Sunshine, Drives and Relaxing

It’s been a lovely few days just relaxing and catching up with friends, overcoming jet lag, (Philip mainly) and doing some exploring. We have done some big walks around the complex here. After 5pm you are able to walk through the golf courses and these are lovely to walk on. We have stopped and chatted to some of the residents here and of course they are interested in where we are from, why we are here and where we are heading to. Evening walks are so nice as the sun sets, there is no wind and the temperature is lovely. (P- wow this is sounding romantic almost!!)

Two nights ago we attended a street party next door to Tony and Judy’s, for St Patrick’s Day. The lady of the house decorates for every holiday and she had gone all out for St Patrick’s day. We all had to look the part with something green and as you can see from the photos we chose appropriate attire. (All supplied by the neighbour). All the main rooms in the house were decorated with the green theme. It must have cost a fortune buying all the decorations, and she had boxes of decorations stored in the garage for all other holidays. It was good meeting so many others who were all interested in our travels etc. Also in the garage, much to Philips interest was a Delorean car. Never heard of it before but it is an Irish car. What’s more it is made from stainless steel. All you need to do to polish it is rub with steel wool.

Thursday 8th

After breakfast Philip and I decided to go for a drive, so packing the camera, hats and water we headed for the hills. After negotiating the traffic in Palm Dessert, (the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament is on), we drove up into the hills. Had some great views back over Palm Desert. The hills are extremely barren and rocky not a blade of grass around. It’s amazing to see what a difference some water makes. There are many gated communities around this area and most of them have a golf course or two. Where we are staying has two. In the Palm Valley area there are 124 golf courses, all beautifully green with lovely lakes. It makes for a very pretty a township area.

We continued to climb up into the hills, climbing to 6000 feet and into the snow line, not that there was much snow left, if there was it was just a few patches. We drove through several Indian Reservations before descending back down to the I10 freeway back to Palm Springs. On the return trip we stopped at an Outlet Centre to stretch our legs and get some lunch. Oh a bit of shopping as well!!!

Just after we got back Judy was heading to aqua aerobics so I went with her as her guest. It was a great hour of easy exercise. I was the youngest there by quite a bit😜. The oldest lady there was 87 and she kept up with all the rest of us. (P- Tony and I exercised our jaws catching up on old times) It was a beautiful pool facility with a huge pool indoors and another outside with a spa alongside and also an indoor spa, which we used after our exercise class. Then back home on the golf cart. This is just one of 3 pool complexes in this community.

Later in the afternoon Philip and I went for a walk, initially just down the street but then onto the golf course golf cart road. It was a magnificent evening no breeze at all and very pleasant walking. We spent several hours sitting outside enjoying a wine and some pleasant conversation before sharing dinner.

Friday 9th We were up and on the road by 8.30 this morning heading towards Pomona on the outskirts of Los Angeles to have a look at a Quilt and Craft show and a Home and Gardens show. They were both good little exhibitions and at each we found some good ideas. Of course, I had to make a couple of purchases at the Quilt show, no fabric just a pattern and some novelties. (P- Please note there were no complaints from me re the purchase so I expect the same when I go ( antique farm machinery) toy shopping!!!)

Later Philip and I took the golf cart up to the supermarket (P- I know how Fred Flintstone feels now after driving one of those!) to get a few things and we did a lap of the complex. Another enjoyable evening was spent outside enjoying a wine before dinner. It’s been a very relaxing few days