One of the best things are the bathrooms...air conditioned...water...everything you could want.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A little cooler today
We played golf in the morning and it only got up to 94 degrees on our way home. A day for drinks and being in the pool. We went to see Avenue Montaigne tonight at the Camelot Theatres. Very light but quite fun and great scenes of Paris...always brings back great memories for us.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
97 degrees in the shade...
This was the temp on our patio today. Jim manages to look and feel cool as a cucumber but I was feeling rather warm. I bought a nozzel at Target with a mister setting and it feels great!
Near record weather everywhere...
We're having almost record breaking heat here...the official temp was 94 and the record is 95. Average weather here at this time is 79. It hit 101 degrees when we were driving back from the library according to our car outside thermometer. A bit too hot for me to play golf but George Bush's father was out on the course yesterday and was admitted to hospital for dizziness and dehydration. Apparently he didn't drink enough water.
It is amazing how well designed our place is for heat. Even with those temps we only put on the air conditioning for two 10 minute periods yesterday. And after taking a swim and retreating to the shade, I almost felt I wanted to go into the hot tub to warm up! It is a different type of heat.
Mary mentioned in an email she and her dog almost got blown away yesterday morning with gusts up to 100 K! And Jeff Bell in the Times-Colonist reports this:
"By the time the storm had passed, the capital region had seen its second-wettest March day ever, with 50.6 millimetres showing on the official gauge at Victoria International Airport. The only wetter March day came in 1948, when a 54.1 total was recorded on the 21st."
Goodness gracious!
It is amazing how well designed our place is for heat. Even with those temps we only put on the air conditioning for two 10 minute periods yesterday. And after taking a swim and retreating to the shade, I almost felt I wanted to go into the hot tub to warm up! It is a different type of heat.
Mary mentioned in an email she and her dog almost got blown away yesterday morning with gusts up to 100 K! And Jeff Bell in the Times-Colonist reports this:
"By the time the storm had passed, the capital region had seen its second-wettest March day ever, with 50.6 millimetres showing on the official gauge at Victoria International Airport. The only wetter March day came in 1948, when a 54.1 total was recorded on the 21st."
Goodness gracious!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Finally arrived in Camelot
Last Friday night we had a good laugh with Susan and Alan as we were trying to find the Camelot Movie Theatre where "The Lives of Others" was playing. We arrived too late but it reminded us of our wild tour of Dublin with the "best taxi driver in Dublin" (according to our hotel owner) trying to find the car that went along with our exchange. Jim ended up going into a post office and got directions since the driver seemed incapable of doing anything but going around in circles. I think he was headed to the pub for the rest of the day after he dropped us off.
We went to see the movie last night and were very impressed with the movie and the theatre. It's a wonderful old room with lovely curtains that open and close with the beginning and ending of the movie. A great experience after the cineplexes. They seem to specialize in foreign films. There's a French one on at the moment as well..."Avenue Montaigne".
My cousin, John, writes this about the weather back home:
"Weather here is quite variable. Some days it's cold and wet and other daysit's wet and cold with the odd day of really cold and really wet in betweensome occasional snow flurries."
Doesn't exactly sound like Camelot...
We went to see the movie last night and were very impressed with the movie and the theatre. It's a wonderful old room with lovely curtains that open and close with the beginning and ending of the movie. A great experience after the cineplexes. They seem to specialize in foreign films. There's a French one on at the moment as well..."Avenue Montaigne".
My cousin, John, writes this about the weather back home:
"Weather here is quite variable. Some days it's cold and wet and other daysit's wet and cold with the odd day of really cold and really wet in betweensome occasional snow flurries."
Doesn't exactly sound like Camelot...
Saturday, March 10, 2007
La Quinta Dogs
This little sweetheart was in a rolling carrier bag. It was allowed in the patio area of the restaurant and seemed very happy to be in its little nest.
La Quinta Dogs
We enjoyed seeing these great little dogs today. These two were in a bicycle carrier for kids.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Indian Canyons
Went for a little hike here. These are natural palm oases....interesting to see how things are in the natural setting.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The hot springs experience
It was like being in a time warp today...right out of the 60's this place. Very mid century modern. I think a number of people in this spa were out on a day pass of a different kind. Susan and Alan ran into someone who insisted he had been well received by the Queen and also the UN for his idea of having tunnels like the Chunnel all over the world so we could all retreat to them when the world was under water due to global warming.
Desert Hot Springs Spa
We went to these natural hot springs today. You can get a day pass at this hotel.
I really hate this new blogger they've forced us into...hopefully Richard will be able to get it back.
I really hate this new blogger they've forced us into...hopefully Richard will be able to get it back.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The Living Desert
We've been having a lot of funwith Susan and Alan. It's really great to have a good visit since we don't see them all that much. We all enjoyed The Living Desert yesterday especially the wonderfully beautiful cerval and other animals. It's such an attractive place with all the cacti and views of the mountains. The bighorn sheep weren't around but we did see some lovely cougars this time and the cheetah. They have a fairly new baby giraffe but we just managed to see its head bobbing along. It was a very hot day...must have been 90 degrees in the sun and the pool was wonderful when we got home. I forgot to take my camera so no pix at the moment.
Monday, March 05, 2007
View from the pool.
We were pretty lazy today and spent quite a bit of time by the pool. JIm and Alan actually played tennis in the hot sun for a while. Susan and I retreated to the shade.
Palm Springs Airport
The airport is very mid-century modern and visitors are met with beautiful views of my wonderful mountains.
Whazzat...kilts in Palm Springs!
We had a lot of fun visiting with this fellow from Edinburgh who runs this Celtic shop in Palm Springs. Susan and Alan got invited to dance at their ball but won't be here at that time. Jim even found there is a Penman tartan...quite nice looking actually.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Weather's a real yawner around here....
Weathermen must get rather bored in this region. This is the five day forecast and it almost always is like this.
Fri Mostly sunny and pleasant
Sat Nice with plenty of sunshine
Sun Warm with plenty of sunshine
Mon Warm with plenty of sunshine
Tues Sunny and pleasant
I hear Vancouver and Victoria got snow and will have more tomorrow. Not great weather to greet Susan and Alan from Yorkshire...don't worry, it's going up into the 80's for Sunday when you arrive here. The champagne's on ice...
Fri Mostly sunny and pleasant
Sat Nice with plenty of sunshine
Sun Warm with plenty of sunshine
Mon Warm with plenty of sunshine
Tues Sunny and pleasant
I hear Vancouver and Victoria got snow and will have more tomorrow. Not great weather to greet Susan and Alan from Yorkshire...don't worry, it's going up into the 80's for Sunday when you arrive here. The champagne's on ice...
What else...more of these wonderful San Jacinto Mountains
Can you see that little bit of snow on the mountains?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The perfect baguette in Palm Springs...!
We visited the gourmet shop called "The Mad French Lady's Gourmet Foods" and found a bagette that comes very close to the wonderful baguettes of Carqueiranne...no kidding! You can't even count on getting great baguettes in France these days. The owner is a woman from Grenoble. She's got some interesting stuff but prices are fairly high. It seems like her store is a one-off and very difficult to compete with Trader Joe's. However, as much as I love Trader Joe's products they don't have a baguette worth bothering with....other breads there are great.
The Red Tomato and House of Lamb
This restaurant along with a funky Mexican place called El Gallito were slated for demolition but fought for heritage status since they've been around forever and are special features in the area. We haven't been to the Mexican one yet...tried to go when Richard was here but too much of a line up. The Red Tomato has an early bird special for $8.95 which is amazing. We started with salad with about 3 oz of blue cheese, then lamb shank which I could only eat half of (so we took the rest home for lunch the next day), and ice cream for dessert. Chianti in a wicker basket was $18. It's like stepping out of time...a real old time Italian restaurant complete with red checkered tablecloths. Some Americans at the next table started chatting with us. People strike up conversations everywhere around here...it's quite charming.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Riverside County Fair
The ejection seat ride...for people who want to get the James Bond feel of being ejected.
Riverside County Fair
This ride was quite something to watch...only 2 people per time and they got quite a blast for their money!
Riverside County Fair
Rosaire's Bears...very popular and no one seemed to be bleating about animal rights. A different world down here.
Riverside County Fair
This is what we had for lunch...wonderful stuff with various bar-b-que sauces such as vinegar which tasted great on the fries. We passed on the deep fried twinkies and burgers made with a Krispy Kreme Donut as a bun.
Riverside County Fair
These booths seemed to be getting a big play...wouldn't think so these days with digital cameras but perhaps its the migrant farming groups that would take advantage of these or perhaps it's a Fair tradition.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Fairhaven, Bellingham
We loved being in this heritage part of Bellingham on the way down...really worth a visit.
Rancho Mirage Library
We love this library! We went to a talk on Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughn, and Ella Fitzgerald last week. Great lecture hall and sound system. Every week they have a live concert of some kind...an excellent pianist last week.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
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