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

The next day greeted us with that same vicious heat. We were in the pool before 11 am and thankfully there were less people. We stood still in the water, so as not to accidently exercise, and tried to keep cool, but it wasn’t working. We went back to the room for lunch. Zack prepared delicious grilled chicken avocado sandwiches and Ralph’s French loaf. Ralph’s has the most amazing bakery bread! After lunch, we napped. For 2 hours we slept! In the middle of the day! We got up and decided to go to Joshua Tree National Park to see in the night sky. So at 6:00, we ventured out to the local Sam’s Club, our “home away from home”. We always go there on our vacations for discount pizza and giant sodas and the strange ... read more

Well, we won’t have much to blog about for this day…or the next 6, but we’ll try to keep you up to date. We woke up at about 11 and made some coffee and breakfast. Jenn lived her dream of doing the USA Today crossword, while Zack lived his dream of drinking coffee and reading the financial reports (not that he understands them!). With a second cup of coffee, we watched the third Harry Potter movie in bed—in the middle of the day! At about 3:30 we cooked a quick lunch of spaghetti with meat sauce for Jenn and more tacos for Zack. The pool scene was calling, so we got suited up and walked down. The pool next to us is labeled “SHHH! QUIET POOL!”—the drunk crew ranging from 25-55 years old, with an ... read more

The weather has been so crummy in the entire U.S. that we just decided to stay a little longer in Palm Desert, Calif. The weather hit 103 yesterday, but it's dry heat! We finished up getting our new motorcoach ready for the road. I have met some wonderful pickleball players here. The instructor at Thousand Trails, where we are camping, took me under his wing and I have improved my game. Jessie, age 70-something, is my new idol! She started competitions in Oregon....some years ago. She'd wear all her medals but then she couldn't hold her head up! For our 20th wedding anniversary Tom took me 8,516 ft up the face of Mt. San Jacinto on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Many of you know I am afraid of heights. Honestly, I did this for Tom. ... read more

Day Seven Palm Springs We slept in a bit...the previous occupant had cleverly and maliciously set the alarm for 3:30 AM....so we needed a bit of extra sleep. We had a good breakfast (inlcuded in our incredible price of $57/night in this hotel where the list price is $133...thank you, Hotwire!) and headed out to check out the local thrift stores on the way to the Palm Spring Tramway....one of the wonders of the world...(kind of). After buying a sweater (Lynn) and nothing else (Bill), we drove to the foot of the mountains where the road to the tram climbs up a few thousand feet. The tram goes from 2400 feet to 8400 feet in less than fifteen minutes! (Thus the title of this blog.) I had taken it several years ago when I was in ... read more

We are preparing to depart on an 86 day trip that will take us from Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale aboard an old friend, The Regent Mariner. We lay over for five days in South Florida and then reboard the Mariner for the circumnavigation of South America. If you would like to view our detailed itinerary it is available on the Regent website. For the December 20 - January 5 trip from Los Angeles through the Panama canal it is http://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR091220/Itinerary.aspx. For the 65 days around South America, the site is: http://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR100110B/Itinerary.aspx. It is less than two weeks until we leave so we are starting to get quite organized. How does one pack for an 87 day trip? It's actually overwhelming and simple at the same time. We take clothes for touring in the really hot ... read more