Hobnobbing with Celebrities

Pat Boone – One of the greats - singer, actor and writer.

What a fun day Friday was. We got to mingle with the celebrities. Jerry happened to be in the right place at the right time and was given tickets for four to attend the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational. Obviously, we weren’t the celebrities but we were certainly hoping we’d be able to see a few of them. And, we did!

My new friend, Pat Boone.

The charity event was actually a two-day affair. However, it was supposed to rain on Saturday so we figured Friday was the best day to go. Three of us weren’t terribly excited about going but Jerry was. We were going to support Jerry. However, I actually think that I probably enjoyed myself even more than the rest of them. It was a social event and I wanted to socialize. Actually, I liked the hobnobbing.

Elke Sommers - Well-known actress, entertainer, and artist

There were lots of favorite folks there but out of the list of them I was more interested in Pat Boone. Pat and I got to be best friends. The two of us had quite a conversation. It was one I’m certain I’ll remember and he probably forgot as soon as he got back in his golf cart. However, what a nice man he is. I remember him from the movie (or rather, rerun of) he made about the State Fair of Texas plus so much more. I always wanted to see Big Tex after the movie …. and we eventually did.

Christopher Rich – Murphy Brown and Reba TV series plus more.

We blocked the golf carts of a few other celebrities just so we could get a couple photos. The thing is they didn’t really mind. They stopped, posed and smiled. They were all very nice people. We could have hung around and had a chat with a dozen others but heck, we’re busy people and had places to go.

Paula Trickery – Pacific Blues TV series, Texas Rangers, 90210, Beverly Hills and the credits go on.

Steve Garvey, played for the Dodgers and Padres

Fred Williamson “The Hammer” – actor and professional football player

The weather was gorgeous, the celebrities were out in force and I had a fabulous time!! This was the last planned event in the Palm Springs area.

Time to roll ... On the Road Again! Just think by the time this gets posted and you read it, I'll know for sure where we're going because we'll actually be there. Sunday's the day. Someplace else ... here we come.

The Living Desert -- Run, Run, Run !

Thursday was my day. It was all about me and what I wanted to do and see. I loved it and tremendously enjoyed the company I was with …. ME. In other words, I was on my own with no one else to please. Ever have those days? I don’t have them often. Actually, I wouldn’t like them often but Thursday was my day. Well, at least a few hours of it was. It’s not that I really had a choice. I didn’t.

Jerry and Janice headed to Mexico and Terry wasn’t feeling too well. I figured this was a perfect day to visit the Living Desert in Palm Desert. When you’re by yourself you can see only what you want to see. You only need to spend the time looking at something as long as you want to look at it. That’s what I did.

First off, I paid for the little tram ride that takes you through the park. I thought this would be the way to see it all … fast. It didn’t work for me. I would rather walk. If I rode, I would have to go where they took me. That wasn’t the plan. Remember it wasn’t about them. First off, we passed the camels and giraffes and the African Village. I wanted to see those things so I got off. I ended up walking through the entire park. But, if you know me, you also know I don’t let the grass grow under my feet. I know how to move.

I enjoyed the Living Desert but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Perhaps, I expected more. It’s a combination of plants and animals that live in the deserts of Africa and in North America. It was a little early for the plants to be in bloom and it was difficult to take photos of some of the animals because of fencing or location of feeding trays. I was a little bit disappointed. Anyway, the weather was gorgeous and I had a nice brisk walk through the gardens. It was a good time and I was pleased … not ecstatic … but pleased.

Golly, since this actually hadn’t taken as long as I expected I even had enough time to stop at Marshall’s, PetSmart and even Winco before Terry would wonder where I was.

Thursday was just another great day in paradise. We ended it that evening in the hot tub with the Hyders. We have been SO busy!! I haven’t even been able to keep up with my blog reading.

Our time here is winding down and I’m almost wishing we could stay another week but I know we can’t. It’ll soon be time to get those wheels rolling towards our next destination. We were planning to pull out on Saturday but that's been moved back to Sunday due to the weather where we're heading.

Laughlin and Casino Parking

A few days ago I expressed my opinion on parking your RV overnight at Wal-Mart as you travel from one destination to another. Wal-Marts aren’t the only place that allow you to park overnight. There are many more options including casino parking. Since we will soon be heading towards the Las Vegas area via Laughlin that’s exactly what we’re looking for in a stop between here and there. We really haven’t made our mind up whether we’ll be stopping at a casino or not but we certainly like stopping at them. The photos below are of some of the casinos we have stopped at in the past.

Guidelines for parking an RV can be very different at the casinos than they are for Wal-Mart. Heck, the guidelines even vary from one casino to another. They are all different. Some even have more than just guidelines. They have real rules. If you stop at five different casinos in a very short distance, they will all be different. You don’t have to gamble in order to stay overnight at a casino. They want you to but you don’t have to. Once you register you could just turn around and go to sleep. Or, you could go take advantage of a fantastic buffet and donate a dime or two to one of the slot machines. It’s right there and you don’t even have to drive. Some allow you to spend one night and others invite you to stay a week or two.

You might even find full hookups and a fancy RV park. There are some FHU parks but most just offer a place to park in their RV lot. Usually it’s dry camping. Most casinos want you to stop and visit them. They want you to donate to their casino and eat at their restaurants. For this reason the per night fee is usually fairly reasonable. It’s not uncommon to offer you a free place to park plus provide shuttle service to take you to dinner. It’s like having your own private limo.

Just like those who frequent the Wal-Marts, there are the occasional freeloaders and abusers at the casinos too. Some casinos enforce their rules and others do not. Most casinos that are RV friendly are really RV friendly. Others can be pretty restrictive.

Parking at casinos is fun. There are several printed books available detailing the casinos that allow RV parking. However, they soon become outdated. I believe the best resource for casino camping is on a website at http://casinocamper.net. The website has recently changed. It’s not quite as user friendly as it used to be in my opinion. The font is so small you almost need a magnifying glass to read it but it’s still a better option than the books.

So, we’re on our way to the Laughlin area (maybe) and we’re checking out our options for RV parking. With the price of oil skyrocketing again, we probably should have filled up the motorhome when we arrived here instead of when we’re pulling out. I bet that little miscalculation on our part will cost us quite a few extra bucks.

There are several casinos that allow RV parking on their lot in the Laughlin area. However, the decision of what casino to stay at probably won’t be made until we get there. Since this is still snowbird season, we’re assuming some of those lots are probably pretty packed with RVs. Then, again .... we may not even go to Laughlin.

Update: As of posting time, the weatherman is now predicting snow for Laughlin on Sunday. Now we don't know what we're going to do. Only time will tell because we certainly have no intention of being there if it's going to be snowing!

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Mistaken positioning

Joe and Ed, both from Duluth, Minnesota, were standing in the shallow end of a swimming pool at the Fountain of Youth RV park at California's Salton Sea, discussing how happy they were to be in sunny California rather than being back in frigid Minnesota. As they were talking, Ed noticed something funny about his friend's ear. "Joe," he said, "do you know you've got a suppository in your left ear?" Startled, Joe replied, "I have a suppository in my ear???"
"That's right," said Ed, "you have a suppository in your ear."

Joe immediately pulled it out, then said, "Thanks, buddy. I'm glad you saw this thing. Now I know where I put my hearing aid."

Chains Required

We’re still hanging around the Palm Springs area. You certainly wouldn’t expect that we would have much of a chance to worry about needing chains to get to any place close to this area. However, we decided to take a little drive on Wednesday. We could see a little bit of snow on the mountains in the distance. Our adventure of the day was to check the snow out. After all, if other folks we know have to be in the snow we could do it too. We wanted to know how they felt and what they were going through. This was a sympathy trip. We could then return to the desert full of compassion for our northern family and friends . We are thrilled to death that they are there and we are here instead of the opposite. The pictures are to remind our southern friends what snow looks like.

The weather on the valley floor was gorgeous. The sky was blue and the wind was calm. It was a super nice day. Instead of hanging around and taking advantage of it, we were trading all of that in for the snow. It makes you wonder what we’re doing in the south during the winter if we want snow. Weren’t RVs invented to take retirees out of the north in the winter and give them a place to live in the warm climates of the south?

Our route took us on some pretty windy roads but with great views. Jerry was driving. Janice and I just sat in the back and told him where to go and when to stop. We did get him to stop once in a while so we could take a photo here and there. One viewpoint was in the middle of a big curve and we almost didn’t make it without getting hit from one car going north and the other one going south. That was a major stress point but we survived and so did their car!! Here’s a view of the valley below.

We even discovered a few RV parks along the way. This one is Lake Hemet. Three guys had just brought their boat in and were getting ready to find a hot cup of coffee. They had been out fishing since 7:00 that morning without any luck. Needless to say, they were very cold and disappointed with the day’s catch. They were so cold they were shaking. The lake was gorgeous. I bet that little place is packed during the summer when it’s pushing 110 degrees in the valley. There were a few folks around but the park still had plenty of empty sites.

Our next stop was at an elevation of about 6200 feet and only 53 miles from where our motorhomes were parked. We actually had started seeing the snow about 35 miles from the park but the climb was steep and fast. The temperature had dipped to 32 degrees and the higher we climbed, the more snow we saw.

We had decided to stop at the Thousand Trails park at Idyllwild. The lower part of the park was opened with a few people there. The top part of the park required chains on your vehicle since the roads were covered with snow and ice. Obviously, we were content in staying in the area where the roads had been cleared off. Actually, it didn’t matter to me much. It was Jerry’s car and he was driving.

Here’s Jerry looking for the park ranger. There may be snow all around but it didn’t bother him. He’s still wearing shorts. The rest of us were bundled up in the car. Well, I did get a chance to throw a snowball at Janice.

The snow covered RV is pretty to take a picture of but I sure wouldn’t want to staying in that 5th wheel with all that snow. With my luck the electricity would be down and we’d be out of propane. Another foot of snow is being forecast for Saturday.

There were lots of snow covered picnic tables but no one was having a picnic. We didn’t see too many people outside at all. I’m sure those that were there had their furnace running. They were inside and staying warm.

The snow is still in the mountains with more expected to come. We’re back on the valley floor with a gorgeous blue sky. That’s the way it should be. We don’t want it to snow where we are. When we want to see it we’ll go visit for a while. In the meantime, we’re sympathizing with those who don’t have the beautiful weather we currently do.

Kellie Pickler Concert

We’ve had a little rain and crud around here. It hasn’t really been too bad. At least it’s not as bad as others are experiencing but it did rain and it did get cooler and we did get wet walking Duchess. Because of all of that we get to complain just like everyone else.

On Sunday we pulled our bikes in under the awning so they wouldn’t get soaked if another little squall came through. Then, we took off for a second trip to the street fair in Palm Desert. We were going to spend the afternoon getting a little exercise while we walked up and down the rows between the vendors. We weren’t able to do it long because we discovered they shut down at 2:00. Well, that certainly didn’t give us much time to find any big purchases. You know how we like to make those big purchases at street fairs! We ended up with a small basket of gorgeous ripe strawberries and a hand-made bar of soap with a cactus on it. The soap wasn’t for us. It’s a gift for Terry’s mother. She won’t use it but who really uses the pretty soaps they buy anyway? Aren’t they really just to look at?

That was about our only purchases but we didn’t really have an opportunity to browse long. I suppose if we hadn’t stopped for the hot dog and to chat a bit with the Hyders we could have purchased more. It’s all about priorities and you know how we feel about eating. I would say we’ll just have to save the rest of the vendors until next week but since we won’t be around next week, that’s not going to happen either. They lost their chance to get their fingers into our pocketbook.

Sunday night was another adventure and another repeat trip. We returned to the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival. This time it was to see Kellie Pickler of American Idol fame. I was excited. I’m a big American Idol fan. Just to be sure my camera was ready to go before the concert, I put the battery in the charger and the memory stick in the computer to empty. With a full charged battery and an empty memory stick, I was ready to go.

Even though the show didn’t start until 8:00 PM we arrived at the fair grounds about 5:30. The line was already well formed. I believe it was just about that time I realized I was missing something. Sure, I had remembered to put the battery back in my camera but the memory stick was still in my computer. My purse-sized backup camera had been left on the table in the motorhome for safe keeping. It was certainly safe there. With an internal memory large enough to hold 7 small shots, I wasn’t a happy camper but that’s all I had to work with. Janice became my backup camera person. She had hers and even though the signs warned that pictures were not allowed, she was busy snapping away …. just like she should have been. However, as I’m posting this I can tell you she still has her pictures and she hasn’t shared yet. I’m stuck using mine .. what few I have.

It was a great evening and we had fantastic 3rd row seats but we about froze to death. The temperature dipped to a very cold 52 degrees and we certainly felt it.. We had a lot of laughs on how we got those 3rd row seats but alas, I can’t share that with you. It’s not that it’s really a secret. It’s just that it’s not going to be put in writing either.

Did you know if you send a text on your iPhone mentioning Kellie Pickler, the phone will self correct to Kellie pickled? I had to share our excitement about our fantastic seats with a few but then it took longer to let everyone know that she really wasn’t pickled. She was in good form. It was quite a little adventure for the four of us and a real hoot.

Countdown: Four more nights and we’re on our way to our next destination … unless we change our minds (you know we never do that.)

Camping at Walmart ?

How many folks who travel in an RV from one part of the U.S. to another actually end up spending a night or two at a Walmart along the way? I think a lot do. It's not that they are camping. They are just stopping to get a few hours sleep before they continue on their way.

We’ve stayed at quite a few Walmarts. Walmart offers easy in and easy out access. Just like Motel 6, they leave the light on for you but no reservations are needed. Many even keep the shopping doors open all night while providing security. We usually search out the Walmart locations that allow RV overnight parking. They are charted and put on our GPS even before we get on the road. We keep a current list of Walmarts that allow overnight parking and those that don’t. Usually it’s the local ordinances that prohibit it and not the store manager.

Some RVers consider a good day’s driving at four or five hours while others may drive for many more. We just like to arrive any place we’re going before dark. Walmart is our safety stop. When an overnight stop from one destination to another requires a night or two on the road, we believe it is easier to pull into a Walmart than find an RV park, register and then locate an assigned site. One certainly cannot say it is less expensive. The parking is free at Walmart. The shopping we do is not but it’s convenient and we certainly take advantage of it.

Obviously, there are no hookups at Walmart. Thus, it’s a lot easier for some to stop than for others. Many RVers travel with water in their tanks, propane and a generator. In other words, an overnight stop without hookups is not a hardship. Those not equipped many times will seek out the RV parks along their route. However, it is not uncommon to see quite a range of RVers in their lot. You will often see motorhomes, 5th wheels, trailers and even campers parked in their lot. They aren't camping. They are just taking a break from the road and resting a spell.

Some RVers have taken it upon themselves to photograph others at Walmart with chairs, antennas or slides out. Then, they circulate the photo commenting on catching folks who are abusing the privilege of parking there. I remember coming across something like this about a year or so ago. It was suggested others should do the same. This way they could document folks who abused the privilege in their opinion. There was one photo which showed a car that had been unhooked from the motorhome. According to the picture taker this was an example of abuse. Huh?

I can certainly understand it if people are out changing oil, replacing brakes or even setting up work or craft tables. My camera would be out too. However, most of the folks staying at Walmart don’t normally do this. They are usually planning to stay just one night.

We have seen people sitting in their camp chairs in early evening. I’ve never seen a written rule that said they couldn’t. We’ve seen antennas up at night. Again, we’ve never had anyone at a Walmart tell us they didn’t allow that. We’ve also seen bedroom slides out when parked near curbs. We couldn’t find the rule for that either.

We believe that the privilege of parking at a Walmart should not be abused or that someone should not put out mats, barbecues, plants, awnings and such to give the impression of homesteading. People should be courteous and not damage the area they are parked on or leave trash. Most of the people parking overnight at a Wal-Mart just want to relax a bit and get a few hours sleep before continuing on with their journey. That relaxing usually comes after shopping inside the store for supplies.

Not all folks using Walmart are as courteous as others. I tend to think that most are pretty courteous but there are always a few exceptions in every crowd. Some are freeloaders and use Walmart as an RV park to tour an area. They plan their stay for several nights not just one. Some Walmarts in popular locations have had to limit the stay to a night or two to deter this. RVers have also been known to actually set up camp including a campfire on the asphalt. Yes, this has happened! The worst abusers, in my opinion, are the ones who dump their tanks on the lots or in the drains at the store. This has happened too! Now that’s abuse in my book … not setting up a lawn chair or an antenna or even a slide.

My guess is that there really aren’t any real rules for parking at Walmart. According to Walmart, they want the RVers. The RVers shop and spend money. If Walmart decided to set down guidelines, wouldn’t the guidelines just be common sense stuff? I doubt you would see anything on chairs or antennas. Casinos might do that because they want you inside gambling but not Walmart. They really want you there. They have a lot of stuff inside their store. That should be enough to beckon you through those double doors and they know it.

So, where do all the rules about the chairs, slides or antennas come from that are discussed on RV forums? Are they coming from an organization or from individuals who have their own interpretation of what they think everyone else should or should not do? Someone is making the rules. It’s just not Wal-Mart.

Last Week in Town

Our time is coming to a close in the Palm Springs area. We’ve been in this location for three weeks now and originally planned to be here for one more week. Grass is now growing under our wheels so it’s really time to move. However, we haven’t been in the same park for three weeks. The time has been divided between the Western Horizon park at Indian Waters, the Elks and the Thousand Trails park.

If there weren’t so many things still left on our calendar, we’d already be on the road and on our way to Las Vegas. You’ve got to admit that it is really hard to leave an area where the weather has been so nice. It has been absolutely beautiful here.

However, that appears to be changing a little. Friday a storm front came through and brought with it showers. Today we’re supposed to get a lot more rain. I’m sure after a couple days of cruddy weather, it’ll be nice again though. The weatherman is predicting a few nice days to be followed by a few more wet days. We keep forgetting that this really is winter everywhere else.

The Riverside County Fair and Date Festival opened on Friday. Admission was free for 5 hours so that’s when we went. We were scoping it out for future events. On Sunday Kellie Pickler of American Idol fame will entertain. Then, on Monday there is a monster truck show. Every night a special event is held at the fair. Right now the plan is to watch the first two but only time will tell.

Check out the price of this Turbo ride. This ride takes you way up in the air. You get to bounce upside down and then it brings you down about a minute later. The price of the ticket is $15.

We also scoped out the Outdoor World RV Resort in Indio. I guess the only way to actually describe it would be to just say “Wow”! We’ve been to some RV parks we thought were pretty nice but after taking a tour through this one, the others don’t even compare. The lots are all deeded lots with pricing starting at $50k to about $350k. The monthly maintenance fee is about $350 … in addition to the purchase price. However, all your golf fees are included! The majority of the lots seemed to be in the $200k price range. If you’re interested in owning your own RV site, you might want to check an Outdoor World Resort out. There are quite a few of these resorts scattered around the U.S.

Food from Around the World

Wednesday night we decided to go someplace special for dinner. We had driven by The Flame restaurant on Hwy 111 and Washington in La Quinta and wanted to try it out. The Flame is actually three restaurants in one. One side of the restaurant is set up as a bar and serves American bar food. Another totally separate section serves Japanese Hibachi and the last section serves Brazilian BBQ.

They advertise it as, Three Worlds, One Flame since there is only one kitchen and three different types of food served. The Japanese side was pretty packed with people. It wasn’t that way on the Brazilian side. Perhaps, it was because we arrived just when the restaurant opened for the evening at 5:00 PM and most Brazilians eat much, much later.

As usual, we had been discussing a lot of different types of food lately. Terry was the only one who had eaten Brazilian food and that was when he was on business in Brazil. We knew it wouldn’t be cheap but we were worth it and we all wanted to try it out.

On the Brazilian side of the restaurant there was only one item on the menu. That item included a salad and antipasto bar plus ten different kinds of meat. That’s right. You didn’t choose between steak or chicken or anything else. You got it all. The server served and sliced each round of meat at your table. Then, a few minutes later he would show up with different meat and so the evening went. Now if the ten meats did not fill you up, he would start coming around again. In most restaurants you make a choice on the meat. Here we got it all and I definitely tried every kind.

This was how we let our server know we were ready for another course of meat. If we turned it with the green top up, he would serve us more. If the red top was up, he wouldn’t bring us any more.

Our meat dishes were as follows: Aloha-style chicken legs, ginger-soy tri-tip steak, top sirloin picanha-style, marinated pork loin, parmesan crusted chicken, ham with pineapple, filet mignon, savory sausage, spicy crusted chicken and roasted lamb.

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One other time I went to restaurant where a variety of different meat were served as one order. It was called The Carnivore but definitely wasn’t Brazilian. The meat was served in a similar way as the server walked around serving one entre of meat after another.

In addition to several different dishes of chicken, lamb, beef, sausage and pork, that menu also included Eland, Crocodile, Zebra and Waterbuck up to a total of about 14 different meats one could try.

And, yes, I had to try every single one of them.

The Carnivore

The Flame restaurant in La Quinta has only been open and in this location for four months. The restaurant is very elegant, the food fantastic and the service was some of the best we had ever, ever had. What a treat it was!

We have discovered the Hyders haven’t tried German, Greek, French or Thai food. Those are the restaurants we’ll be on the lookout for in the future as we continue on this eating foods from around the world binge. We may have to put all of that on hold just a tad though. With the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival opening this weekend, I’m sure we’ll be busy with it for a while. Admission is free on Friday if you go early so we’ll start there by scoping it out.

So much to do, so little time left in the area.

Running From the Weather

We’ve been sitting in the beautiful Palm Springs area of California. It really has been beautiful too. The weather has been cooperating and just about everything has been perfect. Perfect can’t last forever. Eventually, we’re going to have to move out of here. After all, this is a Thousand Trails park and we can only stay here for three weeks under our membership.

Even though we’re not due to pull out for a while yet I still like to watch the future weather where we are and in the direction we are heading. That’s just what I checked out this morning. I wasn’t a “happy camper” after taking a look at what was forecast. Some wind and showers will be arriving which means clouds and cooler weather.

My first thought was to run but didn’t know what direction to go. Next I pulled up a few more cities. First, there was Las Vegas since that’s where we had planned to head next. I also checked out Tucson, Lake Havasu City and San Diego. Unless we want to head back to Yuma we’re going to get blown around a little and wet.

I remember my dream when we hit the road in an RV of not having to turn on the air conditioner or the furnace anymore. I guess I forgot to remember that I also didn’t want to have to put up an umbrella or be blown away. All I can do is hope the weather forecast is wrong. They usually are when the prediction is for nice weather so maybe they’ll take the stuff that’s heading this way and send it someplace else. I can only hope.

By the way, Terry did make it back from New Jersey yesterday. He was pretty lucky again. There were empty first class seats out of Newark into Dallas and from Dallas on to Ontario. He got great seats and even food to boot! I don’t usually end up so lucky. The bad part was that there were no seats available into the Palm Springs airport. He had a little longer flight into Ontario and I had a much longer drive to pick him up. However, thank goodness he had two airports to choose from.

An Outdoor Market, Water Features and Sandi

Happy 14th Birthday, Sandi!

The weekend wasn’t over. According to the handout we had received from our RV park, there was one more market to attend on the weekend. This one was in Cathedral City. The directions were pretty clear and it seemed to be easy to find. Jerry found the location and the lot without any trouble. However, we discovered this market is no longer running on Sunday. At least it wasn’t in operation this Sunday. Oops …. we probably should pass that along.

The drive on Highway 111 through Rancho Mirage was gorgeous. I’m sure this is where the rich and famous live instead of Palm Springs. The roadway is at the base of the mountains. As we drove along we certainly admired some of the very fancy homes on these mountains. Even the shopping center in the center of this oasis was elaborate. It wasn’t a shopping center that the poor folk visited. That was evident. Many water features ran through it with benches and tables for relaxing. Quite a few cafes and restaurants were built around the area with lots of outside seating.

It didn’t take long to see that many classy people took their Sunday outing here. How could we tell they were classy? That was easy. It was by the clothes, the actions and the huge jewelry. Janice and I thought this would definitely be the place to people watch. We also wished we could age like some of these ladies but had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. You could see the money dripping. I would have loved to have been able to take a picture of a few but that wouldn’t have been an easy thing to do without being really obvious. Oh well, one of these days I might remember to buy that lottery ticket.

VillageFest, Crazy Coconut and Street Fair

02/14/2011 -- Happy Birthday, Sandi!!

Thursday night was Villagefest night. Our chauffer arrived right on time to whisk us away to the glitzy little resort town of Palm Springs. Actually the Hyders were chauffeuring us so Jerry was driving his limo. We were all starved so our intention was to eat first. After all, we’d only had one meal that day. That was at breakfast. We sat out by the pool and were served our meal while enjoying the fantastic weather this area has been having.

Our choice for dinner was The Crazy Coconut. This little restaurant was snuggled into the area on the main drag of town right behind the vendors. The food was excellent and the service was out of this world.

View from our breakfast table

Last year we had also visited Villagefest. However, this year it seemed to be twice as large and just as many more people. When we first arrived it didn’t seem so crowded but as the evening wore on more and more people arrived and we felt like salmon swimming upstream.

It was a fun evening and we certainly enjoyed checking out all the crafts, food and other items for sale. The booth we liked the best had crystal fire pits. The evening was cool and it gave us a place to get a blast of heat. However, the only purchase made was the one by Jerry. He purchased a large bag of kettle corn …. similar to the only purchase made at the Indio Swap Meet the night before. Then, Terry had purchased popcorn.

We didn’t stay out too late. Terry had an early morning flight to catch to head back east. Flying stand-by usually requires a check-in four hours before the flight so I knew it would certainly be a very short night for me. He was pretty much packed as there was no chance he was going to check a bag.

Well, remember my holiday flight on Southwest Airlines? They still haven’t located the bag that I entrusted with them. Anyway, the flight out of Palm Springs was pretty full but Terry got a seat on the plane. That’s the most important thing. Out of Dallas he was a little luckier as there was an empty first class seat available for his flight on to Newark. He was a happy camper. Of course, we ALWAYS prefer the first class seats. We just don’t get them often enough. Now we get to worry about finding an empty seat out of there and getting him back to Palm Springs.

The Villagefest was on Thursday night but when Saturday rolled around Janice and I had the College of the Desert Street Fair to go to. Jerry was busy checking out some golf clubs at a different event on a golf course.

The Street Fair was huge. It must be the biggest outdoor market I have ever been to. It was loaded with vendors selling their crafts, their products and their food. We thought we had walked through most of it but when leaving discovered another corner we had missed. Oh well, maybe next time we will get to that one and maybe we won’t.

I did find a couple things for other people. Since I didn’t actually buy the items, I thought I'd send them along this way.

This first item was really a T-shirt. I’ve seen lots of these with different cities printed on them. However, this was the first I had seen with Vancouver, Canada and vicinity on it. So, I’m sending this to Toni. The one we saw was an XS and wouldn’t have fit anyway but this one she can wear virtually.

We also stopped at a shop that sold gorgeous scarves. Every once in a while you see something that really reminds you of someone you know. This scarf was gorgeous and I knew someone it reminded me of. She would have looked gorgeous in it and loved it. Then, reality struck when I discovered the price. Needless to say, it was left on the hanger.

This is Sunday morning. Jerry informed Janice and I last night that we have another street fair to go to today. I think he’s referring to the Canyon Plaza South Outdoor Market. Look at all the exercise we’re getting as we walk and walk and walk around all the vendors.