At the street market on Thursday night we got some free tickets to see Jeff Trachta, a soap actor turned entertainer. So off we went today to see him. It was super windy last night, and neither of us had slept very well.
It's windy here, but not windy in Palm Springs which is weird. The show was at Spa Resort Casino right in town, and we went to their buffet first as it was a good one.
He is an impersonator, very amusing, as well as a good singer. Lots of high energy. We came out by 3:30 or so, as it started around 2 PM. On the way there we bought me, Di, a Canon camera, so I don't have to bug Lary all the time to take photos I like. Now I just have to learn how to use it.
It is very compact, an A590 IS.
Friday we went to Quartzsite, we took Dave and Wendy as well, and spent the day wandering through RVs and RV type of stuff, as well as other merchandise. It is prime time there, so thousands of rigs all over the place, many of them parked out on the desert all around town. There weren't very many RVs for Dave and Wendy to see. We weren't in the right area, and it was very challenging to find a parking spot anywhere.
Saturday we kind of stayed around here, it was windy so we didn't swim, then we ate dinner at the clubhouse, it was roast beef, and then Dave and Wendy came back here to learn how to play Mexican trains. Lots of fun. It has turned colder and very windy here, stuff is blowing all around the campsite. Temps are down quite a bit.
Tonight Sunday we didn't go to the clubhouse for hamburger dinner as we were too full from brunch at the casino.
Saturday in DHS we met Stoney and Isabel from Duncan, he was Paul Millward's partner in the heating/cooling business there. Isabel is Paul Miller's sister. Small world, they have just bought a park model down the street from this park.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday night to the Palm Springs street market
Today was kind of a lazy day around the campsite, we didn't swim as it was chillier and cloudy so we didn't feel like it. Dave was in Palm Springs watching the Bob Hope golf tourney. We had decided to go to the street market in Palm Springs tonight, and to the Taco salad dinner in the clubhouse before that.
So off we went around 5:30 PM up to the clubhouse for dinner.
We were right up beside the cashier ready to pay, when somebody hammered on the window outside, causing her to jump quite a bit. We had just paid for dinner, and in walked both Joop and Miep Scheffer, and Gunther and Katarina Glaesing from our RV club at home on the island.
They hadn't realized that the windows there are reflective against the sun, so we couldn't see them from inside when they were outside. So they had knocked on the window, frightening the cashier.
Joop was in Desert Hot Springs visiting Gunther and Katarina, at Sands RV Park, so they decided to drop on over here, and say hello. We ate dinner talking to the 4 of them, and had a bit of a catchup. Then they left to go back to the Sands which is just basically down the road from us. Our park is a membership park, whereas the Sands is a public RV park, with a golf course there, too. Great to see them all.
Dave drove us into Palm Springs and we strolled down the main street of Palm Springs admiring the produce stands, the art and jewellry, the different massage booths, it's a real mixed bag, together with some musicians, soap makers, popcorn makers, food booths, etc. Varying arts and crafts. Lots of fun in the almost warm evening. Starts at 6 PM or so, and we left around 9 PM after I (Di) had a chair massage for 15 mins. $15.
I am very excited as I booked a rental trailer here in the park for my sisters to stay in early April. Hope they can find good airfare tickets to come down.
I bought a neat bar of scented soap, and an interesting field guide to local fauna/flora etc. I had already bought 2 pairs of pretty Austrian crystal earrings here in the park on Weds. at the flea market at people's own sites. It rained a few drops while we were at the street market, and there was some rain on our truck windshield when we got back to our park, too.
Weds. night we went to see a very funny pair of musicians who were here in the park, they put on a hilarious show at the clubhouse, they call themselves Laughing Bird, a husband and wife pair of musicians who travel around in their RV. Quite comedic at times, too. Tupelo and Janey Kenyon are their names. Lary won a CD of their show by answering their trivia question first of anyone in the audience, and tonight he won a ball cap from spinning a roulette type wheel of a radio station at the street market, and he was also given free tickets to see an entertainer at a local Palm Springs casino this coming Sunday.
Tomorrow we're all getting up early to go out to Quartzsite AZ to see the big RV show, it's supposed to be huge, it's 2.5 hours on the road to get there, but none of us has seen it at its peak when there are thousands of people there, so this should be interesting. I (Di) don't usually enjoy crowds, so hope it's fun anyway.
There are 2 huge art shows on this weekend here in Palm Springs and Indio, and the Bob Hope Golf Tournament is on for 5 days or so here in P.S. So as always lots to see and do.
So off we went around 5:30 PM up to the clubhouse for dinner.
We were right up beside the cashier ready to pay, when somebody hammered on the window outside, causing her to jump quite a bit. We had just paid for dinner, and in walked both Joop and Miep Scheffer, and Gunther and Katarina Glaesing from our RV club at home on the island.
They hadn't realized that the windows there are reflective against the sun, so we couldn't see them from inside when they were outside. So they had knocked on the window, frightening the cashier.
Joop was in Desert Hot Springs visiting Gunther and Katarina, at Sands RV Park, so they decided to drop on over here, and say hello. We ate dinner talking to the 4 of them, and had a bit of a catchup. Then they left to go back to the Sands which is just basically down the road from us. Our park is a membership park, whereas the Sands is a public RV park, with a golf course there, too. Great to see them all.
Dave drove us into Palm Springs and we strolled down the main street of Palm Springs admiring the produce stands, the art and jewellry, the different massage booths, it's a real mixed bag, together with some musicians, soap makers, popcorn makers, food booths, etc. Varying arts and crafts. Lots of fun in the almost warm evening. Starts at 6 PM or so, and we left around 9 PM after I (Di) had a chair massage for 15 mins. $15.
I am very excited as I booked a rental trailer here in the park for my sisters to stay in early April. Hope they can find good airfare tickets to come down.
I bought a neat bar of scented soap, and an interesting field guide to local fauna/flora etc. I had already bought 2 pairs of pretty Austrian crystal earrings here in the park on Weds. at the flea market at people's own sites. It rained a few drops while we were at the street market, and there was some rain on our truck windshield when we got back to our park, too.
Weds. night we went to see a very funny pair of musicians who were here in the park, they put on a hilarious show at the clubhouse, they call themselves Laughing Bird, a husband and wife pair of musicians who travel around in their RV. Quite comedic at times, too. Tupelo and Janey Kenyon are their names. Lary won a CD of their show by answering their trivia question first of anyone in the audience, and tonight he won a ball cap from spinning a roulette type wheel of a radio station at the street market, and he was also given free tickets to see an entertainer at a local Palm Springs casino this coming Sunday.
Tomorrow we're all getting up early to go out to Quartzsite AZ to see the big RV show, it's supposed to be huge, it's 2.5 hours on the road to get there, but none of us has seen it at its peak when there are thousands of people there, so this should be interesting. I (Di) don't usually enjoy crowds, so hope it's fun anyway.
There are 2 huge art shows on this weekend here in Palm Springs and Indio, and the Bob Hope Golf Tournament is on for 5 days or so here in P.S. So as always lots to see and do.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Finally in Desert Hot Springs CA
Hello, we arrived here late Sunday, that is just before dark, around 4:30 PM. We were in Kingsburg CA, and when Lary got up Sunday morning, he washed both the truck and trailer, then we took off. Clear weather, we passed through the agricultural areas of CA, then across the Mojave desert, and we arrived here for the best time of all our years. 3 sleeps.
Wendy and Dave were on their out week, staying at a nearby 1000 Trails Park, and they arrived Tuesday, so that's great.
Monday we went and renewed our cell phone, T mobile, so that's great too. Now we can phone ahead for campsite reservations or whatever.
Tuesday we went grocery shopping and to mail letters, with Wendy. Von's here is the closest grocery store in Desert Hot Springs, we use our Safeway card and get lots of reductions. Today we bought 5 big jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce, for $3.49 total.
We have swum all days so far, though it is warm at the moment, it is going to go down a bit, and maybe even rain. There are 2 big pools, and 2 hot spa pools.
The pools here are heated by underground thermal springs, they are very warm and lovely, and we guess that it's quite efficient that way. It doesn't smell either. Yeah team.
We'll stay for 2 weeks, at the moment we are in the clubhouse near the office, there are a ton of people playing cards here, and the internet signal is way stronger than it is inside our trailer, rather aggravating.
Wendy and Dave were on their out week, staying at a nearby 1000 Trails Park, and they arrived Tuesday, so that's great.
Monday we went and renewed our cell phone, T mobile, so that's great too. Now we can phone ahead for campsite reservations or whatever.
Tuesday we went grocery shopping and to mail letters, with Wendy. Von's here is the closest grocery store in Desert Hot Springs, we use our Safeway card and get lots of reductions. Today we bought 5 big jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce, for $3.49 total.
We have swum all days so far, though it is warm at the moment, it is going to go down a bit, and maybe even rain. There are 2 big pools, and 2 hot spa pools.
The pools here are heated by underground thermal springs, they are very warm and lovely, and we guess that it's quite efficient that way. It doesn't smell either. Yeah team.
We'll stay for 2 weeks, at the moment we are in the clubhouse near the office, there are a ton of people playing cards here, and the internet signal is way stronger than it is inside our trailer, rather aggravating.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Already in Redding, Northern California Jan. 16th
Hey, whoo hoo, we have reached California in only one sleep. Yeah team. What a difference clear weather makes to us. We left Victoria, Swartz Bay on the 3 PM ferry, a new one, and got over to Tsawwassen, then charged on through customs, in the dark. A bit humourous, we got stuck in the entrance to the customs booth due to a bad angle, and 2 customs officers had to help us back, and get squared on to the entrance. They stopped the oncoming traffic for us. A-hem.
Then clear sailing on down through Seattle and Tacoma, past Olympia, to just south of there. It was a foggy night, cold too. We camped inside a mobile home park, on their driveway, and bolted pretty early this morning. It had been a very cold night, we weren't plugged in to elec. and we don't have water on board as it's still cold, so we have antifreeze in all the drains. It went down to freezing, and we didn't leave the furnace on, it draws down the battery a lot, and uses up huge amounts of propane. Brrrrrr.
Up this morning, a quick breakfast at McDonalds, shame on us. Talked to a nice elderly Korean vet, of the US Air Force. They meet every day for breakfast there, apparently. Today we had totally smooth sailing, still fog in patches, but no snow, thankfully, no need to chain up as last year. Whew.
Left the campsite at 7:30 AM and arrived here at
Then clear sailing on down through Seattle and Tacoma, past Olympia, to just south of there. It was a foggy night, cold too. We camped inside a mobile home park, on their driveway, and bolted pretty early this morning. It had been a very cold night, we weren't plugged in to elec. and we don't have water on board as it's still cold, so we have antifreeze in all the drains. It went down to freezing, and we didn't leave the furnace on, it draws down the battery a lot, and uses up huge amounts of propane. Brrrrrr.
Up this morning, a quick breakfast at McDonalds, shame on us. Talked to a nice elderly Korean vet, of the US Air Force. They meet every day for breakfast there, apparently. Today we had totally smooth sailing, still fog in patches, but no snow, thankfully, no need to chain up as last year. Whew.
Left the campsite at 7:30 AM and arrived here at
Sunday, January 11, 2009
House sitter off again/ now on again
Well, another interesting day here. Lined up our niece to come in and get the mail, check the house, pick up newspapers, etc., also decided to put Shaw cable TV and internet on minimal use as 'Snowbirds' for 3 months, advised our insurance company of the niece coming into the house to check it regularly, as well as told our townhouse council and their property manager, too.
And lo and behold, the house sitter/writer then decided he really wanted our house again, for 3 months as originally decided, but for slightly more money than before, and in a certified cheque, all up front, payment in full in advance.
So guess that's what we'll do. I now have to get it ready for him, the next challenge for us both. New sheets, new towels, new pillows, the lot. Make sure all the laundry is done and put away. And clean the house more so than we'd normally do for ourselves. More work indeed than just walking out of it ourselves!!
Tomorrow we take the trailer out of storage, and into a campsite to load it, cool the fridge, and warm up the interior after being in storage for a while. No snow surrounding it now, so should be easier than when it was encircled and covered with snow.
Lary has an audiologist appt. down in Victoria to start the process for help with hearing aids from DVA, so that's also on Jan. 15th, our take off day. Whew.
My head is spinning with the changes, and more changes. Ah me. ;-)
And lo and behold, the house sitter/writer then decided he really wanted our house again, for 3 months as originally decided, but for slightly more money than before, and in a certified cheque, all up front, payment in full in advance.
So guess that's what we'll do. I now have to get it ready for him, the next challenge for us both. New sheets, new towels, new pillows, the lot. Make sure all the laundry is done and put away. And clean the house more so than we'd normally do for ourselves. More work indeed than just walking out of it ourselves!!
Tomorrow we take the trailer out of storage, and into a campsite to load it, cool the fridge, and warm up the interior after being in storage for a while. No snow surrounding it now, so should be easier than when it was encircled and covered with snow.
Lary has an audiologist appt. down in Victoria to start the process for help with hearing aids from DVA, so that's also on Jan. 15th, our take off day. Whew.
My head is spinning with the changes, and more changes. Ah me. ;-)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Heading Out Once More January 15th is d day
Well, the latest scoop is that our house sitter decided that he didn't want to sit the house, and didn't tell us til Jan. 9th, thanks a lot, too late to find anyone else. Oh well. Our niece will look after things while we're away. Have put both the cable TV and internet on Snowbird rate with Shaw, hope that works out OK.
Now the last hurried stuff to do as usual, and we seem to run ever faster til the moment we leave the house. Lots of last minute socializing, had a fun time at the legion last night, and then Mexican trains at a friend's house. Lary has just got the OK for an appeal to the Dept of Vet. Affairs for his hearing loss, so we go via Victoria to visit an audiologist and get that assessment done for DVA/the Legion who will supervise our appeal. That's good news.
Going to put the trailer in a nearby campsite to warm it up, and load it too. Can't put it here, as not allowed, and still snow on roadsides making it a bit dicey to load it up as we normally do here beside the house.
Wondering out loud how the roads are, Fraser Valley flooding everywhere, and flooding south on I-5 near Seattle, and mudslides in other parts of BC lower mainland and the island. Ah me, a northwest winter in full swing.
Now the last hurried stuff to do as usual, and we seem to run ever faster til the moment we leave the house. Lots of last minute socializing, had a fun time at the legion last night, and then Mexican trains at a friend's house. Lary has just got the OK for an appeal to the Dept of Vet. Affairs for his hearing loss, so we go via Victoria to visit an audiologist and get that assessment done for DVA/the Legion who will supervise our appeal. That's good news.
Going to put the trailer in a nearby campsite to warm it up, and load it too. Can't put it here, as not allowed, and still snow on roadsides making it a bit dicey to load it up as we normally do here beside the house.
Wondering out loud how the roads are, Fraser Valley flooding everywhere, and flooding south on I-5 near Seattle, and mudslides in other parts of BC lower mainland and the island. Ah me, a northwest winter in full swing.
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