CHANGE OF PLANS

We have changed our plans for the 2nd time.  The first change was we were to leave Palm Springs March 16th and slowly head north. We had planned 2 weeks in a park about an hour south of San Francisco and another week a little north of San Francisco. We would officially head for home April 6th, getting home about the 10th or so. When we looked at the weather up by Frisco, it was going to be raining the whole time we were there.  Not ready for that.  We decided to stay those 3 weeks here in sunshine. Can you blame us? It is in the high 80's.

We changed plans again yesterday. We still aren't quite ready for rain and cold, so we made another reservation for a week. That makes us staying in Palm Springs for 2 months.  I think we will head for home then.  The great thing about us traveling with no timetable  is that we are free to make changes as we go.  This is about the 4th time we've done this.

We are in a beautiful park in Indio. We belong to Western Horizons, so we get to stay here for $11.00 per night. If we didn't belong, we would be paying $51 per night.

These are a few pictures of the park.

TWO LADIES ALONE IN MEXICO

March 21st

We were lounging at the pool with Linda, a friend we originally met at Moab, Utah. We have seen them  several times since we have been here.  She mentioned that she had to go to Mexico for a dentist apt. and she was going alone. Her husband had been called away on a family emergency.  I didn't think it was good for her to go off alone, so I went with her.  It was for the next day. We already had plans but I changed them.  Denny wanted me to get his passport out in case he had to go get us. He was a little nervous about it.

  It is a 2 hour drive to Mexico from here. The border town on the US side is Calexico. The Mexican town is Mexicali.  We parked in a secure lot in Calexico and walked across the border. The dentist is about a 15 minute drive from there, but he picks you up. We walked the 2 blocks to the hotel. There  is a taxi stand right in front of the hotel so they are always asking you if you want a ride. Our ride was 15 minutes late. It was making me a little nervous. What if he didn't show? Yikes!  He finally came . It seemed a little strange to get in a car in Mexico with a stranger. He just called Linda's name and off we went.  The dentist office was very clean and modern. They felt very comfortable having him do the work. Fred was a dental technician and he had been leery for a while to get any work done in Mexico.  This dentist had a  practice in Phoenix but because of the economy, he  had  closed it 4 years ago and came down here. In fact, he still lives there. They go home on the weekends.  Another of the dentist had  had a practice in Las Vegas. He said about 100 doctors and dentists had left the area.  They spoke with an accent, but you could clearly understand them.  That would be a major concern for me.

After Linda was done, the dentist's wife drove us back to the border. When we came earlier in the day, the line to get back into the US was very, very long. Linda said that the last time they were here, they stood in line 1 1/2 hours to get across. We must have timed it just right because there was no line. Went straight on thru. All of the people were Mexican. We were the only Americans.

Most people go to Mexico thru Yuma. You walk over and within a 3-4 block radius, there are dentists, doctors, pharmacy's and shopping.  Mexicali is such big town, everything is so spread out. Linda and Fred said that even tho they liked their dentist, they would go thru Yuma next time. It is so much more convenient.

She has to go again on Thursday. If her son can't go with her, I will.

Two Ladies off to Mexico again, maybe.

Entrance to Mexico. The building on the left is where the walkers go in. The line of cars coming out are from Mexico. The lines are really long to leave Mexico by car.

 

The lanes below the blue signs are for entering Mexico by car.

Cheesy, but Fun

March 14, 2012

 Another friend in the park was going on the tour to see all the movie stars homes.  Couldn't get more cheesy and touristy than that, but it sounded fun to me.  I mentioned it to another friend and she thought it would be fun too.  Off we went, 4 ladies. None of the husbands were interested.  They were all Canadians, so I was the foreigner that day. Got into a small bus to spend about 2.5 hours.  Can't even list all the stars homes we went too, it would take pages. Very few still live here, most of them were the old school movie stars of the 40's thru  the 90's. The majority  have passed away. It was very interesting to see how they lived. The neat part is that they took us down the street where my parents used to live to show us the Frank Sinatra home. This is a home he leased before he ever bought here.   My folks did mention that they lived across the street from him.

One of the few that is alive and still living here is Suzanne Summers. She has lived here for 40 years. Interesting thing is that there are no roads to her home. She parks near her home and takes a tram the rest of the way. Very, very private.

Also heard alot of history of the Palm Springs area. There are very, very few 2nd story private homes here. The first mayor, Ruth Harvey, didn't want to spoil the view of the mountains, so that is one of the laws she passed for that reason. Also no high billboards.

There are lots of windmills around here for electricity.  They are huge, about 300' tall. The 3 blades are at least 150' tall.  In the beginning, it was mostly the movie stars that owned them.  It cost 4 million to build one and it takes 12 years to get a return. It is windy here everyday, so there are thousands of these windmills everywhere.

You can also see more windmills in the background.

Notice the height of the car compared to the windmill.

Four ladies having fun after out tour.  Irene, the woman on my left, also geocaches. She has found over 3,000. I'm up to 55. We went out with her one day and found 20. Whew!  Denny and I were exhausted and we were only out 3 hours. She has found 120 in one day.  We took Karen and her husband out one day to see how they would like it. They enjoyed it. We found 4 out of 5 caches. She is the woman on the right.

Palm Springs Follies

March 7, 2012

Yesterday we went to the Palm Springs Follies.  We first  went in 2009. I think we will go every year we are here, it is kind of spendy, but well worth it.   They are amazing. It is a Las Vegas type show, but the performers are between 58 and 82 years old. Can't imagine doing all that dancing and kicking at those ages. When they were younger, all were professional   singers and dancers. . There are 10 ladies, ranging from 60 to 78 years. There are  men, ranging from 58 to 82.  They do 9 shows a week. We had tickets for the 1st row of the Balcony. We get those because you get a overview of the whole stage. The front row is great because there is nobody in front of us. That's important because I'm short. Those seats were $75.  The day before the show, they called and said the balcony was closed because of maintenance issues. They upgraded us to the 7th row front,  at no cost to us. Those are $94 seats. They way they have the seats, no one was blocking our view. Pretty nice upgrade.

In my previous post, I  mentioned that we went to the address that my folks lived at in 1944. Unfortunately it isn't the same house.  I know it was 68 years ago, but I was hoping.  It was still  cool to be on the same street they lived at.

On all of our travels around here, we have certainly seen lots of country clubs and gated communities.  Beautiful homes. Made me  wonder where all these rich people did their shopping. On our way to the Living Desert, we took a right turn several streets too soon. It took us to El Paseo Drive in Palm Desert.  WOW!  I felt I was on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills,  California.   Big Designer names  for at least 6-7 blocks. Amazing  to see where the other half shop. 

Even tho there is alot of money here, there is also a bad economy like everywhere else. There is a shopping center that has only 2 small stores  left.  Everyone else has gone. When they close this year, they will probably tear the whole thing down. Never seen a whole shopping center empty. There were some big, well known  stores there.

The weather is still in the high 70's to mid 80's. This is probably our summer, Two days ago, a wind storm came up. That night I bet the winds were 60 miles an hour. We were driving home when it started. It was kind of spooky. You looked into the distance and it looked foggy, but it was the sand blowing. They even closed a couple of main streets because you couldn't even see. It was blowing sand so much that it looked like a snow storm. It was over by the next morning. WHEW. Hope it is calm when we have to leave.

Last week we also went to VillageFest. It is a craft fair that is held every Thursday night. They actually close about 7 blocks of Old Downtown Palm Springs about 5PM.  Vendors set up their wares in the middle of the street. Most of the stores stay open.  Besides vendors, they is live music and lots of food.  I don't really buy much, but it is fun place to spend an evening. I only bought local coffee and a CD from a musican that was playing his sax.

A few days before, we also went to the COD Street Fair. During the week, it is the campus of College of the Desert. Every weekend, they turn a large portion of their parking lot into a street fair. Lots of vendors and food. Very, very crowded, but fun.  Bought a few things I couldn't live without.

We have connected with a few friends we have met on our travels. We went to the COD Street Fair with a couple we met in Moab, Utah.  They are orginally from Medford, Or., but now they are full timers.  Also spent a few afternoons in the hot tub and pool with them over at Desert Hot Springs.   We had lunch and dinner with another  couple we had met at Casa Grande. They are from Colorado.  That is what traveling is all about, meeting new friends and seeing them again at different places.

This is a overview of the streets in downtown Old Palm Springs. This is before the streets closed for Village Fest.

All of the buildings were built many years ago. This is the area all the movie stars used to hang out All of the buildings were built many years ago.

This is the Plaza Theatre, built in 1936. This is where the Palm Springs Follies are at. It was empty for years and in 1989 a man bought and renovated it and started the Follies. The Follies started in 1989. The sign on the right advertises the Follies.

TIMES HAVE CHANGED IN 68 YEARS

March 1,  2012

My parents used to live here, in fact my brother was born here.  My Dad was a pilot in the Air force during the war, traveling to many  different bases and airports in the US and around the world.   My folks still had their address, so we put it in the Garmin and took off.  I really wasn't sure we would find it, but we went straight to the old  address. They did say they lived down the street from Frank Sinatra.

.This is where my folks used to live, 1316 E. Alameda Road.  I doubt it looked like this 68 years ago, but it was cool to see the street and place.

 There are so many bushes in front that you can't really see the house.

I walked onto the driveway and stuck my camera thru the fence to take a look. I'm surprised that a neighbor didn't call the police to say there was a peeping tom looking at houses. I'm sure there wasn't a pool when my  folks lived here, but not sure about the house. My folks will have to let me know. When I told them what it looked it, it sounded like the same, but upgraded. We'll see. How cool would that be if it was the same house.

Before we came here a few years ago, I thought this whole area was Palm Springs. Nope! It is actually 6 cities, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Indio. They are all next to each other so that you don't know what city you are in unless you see the city limit sign. Palm Springs is on one end, with Indio on the other. They probably span around 25 miles.  Even tho all cities probably total 125,00 to 150,00, it still gives me a small town feel. I think because the streets are so wide.

When my folks lived here, they said that there were miles of desert between each of the cities. How times have changed.

WIND, WINDY AND MORE WIND

Our first campground in the Palm Springs area was actually in Desert Hot Springs. It is across the freeway from Palm Springs.  Our first week was good, a little wind but not much.  Our 2nd week was a different story. The wind never let up, night and day.  If we walked around the camp, we had to hold our hats down with our hands. At night our RV was a rockin' and a rollin'.  We had gone to VillageFest one night and came home after dark. The sand was blowing so hard across the road that it looked like snow.  Once you cross I-10 (freeway) from Palm Springs to Desert Pools, it's like another weather world. It really gets on your nerves after a while, without any letup.  Denny had washed the truck the day before it started.  The next day, it looked like it hadn't be washed for weeks. Depressing.

Yesterday, we moved to another park in Indio. It feels great to actually sit outside without the wind blowing. No wind last night. How refreshing to wake up to no sound of the wind. 

After reading my rant about the wind again, I feel pretty stupid for complaining.  I would much rather have this wind than the tornado's in the Midwest. Hard to believe all the devastation. The pictures are amazing to see. 

We had planned on heading home yesterday, but it is still  a tad too cold and rainy. Decided to find another park for 2 more weeks. Today it is suppose to be 81 degrees, tomorrow 89.  Next week is in the high 70's, low 80's.  I have put in a little prayer for high 70's when we get home. Fat chance, since we plan to be home around April 10th, but I can always hope.