A Trip To Palm Desert

A few weeks ago we headed to Palm Desert to visit hubby’s cousin’s for a night. We have made this trip many times so I tried to find a different route this time.

The route below is the route we usually take. We like to turn off at Holtville and take side roads up to the Brawley area because there are less traffic lights and less traffic but the speed limit is the same. Lately we have been going up the east side of the Salton Sea, mainly for a change from our usual route up the west side.

And this is the route we took this time.

This trip we took our usual turn at Holtville and through the town of Brawley, which in hindsight we would have been better to take the bypass but we were in no hurry, and if we did the bypass we would have missed the old Brawley Hotel which is built right out to the road!

This trip we went up the west side of the Salton Sea, and then turned off onto secondary roads through Valerie, Indio, and La Quinta.

Of course taking secondary roads means sometimes getting behind farm equipment.

It did takes us a little longer but it was a nice drive with less traffic and streets lined with date palms.

We had to make a stop at Costco for a friend so we decided to stop at the Costco in La Quinta rather than Palm Desert because the one in Palm Desert is always extremely busy (it’s the only one in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area). La Quinta has beautiful streets lined with flowers.

It was nice to take a different route for a change and even nicer to spend the evening with relatives at their beautiful home in sunny, windless, Palm Desert 😀 However, like everywhere else, the wind was moving in on Tuesday and we were happy to make it back home before it got to heavy. The picture below doesn’t do the wind justice but it was extremely windy and extremely dusty last week!

The weather looks like we might be getting into our normal hot March weather … it is suppose to hit 29C/84F next Monday … I know that is a week away but I can hope!

Until next time …

Meet Buffy

Hi I’m Buffy, a miniature buffalo and my parents (Mr. Maxx’s sister and brother-in-law) adopted me when they made a trip to Los Algodones Mexico last November while visiting my aunt and uncle at their winter home.

The other day aunty and uncle were outside doing chores and not really watching me closely so I went for a little walk to check out some flowers.  It wasn’t long before aunty saw me and took my picture.

My parents had to leave me with aunty and uncle when they flew home because, even as a baby, I was to heavy for their suitcase … but I was okay with that because I didn’t want to go back to the cold damp lower mainland area of British Columbia when I could stay in the sunny south! Anyway after taking my picture aunty told me I had to go back to my usual resting place as they live in the non-pet section of the park and I need to lay low so they don’t get kicked out.

I know I look sad going back but I’m really not 🙂

This is my usual resting place and I really like it here.

Aunty wasn’t happy with this picture but I had had enough pictures and wouldn’t pose for anymore.

It’s close to the table so I get to visit with people when they come for happy hours and aunty and uncle spend a lot of time out here with me in the afternoons playing Mexican Train when they aren’t visiting.

Also they often take me on outings … like the time in November when they went to Oceanside, CA for a week.

Oh boy that was a big jump to get into the backseat but I managed … with some help from uncle.

It was the longest drive I have ever been on but uncle says they have been on much longer drives and that this was an easy one. I was so excited to sit in the middle of the backseat and watch the scenery. When we arrived at Oceanside I even got to stay inside Maxx with aunty and uncle because aunty was afraid someone would steal me if they left me outside at night … she says I am to cute for people to resist 🙂

But during the day I was able to roam around outside as long as I stayed in their sight.

I was even able to go on a short walk with them one day!

But the best day of all was US Thanksgiving when we all went over to mom and uncle’s first cousin once removed (aunty had to explain that term to me, it’s a mouthful!) site to hang out and eat Thanksgiving dinner. I had so much fun, but it was hard not to eat the Tri-tip that was roasting on the fire.

I kept an eye on the fire as they prepped it for the Tri-tip.

It just smelt so good and I got close to getting a bite when nobody was watching.

Of course aunty had to take a picture before uncle pulled me away and told me it was to hot and dangerous for me to climb on the fire 😦 Aunty said I could sit on a chair with them around the fire but that was as close as I could get.

I just couldn’t help myself and when they weren’t looking I made another attempt but they caught me again.

Then they all decided that I should come and sit at the table with them while they played some games and that wasn’t bad cause I was able to try something when they got caught up in the game 😀

I was also allowed to sit on the table while they ate Thanksgiving dinner.

And aunty even let me have a little of her wine … I don’t think she knew I snuck the beer earlier!

I had a fun time in Oceanside with everyone but by the end of the day I was tired and ready to go home and sleep.

I also had fun at Christmas and when aunty and uncle flew home to visit my cousins I was left to keep an watchful eye on the Christmas decorations. Don’t tell aunty and uncle … or the neighbours who were looking out for Maxx and I … but I did sneak around at night and visit with the decorations.

Now the decorations are all put away but I still snoop around a little at night when nobody is watching but I always make sure I am home before anyone catches me 😀

Today is my mom’s birthday so I asked aunty to help me write this blog so I could show mom and dad what I have been up to and let them know I am having a lot of fun.

Happy birthday mom, I miss you and dad and will be home soon … and aunty says she will try and share more of my adventures in the future.

Until next time …

Back To Warmer Weather

We have been home for a week now and even though I enjoyed the snow at home for Christmas …

I was happy to arrive back to warmer sunnier weather 😀

Our last week has been busy. We watched the final games of the World Junior’s Hockey Games and were very happy to cheer Canada onto another Gold Medal!

I saw this at a restaurant when we were home for Christmas and thought it was pretty cool … it’s made out of hockey pucks.

Along with happy hours and dinners with friends we have restocked our fridge and run other necessary errands. I saw these two signs at some businesses we visited and thought they were good.

Posted in the washroom at WinCo in the Palm Desert area.

An old train station sign … I like it and wish we still had this law.

Monday night we went to the Cocopah Downs, our local horse races, and had a great time.

And that’s about it, just another week in a warm sunny winter … we lead a good life 🙂

Until next time …

Well the Jello Was Sliding Off The Plate Last Night!

I think when you read this blog we will be sound asleep back in Canada, well as I write this that is what it appears, and what we are praying, will happen.

We arrived in Palm Springs around 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, checked in for our flight, got our boarding passes, and looked forward to an evening catching up with hubby’s relatives. And things went well until 7:30 p.m. when I happen to go into the WestJet app and saw that our flight had been cancelled … WHAT? No warning and if I hadn’t looked we wouldn’t have known until we received an email this morning. But check I did and that led me to get on the phone to WestJet to try and rebook our flights, at first I received voice mails saying they were too busy to talk to me and they hung up on me. Finally I was able to get through, around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, and I was kept on hold for 6:15:22 hours until 2:09 a.m. when an agent answered the phone.

During my time on hold hubby found an article saying international flights were not allowed to land at Vancouver International Airport. The reason was they needed time to clear stranded planes off the runway and they were giving priority to flights within Canada.

So when the agent answered the phone I asked if we could fly through Calgary instead and yes that was an option but he could not get us a connecting flight to Kelowna. That’s okay I replied we were happy to spend time with our youngest son and his family and carry on to Kelowna when a flight became available. Before he looked at routing us that way he said he wanted to check other airlines to see if he could get us into Kelowna before Christmas. Well two hours on hold, with him checking back in twice to say he was still working on it, and it was now after 4:00 a.m., I had been on the phone for 7:59:03 hours when I heard that dreaded click and I was cut off. But that was okay because I had given the agent my number in case that happen and of course he would immediately call me back … Not! So hubby and I both dialed back and got on hold again, 3:16:57 hours later I was once again disconnected but hubby was still in the queue and after several tries I was able to get back in the queue.

We had pretty much resigned ourselves to heading back and spending Christmas in Yuma. From what we could see there were no flights to Calgary left and nothing to Kelowna until well after Christmas, but we weren’t ready to hang up yet. So through breakfast, coffee, chatting, and getting texts from our son saying he could see flights from Palm Springs to Calgary, we listened for someone to answer our call. Let me tell you thirteen hours of WestJet hold music is painful and we had spent the entire night awake listening to it!

I told hubby he would probably get through at the 6 hour mark but he was luckier than me and at 5:30:25 hours an agent answered the phone. The first thing hubby asked was did she have our number and would she promise to call us back if we got cut off and yes she said she would. Unlike the agent in the middle of the night she immediately put a hold on two seats to Calgary Thursday evening. Once she had done that she put us on hold and went to work trying to get us the best flights. I think it was another hour and lots of work and back and forth but after 14.5 hours we had flights to Calgary and flights to Kelowna on December 26^th … we are happy we get to spend Christmas with our two youngest grandchildren and we will still get to see the rest of the family after Christmas. This was our year for Christmas with our daughter and her family but it just didn’t work out … hopefully next year … but in the meantime our son and daughter-in-law are very excited to have us spend Christmas with them. Our daughter-in-law said they were not going to tell our grandchildren we are coming, she wants to surprise them in the morning but it’s probably a good idea because at this point who knows if this will all work out and we will arrive after they are in bed anyways …but if, as this blog started, we are snuggled in bed sleeping in Calgary there will be some happy little people and happy old people enjoying snuggles this morning 🙂

Until next time …

We Are Still At … Will We Stay or Can We Go?

Well we are one step closer to flying home for Christmas, we are in Palm Desert with hubby’s cousins. That’s the good news, the bad news is flights are still a mess in Vancouver, BC where we have to fly into to catch our connecting flight to Kelowna. And things in Kelowna are a mess as well so we have no idea if we will make it home tomorrow or at the very least make it to Vancouver.

So for now we will enjoy family time in Palm Desert and worry about our flights tomorrow.

Oh and by the way Santa took a day off from the North Pole and played a round of golf at our RV park in Yuma 😀

Until next time …

Will We Stay or Can We Go?

Yes I know the real words to the song are Should I Stay, Or Should I Go, but my lyrics are more fitting so what is going on in our life right now.

We will be heading to Palm Springs tomorrow to spend the night with hubby’s cousins but what we are unsure of is flying home on Thursday :frown: We fly from Palm Springs to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Kelowna. Today the Vancouver International Airport is shut down because of a snow storm. Flights in and out of Kelowna are also cancelled or delayed.

I checked the weather in Vancouver and as of today it appears the snow will end and tomorrow and Thursday look clear and sunny, so we are praying, crossing our fingers and toes, and hoping that our flight will take off.

Our hope is to make it to Kelowna on Thursday but if we can at least make it to Vancouver we will be happy because our son and daughter-in-law are there and hubby’s family are there, so at least we would still be spending Christmas with family.

But for today we are continuing with our holiday tradition, on the day before we begin our trip home for Christmas, a margarita out in the sun amongst the palm trees 😀 I always like my children to know what I’m giving up to go back to the cold snowy weather!

But honestly it’s me that wants to spend Christmas with my family and I love cold snowy weather at Christmas … especially because I can leave it behind at the start of the new year and go back to sun, warm weather, and palm trees. Please don’t hate me friends at home 🙂

Until next time …

This and That

I was late getting my Christmas decorations up this year because we didn’t return from Oceanside until November 25^th, the day I usually start decorating. November 25^th is also the day I am allowed to put the Christmas SD card in the truck’s music system.

The lines on our patio are from our solar lights, I like the pattern they make.

Hubby doesn’t mind Christmas music but he prefers his playlists so imagine how unimpressed he was that November 25^th fell on the day we made the three hour drive back from Oceanside 😀 But he was a good sport and we listen to Christmas music the entire way and of course he will have to put up with it again on our three hour drive to Palm Springs when we fly home for Christmas … can you see my smile and hear me laughing 😀 😀

We have had lot’s going on since we got back to Yuma. Hubby won $7.50 at music bingo last Thursday and I won $60.00 at card bingo last night. I won three times last night and was starting to get threaten with being thrown in the river if I won again 🙂

Last Saturday we headed down to Algodones for the Welcome Back Snowbird’s party, which it turned out isn’t until this Saturday ☹️ Oh well Algodones is always fun, especially with friends, and even though the weather was cold and damp we still had a good time.

I thought this was a nice view along our drive to the parking lot.

I’m not sure what was going on last Saturday but traffic was lined up long before the entrance to the parking lot. Maybe it was the weather and everyone decided to drive into Mexico instead of parking and taking the short walk. When we left three hours later traffic was still backed up.

This morning we could hardly see the other side of the golf course!

But it wasn’t long before the fog lifted and the golfers where able to get out and enjoy a warm sunny day of golf.

Until next time …

Our Time In Oceanside Is Over

After a wonderful visit with Mr & Mrs C in Oceanside, CA our time at Guajome Regional Park came to an end. We had a great time and loved our family time as well as our time at the park.

Societe Brewing in San Diego

I honestly can’t say enough about Guajome Regional Park, you just can’t beat the price and proximity to everything.

I love these Hibiscus trees!

It was about our second day there when hubby and I decided we had to come back next year, and that feeling didn’t leave, so before we headed back to Yuma we booked two weeks for next November.

While it was nice to return to our southern home base in Yuma we are looking forward to our time in Oceanside in November 2023.

Until next time …

Little Italy. San Diego

We left Old Town and took the Trolly to Little Italy. Little Italy is a neighborhood in Downtown San Diego, that was originally a predominantly Italian and Portuguese fishing neighborhood.

Once home to San Diego’s flourishing tuna fishing industry and generations of Italian families who made their living on the sea, Little Italy is now a lively neighborhood with cozy patio cafés, international restaurants, craft brew stops … hmm maybe we visited a few of those 😀 … urban wineries, art galleries, shops, and boutique hotels.

The neighborhood boasts of being the largest “Little Italy” in the United States, spanning 48 square blocks. I have been to Little Italy in New York, and now in San Diego, and found both of them interesting and different.

We had a great time wandering the streets, checking out the menu’s at the various restaurants, and as I said visiting a few craft breweries. Little Italy is definately worth a visit!

Until next time …

Old Town San Diego

Our first stop on our Coaster ride was Old Town which is an easy walk from the transit center where we got off the Coaster.

Old Town is a San Diego State Historic Park and is the oldest settled area in San Diego. There are over 30 restaurants, most with outdoor dining, and 75 unique places to shop. I could have spent hours wandering through the shops and looking at stuff but hubby doesn’t enjoy that as much as I do 🙂

I love this Cactus!

Old Town became California’s first Spanish settlement when a mission and fort were established in 1769. Later, it passed into the hands of the newly made Mexican government before gaining statehood in the United States after the Mexican-American War.

The Old Town area remained the heart of the city of San Diego until the 1860s, when a newcomer to San Diego named Alonzo Horton began to promote development in “New Town” where Downtown San Diego now sits. New Town became the more popular area because of it’s location to the water and in 1871 government records were moved from Old Town to the new county courthouse in New Town and the new downtown area replaced Old Town as the focal point of San Diego.

I really enjoyed our time in Old Town and will definitely return to spend more time wandering through the shops and attending mass at this beautiful Catholic Church.

But this day we had more adventures planned so we jumped on the Trolly (a light rail transit) and headed to our next destination.

Until next time …