The Follies and Marilyn

March 14, 2013

Last  Thursday  we went  on  our  annual  visit  to  the  Palm  Springs  Follies.  It  is  expensive,  $100  per  person,  but  we  think  it  is  worth  it.   This  is  our  3rd  time.   The  men  and  women  are  between  54  and  83.  It  is  amazing  to  see  them  at  their  age,  do  all  the  kicks,  dancing   and  wearing  the  fancy  costumes,  especially  the  ladies.   Of  course,  they  were  professional  dancers  when  they  were  younger.   We  met  another  couple  there  that  we  had  met  last  year.   We  first  met  them  last  year  in  Utah  and  then  again  in  Palm  Springs.  We  have  been  doing  quite  a   few  things  together  this  year.   After  the  follies  we  went  out  to  dinner.

  They  always  have  guest  artists  in  the  show.   This  year,  the  singer  was  from  the  60's,  Leslie  Gore.  Her biggest hit  was   It's  My  Party  (and  I'll  Cry  if  I  want  to).   I'm  sure  all  the  people  who  read  this  that  are  our  age  will  certainly  remember  her.  She was 16 when that came out and she is 66 now.

They  also  had  a  hula  hoop  master.   He  was  also  amazing.   He  was  a  champion  at  13  years  of  age  and   is  now  probably  in  his  50's.   When I was  young,  I   used   to   be   pretty   good   at   the   hula   hoop.   I  tried  it  again  last  year  with  Elissa,  our  granddaughter.   What  a  joke,  I  could  barely  keep  it  up  for  2  minutes.   This  guy  started  with  one  and  by  the  end,  he  had  20  going  at  one  time.  They  were  around  his  head,  neck,  arms  and  legs.   Everyone  in  the  show  made  me  fee l really  OLD.

 

The  Follies  are at  the  old  Plaza  Theatre.   It  was  built  in  the  20's  and  this  was  the place  to  be  in  the  hey  day  of  Palm  Springs,  back  in  the  40's,  50's  and  60's.   It  was  set  to  be  torn  down  but  it  was  bought  and  remodeled  to  what  it  used  to  be  and  now  the  Follies  are  in  their   22nd   year.

 

 

After  the  Follies,  we  all  had  to  go  see  Marilyn.  There  is a huge statue  of  her  in  the  iconic  pose of  her  standing  over  the  heating  grate  with  her  dress flying high in the air.   It  is  just  visiting.  It  goes  all  over  the  United  States.  Can't  imagine  how  they  they transport  it  from  place  to  place.   It  must  come  apart,  but  we  didn't  see  any  seams.   It  is  perfect  for   here   because  she  had  a  house   and spent alot  of  time  here.

 

I  couldn't  take  this  from  the  front  because  of  the  sun.   Notice  the  line  of  trees  in  back.  We found  a  geocache  there.

 

 

 

Fred and Linda took a picture of us. We don't have very many of us because I'm usually the one taking the pictures

 

 

 

 

110 Geocaches and Earthquakes

March 11, 2013

 

I  went  geocaching  with  Bernie  last  Monday.   He  is  an  avid  geocacher,  he  has  almost  6000.   We  met  them  last  year.   Denny  and  Diana  don't  mind  geocaching,  but  only  for  3-4  hours  at  the  most.   Bernie  took  me  on  my  first  all  day  desert  caching  experience.   He  doesn't  have  a  jeep  or  ATV,  but  his  car  has  4 WD  and  a  short  wheel  base.   He  takes  it  everywhere  where  an  ATV  goes.    He  has  so  many  caches  around  here  that  we  traveled  south  for  an  hour  to  the  middle  of  the  desert.   In  8  hours  of  caching,  we  found  110.   I  was  amazed  at  finding   that  many.  Unless  I'm  with  Bernie,  it  will  probably  never  happen  again.   We  can't  take  our  truck  out  to  the  desert.   I  took  3  large  bottles  of  water  and  drank  every  bit.   It  was  a  fun   but  exhausting  day. 

 

On  the  same  day,  Dian a called  us  about  10:00 am.  There  had  been  an  earthquake  and  their  motor home  really  shook.   It  was  a  4.7,  the epicenter  was  between  our  RV  resort  and  where  we  were  in  the  desert.   I  talked  to  several people  that  felt  it,  but  Denny  never  did.   We   never  felt  anything.

 

I  have   gone  out  with  Bernie  several  times  geocaching.   Once,  we  even  rode  our  bikes.   That was  a  tad  scary  because  we  were  in  heavy  traffic,  but  did  fine.   We  had  helmets  on,  but  nobody  else  did.   The  other  day  we  were  gone  4 hours  and  found  17.    We  had  to  drive  quite  a  ways  between  caches.   The  only  reason  we  were  able  to  find  110  in  one  day  is  that they  were  only  600  ft  apart  in  a  series  put  out  by  the  same  person.

 

I  always  have  fresh  flowers  on  the  table  at  home,  but  never  on   the road.   I  didn't  want  to  take  up  space  for  a  vase.   UNTIL NOW.   I  have  seen  these  vases  for  a  while,  but  had  never  bought  one.   It  is  flat  until  you  fill  it  with  water.   It  is  very  sturdy.   When  you   empty  the  water  out,  it  goes  flat  again.   How  perfect  for  the  RV  is  that!

 

Below  is  a  picture  of  the  vase.   I  also  bought  another  one,  but  I  put  it  away  for  safekeeping and  can't  find  it.   Oh  well,  I  wanted  to  show  it  flat.

 

 

 

An  RV  across  from  us  was  flying  this  flag.   We  had  never  seen  a  combo  U.S/Canadian  flag  before.   Lots  of  U.S.  Flags   and   lots   of  Canadian  Flags,  but  never  one  like  this.   Maybe  the  wife  and  husband  were  from  both  the  U.S. and  Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



PALM SPRINGS BREAKING HEAT RECORDS

We got to Palm Springs on March 4th.  We are staying at one of our favorite parks, Indian Waters, in Indio, CA.

 

 

Entrance

 

 

Road to office and clubhouse

 

 

 

First swimming pool

 

2nd pool is for water volleyball. In the far distance, by the 2 flower planters, is the hot tub.

 

 

Office and clubhouse

 

We will be in the area until April 10th and then start heading SLOWLY home. We had planned on staying until the 15th, but, there is a huge Cochella Techno Music Festival the last 2 weekends in April. The park is crowded with lots of young kids and very loud.  The office warned us when we went to make the reservation. They put tents on the concrete sites. Last year we also left just before the Festival.

 

Depending on the weather, we hope to stop at Yosemite and Lake Tahoe on our way home. Have to wait and see. We plan to be home mid May, depending also on Seattle weather.

 

We have been learning Pickle ball and Bocce Ball. Both are alot of fun.  The weather has been so warm that the area is breaking heat records for this time of year. The last week it has been in the mid to high 90's. One day it was even 100. They usually don't have that warm of temperatures this time of year.  The 80's are normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COTTONWOOD & JEROME, AZ.

We traveled to Cottonwood, AZ on Feb. 19th for 2 weeks. This was our 3rd time there, but we like the area. There is so much to do.  it is about 20 miles south of Sedona. We did a lot of wine tasting and geocaching. 

 

One day we went to Jerome. it is an old copper mining town. Back in the 1800's it was a bustling, busy place. Today, there are 440 year full time residents, mostly artists. it is a fun place to visit. The cooper mine is directly below the town and it is built on a hill. Structures are slowly sliding down the hills. We also visited a gold mine ghost town about a mile away. We tried to find it last year, but no luck.

 

This is the Old Jerome Hotel. They say it is haunted by past guests. Beautiful inside.  We found a geocache in the greenery on the right bottom of the picture. We started looking it for it in the wrong place and had to walk up steep hills to find it. We were exhausted and determined to find it after such a strenuous walk. WE DID, YAHOO!

 

 

Overview of Jerome

 

Who is that good looking lady Denny is with? This is typical of stuff you see on the outside of stores.

 

 

Below are pictures I took in the Gold Mining Ghost town.  Look at the prices at the dentist office. How prices have changed.

 

The stacked wood  at the right bottom of the building is the only thing holding it up.  There is another stack on the other side. The 2 x 4 in the back stops in mid air. We went inside but not very far back. Kind of scary looking.

 

 

Notice the Beware of Dog sign. Inside, in the back window, is a chihuahua.

 

 

I feel sorry for this donkey. He has such a  swayback. He looks pretty old.

 

 

How would you like to use this old refrigerator? No thanks. They were called ice boxes and you had to buy chunks of ice to put in.

 

 

 

Cars have certainly come a long way. Thank heavens, how would you like to ride in this?

 

 

 

 

COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING

Feb. 23rd

When we were in Parker, AZ., we met some friends from Friday Harbor. In their winter travels, he is involved in Cowboy Action Shooting.  There are contests all over AZ. The Nationals were in Peoria, AZ. Since we had traveled to Cottonwood, we decided to go and check it out. It was only 75 miles south.  We had a good time. Amazing to see all the people in costumes. Everyone dresses up in period costumes, usually from the 1800's. When we got there, I almost didn't recognise the man waving at us. it was Tom in costume, looking like a high stakes gambler.  Susan also had on a costume. He shoots a combination of pistol, rifle and shotgun on reactive steel targets. There are a couple of matches in Washington in the summer. When we drove in, we both mentioned that we never thought we would be going to a gun range. We don't have any guns and doubt if we ever will.

 

These are our friends, Tom and Susan

 

 

All contestants have gun boxes to carry their guns and ammo

 

Tom during the shooting match

 

 

 

I had to take some pictures of all the costumes. Amazing

 

 

 

The truck looks a little out of place next to the two guys.

This is a close up of the spurs on the cowboy above. Wouldn't want to tangle with him.

This outfit was for sale for $800.  There were booths for clothing, accessories, guns, ammunition, and leather goods. Everything anyone would need for their costume and shooting.

 

 

This couple were both shooting.