Blogs from Palm Springs, California, United States, North America - page 2

Escaping from the Canadian Winter, Margo and I spent a month in southern California, mostly in Palm Springs and the surrounding area which forms the Coachella Valley. An extension of the Sonoran Desert, about 15 miles (24 km) wide and 45 miles (72 km) long, it is bounded by mountains on both sides, some as high as 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Palm Springs at the northern end of the Valley is about 120 miles (200 km) southeast of Los Angeles, and about 140 miles (230 km) northeast of San Diego. It’s far enough away that the frenzy of “Big City” life doesn’t impinge upon its tranquil lifestyle. For a very complete overview, go to http://en.wikipedia/wiki.org/Coachella_Valley The Valley is blessed with a multitude of hot springs, and there is ample irrigation from the Colorado River (think golf ... read more

I’M TELLING YA, DON’T COME HOME! Who was it that told me emphatically “Don’t Come Home”? It wasn’t just one of you. Silly me for making plans to do so to service a handful of clients for whom I was unable to provide relief coverage. Once I had committed, well I couldn’t back out, and I couldn’t get my points back on my airfare in any event. So suck it up, it won’t be that bad, just 4 hectic days of a schedule packed tighter than sardines in a can, put my head down, get it done, just do it (my favourite mantra, thanks Nike), and then I will be back on that plane to Palm Springs and back on my beloved bike. Easy peasy. I’m into it less than two days now. Let’s rethink all ... read more

Thursday - had a little sleep in, boys did their own thing and I walked to the local shopping centre and had a mani and pedi which was a real treat, until I went to pay and they didn't take credit card, handed in watch and walked 20 minutes back to the villa to get some cash off Mark, then John drove me back to pay. Have had a bit of trouble with our passport cash card getting money transferred onto it! John was on the blower that night at 11.30p.m. trying to get things organised. Later in the arvo went around the main pool at the resort and had a cold beer at their bar, few laughs and fun, then drove down to Palm Springs for their Thursday night street market, where they close off ... read more

We are now in Los Angeles until the end of our trip and before we board the Southwest Chief train save for a two-night stay in Palm Springs. Travel tip: Many museums in LA are open on different days- some are open on Monday such as the Huntingdon and Norton Simon. Others are open from Tuesday. It is also helpful to plan visits for those in the same area. The Huntingdon with its fabulous gardens and galleries is in Pasadena as is the Norton Simon- home of 20th century European and American art, 17th-19th century European art and Asian galleries. It pays to go on free docent tours that some of the museums provide. We travelled Route 10 towards Palm Springs and very soon the landscape and vegetation changed signaling that we were in the desert. ... read more

Here it is May 7th and we have not been home yet. We left LaPenita on March 20th. It was the first time we left on our own. No reason other then there always seems to be people leaving everyday. First night was Mazatlan, then San Carlos then Rio Rico. We have met some new people in Mexico so we spent a couple of days with Sid. Maria was away babysitting for a week so we missed her. Rio Rico is just a few minutes from Nogales, Az and it is a gorgeous area. So nice to see a town with a local. Our beautiful double door fridge/freezer had died a few weeks before we left Mexico so we had a very small electric fridge. We were anticipating spending a fortune to either buy a new ... read more