him:  wheelchair basketball. We also got him a new baseball glove (planned prior to the injury) so he is spending a lot of his time breaking it in.

 

WARE IN LODI

On Sunday morning we drove to the Lodi Grape Festival fairgrounds for the third annual Western Area Rally for Escapees (WARE).

This year’s rally was much smaller than in the past with just about 85-90 RVs present.  We are not crafters nor game players so there were few activities that interested us. 

I set up “recruitment tables” for two of the RV groups we are active in: the Boomers and the Geocachers. I also participated in a session for beginning Geocachers with Sue Pace and Barbara Westerfield, part of our club’s administrative team and instructors for our annual Quartzsite rally.

We gave a fun-filled, informative presentation about the sport of geocaching that seemed to go over very well. 

   

HEADED HOME

Thursday is our 73-mile travel day home to Cool, California.  We’ll catch up on the ubiquitous medical and dental appointments over the next two weeks and then head back to the Fairgrounds in Pleasanton for another couple of weeks with the family.

 

NEXT:  WAIT AND SEE…