Mar 9, 2013 - Windy

The wind has not stopped blowing since our arrival,I mean big blow you away winds. Rain overnight with a drop in freezing temps brought us quite a view in the morning. Snow capped mountains around us and snowy highway pass's heading north. A rare start for us was up at 7 and off to the College of the Desert Street Fair Saturday.There are some 340 Vendors offering New Merchandise, Food Court, Arts and Crafts and a Farmers Market We attemped to get this through this twice last year and both times we failed. But we made it today ,even after...

Mar 7, 2013 - walkin' and gawkin'

According to the local lore, the LaQuinta Art Fair is a must see. This juried show includes 300 of the best of the best artists. Judging by all the rich folks that seem to live around here, if I were an artist, this is a show where I would want to bring my work for sale. We studied the website before we came and aimed for the free parking lot. It was the size of a postage stamp, but there was plenty of valet parking. We found a spot on the street. Then we had to pay to get in, quite unusual from our experience. But the items on display were...

Mar 7, 2013 - Desert Hot Springs, March 7-16

Heading out this morning to start another road trip. Today we took CA95 south to CA62 West. CA 95 was repaved last year so this highway is as smooth as they come.Being a main north south corridor one can expect quite a bit of truck traffic on it. We could have continued south to Blthe but Route 62 west is the faster route towards our destination. Newly repaved and very few vehicles make this an ideal speedway, but the cops sit out there waiting for those temptations and that will cost you a ticket. After driving 62 we eventually come to...

Mar 1, 2013 - Indian Canyons

When the United States defeated Mexico we added 55% more land to our country. One of the first things we needed was a railroad joining California and its gold rush fields to the rest of the country. The Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians were living in this area and surprisingly they didn't lose it all to the railroad. Alternating sections along the route were given to the Indians and the railroad and the indians have managed to hang on to some prime real estate to this day. As is often the case, some of these lands house casinos. But the plot...

Feb 28, 2013 - Coachella Valley

The Coachella Valley has many unique features. The San Andreas Fault splits and run through it. The two plates along the fault line are boogying along. City Hall in Los Angeles has moved nine feet since it was built in 1923. This crack allows hot water from the aquifer beneath to run to the surface creating the hot springs that gave their name to the town where we are camped. For centuries they have created an oasis in the desert and people still come here today to soak in the warm water. Our campground pumps the hot water through a series...

Feb 27, 2013 - eating and walking and eating

One of the best ways to find out about a new destination is through its food. Food tours in Istanbul, Greenwich Village in NYC and China Town in San Francisco have been high points in our travel experiences. And of course our home town is famous as a food mecca. A Chicago bike ride tour from Fork in the Road which gave us samples of BBQ in various ethnic neighborhoods was amazing. We had no idea that BBQ is such an important part of every culture. As you eat, the food tour guide fills you in on the food, the restaurant, the environs. A...

Feb 27, 2013 - Desert Hot Springs, CA

Well we are on the move North towards Reno. This morning we entered So Cal. and made the 4 hour trip from Yuma to Desert Hot Springs and the Catalina Spa & Resort. Very nice and with our Passport America membership are staying for 50% off the normal going rate. Passport has paid for itself a couple times over since joining. Will be here for 2 nights and then will head up to Bakersfield and The Orange Grove RV Park. We plan on following HWY 99 on the way to Jackson and the Jackson Rancheria where we will watch the weather for a good day to...

Feb 26, 2013 - staying put

Campgrounds are a bit pricey around here and there's more to see and do than can be done in the week we have reserved, so attending a presentation at our campground about buying a park model here was not how we wanted to spend a beautiful afternoon, but if we went we could stay the week for half price. As advertised the presentation was extremely low key and it actually was interesting to tour three new park models (trailers that never go anywhere) and listen to the financial ramifications of making a more permanent commitment here. When we...

Feb 24, 2013 - Cough, Sneeze, Snorkle

We have been miserable!!!! The poor dogs haven't had a decent walk in two weeks. We are still coughing and congested but at least up and about. Needless to say, we haven't done much since we arrived in Desert Hot Springs.Yesterday(Fri.)was the first day we felt like doing anything. We went to see Argo (excellent)and finally took the dogs for a decent walk. Sat. we walked arount the street fair for a couple hours and we were wiped out by the time we returned home. I hope to feel good enough to go to water aerobics tomorrow morning. Last...

Feb 24, 2013 - Santa Anna winds

There are literally over one hundred golf courses in the Palm Springs area. And nearly all of them cost over $100 to play on them. Since my golf game is worth about 1/10th that, we haven't been playing any golf. Our campground has a short course, very short. The fairways are bordered by mobile homes so an errant shot could easily do some damage. We were ready to give it a try today, but the Santa Anna winds sprang up yesterday and are blowing hard. We don't know what the name comes from, but even for folks from the Windy City the wind was...

Feb 23, 2013 - happy in the desert

We've paid to stay a week here in this campground and after 24 hours we can tell that a week won't be long enough for all that the Palm Springs area has to offer. For reasonably affluent geezers, there are so many indoor and outdoor things to do, we hardly knew where to start. Perhaps because we are only a few hours drive from Los Angeles, there is lots of professional entertainment - big name performers, revues, comedians, plays, etc. Not the affordable $5 per ticket we're used to paying in the Rio Grande Valley, but much higher caliber....

Feb 22, 2013 - from Pines to Palms

We drove the twisty, windy Pines to Palms Scenic Byway back down to sea level to Desert Hot Springs. The road wasn't quite as alarming as it was when we drove up to JoJoba Hills, perhaps because we knew what to expect, but we did drive a bit by car yesterday to see how much snow the recent storm had left behind. The road was dry, but officials were removing a truck that had flown off a curve and landed twenty feet above the road. That's off roading to the nth degree. This is an expensive area and many of the glitterati of the past have...