December 22 to 28, 2019

Sunday ; Cloudy and cool.

Routine chores at home this morning. At 1 PM we headed east from Sky Valley Resort on Dillon Road and followed it all the way around to Spotlight 29 Casino at Interstate 10. From there it was just a short distance to Desert Theatreworks, to attend their live theatre performance of Mary Poppins. WOW ! It was amazingly done, especially considering the constraints of their small stage. Afterwards, as we were walking back to our car, Joanne was comparing today’s live performance to the Disney movie of our childhood. UMMMMM … I didn’t see it ! < shrug > Am I the only person our age that did not see Disney’s Mary Poppins movie about 55 years ago ?

From Desert Theatreworks we drove to the shopping mall on Monterey with the Wal-Mart. Joanne went Wal-Martin’ while I worked online using the free Wi-Fi in the Burger King in the Wal-Mart. When we were both finished we returned home to Sky Valley Resort, arriving home shortly before 8 PM.

Monday ; Raining steadily until 3 PM, then intermittently. Cold !

The weather resulted in a pretty lazy day. This morning I drove to Blair Station, a local RV parts dealer, and refilled a propane tank. Didn’t do much else until the rain stopped around 3 PM, then we went to the swimming pool, did an exercise session, and soaked in the hottest mineral water hot tub. There are multiple mineral water swimming pools and hot tubs here, and each is at a different temperature.

I am unable to get functional Wi-Fi at our site, so around suppertime I went searching for a decent Wi-Fi signal. Found it ! At the east clubhouse. Got my online work done, but … just about froze, sitting in the courtyard outside the closed clubhouse.

Tuesday ; Christmas Eve

Sunny, windy, cool.

Late this morning we went for a long walk around this large manufactured home community. Very nice ! Very upscale for a “trailer park”. No “Julian, Ricky, and Bubbles” here ! HA HA HA !

We spent much of today intermittently researching the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival with over 180 films and over 500 film showings over a 12 day period. By the end of the day we had decided what we wanted to see, when, where, and … I bought tickets. Somewhat of a Christmas gift for Joanne. We will be attending three film showings, all foreign films, all comedies. But … comedy is defined differently in each culture. One film is from Argentina, one is from Belgium, and one is from France and Tunisia.

I did some maintenance work on the minivan. We spent some time late in the afternoon soaking in the hottest mineral water hot tub. Joanne prepared her traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tourtière, French Canadian meat pie. MMMMM … thank you, my dear.

Wednesday ; Christmas Day

Sunny, mild, windy.

We got a late start to the day … as planned. I prepared our traditional Christmas brunch of waffles slathered with jam and ice cream. Well … that’s my family’s tradition. Joanne eats her waffles with maple syrup. We opened gifts. We phoned our sisters. And then … spent the rest of the afternoon exercising in the warm swimming pool and soaking in the mineral water hot tub.

Back at our site I chatted with the next door neighbour. I gave her some assistance / sage advice with some routine RV maintenance. Joanne prepared our Christmas turkey dinner. I worked on the computer, processing some photos and reconciling our December MasterCard billing. YIKES !

HMPH ! I have a mysterious computer problem. My laptop computer refuses to recognize the AC power cord / charger when plugged in. The battery is draining, and won’t recharge !

MMMMM … Christmas turkey dinner was wonderful ! Thank you again, my dear !

Thursday ; Boxing Day ( Canada )

Raining heavily all day, COLD !

This morning I removed the bathroom sink’s drain tailpiece and trap. We drove to Blair Station, a nearby RV parts dealer, and I bought replacement parts. We continued on to Desert Hot Springs, refilled the minivan with fuel at Vons Fuel Bar, then shopped for groceries at Vons. I didn’t like Vons. For the rest of our time in the Palm Springs area I want to shop for our groceries at Stater Bros, also in Desert Hot Springs. Driving from Desert Hot Springs back to Sky Valley the roads were becoming flooded. SHEESH … the roads around Desert Hot Springs are NOT designed to funnel rain water away ! We encountered similar road flooding issues on rainy days in Texas.

Back at home I installed the new plumbing parts. Some of them. One of them didn’t fit and will have to be returned. After a late lunch I napped while Joanne went to do laundry. While I was working on my computer around suppertime the purchaser of Obie the SUV phoned. She is having some minor maintenance issues with Obie and wanted my advice. Sorry, Love ( that’s actually her name ! ), you’ve had the car for two weeks, you’re on your own ! I’m unable to diagnose car issues by long distance. I referred her to Yepez Automotive in Somerton where I used to take Obie for service.

Friday ; HAPPY 16^th BIRTHDAY TO EMMA

Sunny and mild.

We spent the day running errands and exploring in Palm Springs. We left home around noon and were back home around 5:30 PM … about half an hour after it turned dark !

First stop was nearby Blair Station RV to get a refund on a plumbing part that didn’t fit. After getting my refund processed I again gave some attention to Brutus, the owners’ nineteen year old dog. I don’t think I’ve ever met a nineteen year old dog before. He’s SO decrepit. We drove from Desert Hot Springs into Palm Springs and went to the Palm Springs International Film Festival Box Office where I picked up the six film festival movie tickets I purchased online a few days ago. Next stop was a nearby shoe repair shop to drop off a pair of SAS sandals Joanne purchased recently, to have a simple modification done. Rather expensive, but HEY … it IS Palm Springs. Nothing’s cheap here ! Well … except the astounding thrift stores ! Next door to the shoe repair shop was an interesting bakery. Joanne wanted to take a look. We bought a couple of con leche filled empanadas.

Next stop was … HA HA HA … Revivals Thrift Store. I bought a long sleeved shirt, Joanne bought a couple of clothing items. We did a post-Christmas shopping trip to Trader Joe’s. And then the 99¢ Cent Only Store. After returning home we did some menu planning and outings planning before having Christmas dinner leftovers for supper.

Emma seems to have enjoyed her “Home Alone” birthday. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Sunny and mild during the day, cold in the evening.

We slept late. Got a slow start to the day. Went to the pool, did an exercise session, lounged around the hot tub and sauna, sat in the sun for awhile, had a late lunch … napped ! HA HA HA !

In the evening we went to the Living Zoo for the final day of Wild Lights, the display of a million Christmas lights around the desert zoo grounds. BRRRRR !

DSK