No Arguing with the Quizmaster

This week we have been golfing, attended a wonderful potluck get together on the main hall picnic area for Jim and Linda ( of Vernon ) who were leaving, quilting day and Happy Hour on Wednesday.  Thursday was the Valley Shop Hop of Quilt stores, but I drove 4 other quilters to only the 2 shops in the Coachella Valley here.  There were about 20 other quilters who travelled to all eight shops and had a wonderful time. We received some free fabrics from each shop, in the same fabric line ( Monet ) and a pattern.  Each of the two shops that we visited offered coffee, punch, and little treats.  The second shop even had free hotdogs outside on their patio so that's where we ate lunch!

Last evening we attended the second Trivia Night at the main clubhouse. I was on a team of four with 3 other ladies I swim with every morning and Donald was brought in as a ringer ( he is AWESOME on crossword puzzles ) on the Dog Park Guys team.  Our friend Paulette also had to step in on that team, too.  Does that mean it is no longer the Guys Dog Park team????? Pretty impressive though - they came in third.  Trivia Rule # 1: the Quiz Master is ALWAYS RIGHT.  Question: who said ( character or real name allowed ) " May the Force be with you?".  CORRECT answer: Obi Wan Kenobi/Sir Alec Guiness.  Quiz Master answer: Harrison Ford character. NOT!!!!!!!!! For anyone that knows me, I know, I KNOW Star Wars. That and Star Trek. Captain Jean -Luc Picard, be still my heart. I digress.....oh Jean Luc.  However, no quibbling with the Quizmaster. HMMMPH. We lost a point there. So did the Guys Dog Park Team, because Donald KNEW as well. He is, after all, married to me. Ask him how many times he suffered through all those movies and episodes!

This morning, it was up early and off to the bi-weekly Pancake breakfast, then a hike in Morongo Canyon Preserve with Ken and Karen.  Willy Boys Saloon is right across the highway, so we went there for lunch. No mechanical bull riding at lunch time. Whew!  Donald headed out to the links again with the Dog Park boys, after we got back.

Four Seasons and Frankie Valli

Our neighbours, Mel and Debbie, had tickets for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Sunday evening.  They asked if we would like them, as they had decided not to go. SURE! So, what turned out to be a planned quiet Sunday evening watching our usual British shows, was great fun attending the concert at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino.  It is a lovely facility within a 30 minute drive of us.  The concert hall was still designed as a " fight hall", as is 29 Palms Casino.  The best concert hall is truly a concert hall, and that is at Agua Caliente Resort.

The concert was very well done, with a terrific back up band and sound system.  The performance started almost 30 minutes late, very unprofessional, especially since there was no announcement as to why the show was starting late. We picked up a CD on the way out after the concert, to give to Deb and Mel.

Yesterday was swimming laps, then water aerobics and back to finish up a quilt job for a friend's first baby grandson.  Then, we were invited to golf here with Mel, Deb, Rick, Roger and Margo.  The guys golfed together and the gals were right behind them.  Since it was a beautiful day, play was slow, but none of us thought it was a bad thing, as we visited and rested on the benchs between each hole. Deb managed to birdie #8, so it was a good ending.

Today is another beautiful day, with a late afternoon potluck planned by friends. 

A howler in the night

We spoke too soon about the wind, it's back.  We pulled one of the slides in for the first time this year. Seemed like the wind was coming from all directions last night, and it was like a tunnel through one of the slide toppers, so in came the slide so we could sleep. This morning seems not as howling, so we pushed the button and sent the slide back out.

Yesterday we enjoyed a very quick visit from Allen and Lolita, catching up on theirs and our travel plans for the coming summer. They left a great gift of a few oranges! Delicious! I think they headed off to Rick and Paulette's after visiting here.  I told Lolita, as she was driving, to swing by the end of our 'loop' in the rv park, to see the biggest fifth wheel we have yet encountered! Yes, it is a 50 foot fifth wheel, looking brand spanking new. I guess when it arrived, they tried to fit it into a couple of sites before one was of enough size. It is from B.C., our home province.

Shhhhh the wind has died down......

Yes, the posts are lacking and we were even  'upbraided' for not posting by a couple of readers who we met at last Saturday's Pancake Breakfast. Gently, of course, but point taken.

We seem to be busy, and my intention is to keep a longhand journal every start of a new year, with data such as the weather and what we did for that day. Yes, the blog fits some of that function so it seems like it would be done twice so no, the journal has yet to be started for another year! The  quilting clubhouse times have been busy with a quilt show on Monday of our own quilts.  We also made a trip to San Jacinto for the Valley Quilt Guilds annual show, which is a favorite as the quilts are 'do-able' to us, unlike the master art quilts at Road to California. Two different shows, for sure. Ken and Karen joined us and the fellows did not come to the quilt show - they went to Harbor Freight Tools, then we went out for lunch at the Morongo Casino before returning back to the Park.

We had a lovely visit from our friends, Bob and Karen, from Chase and our RV club Chapter.  With them, we are hosting a rally at the end of May, so we made a few more plans and just had a good visit.  They stayed at Lake Cahuilla County Park, which is not very close to us, but a lovely park on a reservoir lake. Too bad it was so windy and cool for their visit, but I think it has been unusually cold for the southwest this winter for everyone.

On Tuesday, Donald and I decided to get out of the wind and make a trek into downtown Palm Springs to have a lovely lunch just behind the green umbrella in the photo, and do a little people watching. It is Modernism Week in Palm Springs, and it seems quite busy with even a double decker open top bus giving tours of architecture and homes.

What else? Oh a T shirt making workshop for me, golf for Donald with friends Mel and Rick, coffee afternoons at the neighbours, a Mardi Gras Party at Ken and Anne's, another dance last Friday night and yesterday we went to see the movie, Argo. Very good.

The pool is closed this morning for cleaning, so today I am off with a couple of gals to Palm Springs and then who knows what will be the afternoon.... the wind has subsided.... shhhhhh. Don't let it be know, lest it come back!!!!

San Diego in a Day?

That was a quick trip and you cannot 'do' San Diego in a day, but we did have a really good sense of what we would like to come back and see.  Our RV park arranged a one day bus trip to Old Town San Diego, with the option of an additional discounted ticket on the Old Trolley Tour of the city, which we took advantage of.

The weather was very cool and misty/cloudy and with the plastic covers over the windows in the trolley, seeing everything was fine, but photo taking was not the best.  The trolley tour takes just over two hours, going to Coronado Island, downtown and different areas.  Donald had the map of the route and decided that we should hop off at the second to last stop, which was Little Italy, for lunch.   We only had about 5 hours total at our disposal as we had to meet back at our tour bus stop at about 3 pm.
My favorite place that I would like come back to was Balboa Park and the magnificent museums and architecture.  I think Donald wanted to go back to the Island and the beach.

Our lunch was wonderful, with access to this rather large seating area through a rather small store hallway! The outside was tiny, and you almost would have missed it. Inside, there must have been over 100 people enjoying their meals and busy with a great wait staff.

walk through to Felippe's eatery

In Hyder, Alaska and Oatman, Arizona you can enter into the pub and write your name on a dollar bill and post it on the wall. Here, you can get an empty bottle of Chianti, write on the straw/wicker part and hang it from the ceiling. There were hundreds of bottles hanging.  Of course, the bottle closest to our table was written by a couple from Vancouver.

Donald had the lasagna and sausage and I had spaghetti, and both were the best we have ever had. Nothing now in a restaurant will compare to the lasagna that Donald enjoyed at Felippe's. I could not even finish my one meatball. Delicious. We hopped back on the trolley, sitting with other neighbours from our RV park,and then did a walk about through Old Town till we had to meet up with the bus. Old Town is pretty much a tourist zone, with Mexican goods that you can get at Los Algodones for 1/4 of the price as there. We enjoyed an afternoon coffee with a look at some beautiful flowers.

It was nice for Donald not to have to drive, and instead he got a kick out of looking down into vehicles as we passed, or as they passed, to see how many people were talking or texting on the interstate as they drove along. He wanted to be back in time for his Gold Rush show on the Discovery Channel to see what mess the Hoffman brothers were up to now.  We did make it in time, but our dish must have dis-aligned itself and it took us about 30 minutes to set it all back up! Errrg.

Today is Clubhouse Quilting and the Park Appreciation Lunch at noon. Better get going.........