November 2018

Month

2018-11-04 – South Coast Airstream Club – Emerald Desert RV Resort – Day 4

Daylight Saving Time kicked in today, so I had another hour of sleep, which was well appreciated after my exhausting day yesterday…

Breakfast today was mercifully brief, as it usually is on Sunday. Lynda returned to her puzzling duties, and I planned to meet Rob for a fun day in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells…

I left the RV park at a little before 10:00 am, and picked up Rob in Palms Springs. We drove a short distance to a “Vintage Market” (swap meet? Flea market?), where we were expecting to see a lot of junk, and maybe a few nice things… It was a lot of fun; some nice kitschy pieces and some nice designer chairs and other furniture. There were lots of nice 1950s glassware, bar carts, and ice buckets. We also found vintage clothes – I wanted to buy this for Lynda, but it was the wrong size…

After we had had enough fun at the flea market we drove to Indian Wells and had a lovely lunch at The Pink Canopy… It is inside an old hotel that has recently been refurbished. It was inside the central pool courtyard and we were able to sit on the patio and enjoy a few cocktails and a light lunch in the lovely weather. Did I mention that the weather here is lovely? Early mornings are in the low 60s, with midday temps reaching the mid 80s. Clear skies, no humidity, no bugs – just beautiful days and balmy evenings…

After lunch we went to the Best Buy to have them check out my iPad. They said they could have it repaired in 5-7 days. That doesn’t work. We’ll have to find a better opportunity to have it looked at it.

Then we stopped into Total Wine and Aldi to pick up some necessities for camping, and headed back to the Villa. Rob came along to see the others and to enjoy happy hours.

We returned to the RV park at about 3:00 pm. Happy hours soon ensued…

There was another spectacular sunset…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

November 14, 2018 0

2018-11-03 – South Coast Airstream Club – Emerald Desert RV Resort – Day 3

Another lovely day! We had breakfast (in the crowded, noisy club room)…

At 10:00 we walked 2 1/4 miles to look at a lovely condominium open house. We were joined by our friend, Steve.

They were very well designed and well decorated. It’s nice to see well-executed condo projects like this – there are too many terrible ones out there…

And then there was Football! Real football! College Football! From noon until 11:15 pm I watched 9 or 10 games – it was great! Some gratifying wins, some gratifying losses, some heartbreaking losses, too. I even skipped the too-noisy dinner to stay in the Villa to watch. It is exactly the way I like to spend football Saturdays.

Meanwhile, Lynda spent her day doing a near-impossible jigsaw puzzle, sometimes alone, sometimes along with one, two, or more, other ladies…

Watching so many football games for so long is exhausting… I collapsed into bed at 11:30 pm…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

November 8, 2018 0

2018-11-02 – South Coast Airstream Club – Emerald Desert RV Resort – Day 2

Friday – the day the Rally officially begins. The weather was beautiful! We hung out and didn’t do too much – we had to wait for the trailer washer to arrive, and he wouldn’t commit to any specific time. Throughout the day more Airstreamers arrived – there will be 20 rigs eventually – and we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. As the afternoon wore on we were looking forward to happy hours with the whole group. Finally, at 4:00 pm, the trailer washer arrived and he did a great job cleaning up the Villa – after two months in the desert of the Southwest, then two weeks sitting in storage at Mentone Beach as the Santa Anas blew through, it was filthy! Now it is shiny again…

Finally we joined the much-anticipated Happy Hour. It was terrible! The food and drink were great! The people were great! But with this beautiful weather and a lovely shady patio, they crammed us into a room half too small, with a too low ceiling. We were crowded and cramped and the noise was deafening…

I hung around as long as I could, then I moved outside and sat on the patio. It was nice…

Finally some others came out and we all sat around in the dark at the empty camp site behind the Villa. It was lovely…

So we turned in early…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

November 5, 2018 0

2018-11-01 – South Coast Airstream Club – Emerald Desert RV Resort – Day 1

This weekend is our regular camp-out/rally for out home WBCCI club – South Coast California Unit, soon to be renamed “South Coast Airstream Club”. We meet for a weekend rally on the first Friday of every month, with few exceptions. Due to our travel this year for the Southwest Adventure Caravan, and our move earlier in the year, we have missed several rallies, and it is great to be back, to have a weekend rally, and see old friends again. We’ll even meet some new friends this weekend…

Even though today is Thursday, we packed up and left Redlands this morning and arrived in Palm Desert at about 1:00. It is a one hour drive… After living so far from this part of the desert for so many years this is a real treat! Emerald Desert RV Resort is a true RV resort, with many amenities and services, beautiful grounds, and great facilities.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the one downside of Emerald Desert is that it not only is adjacent to the 10 freeway, but between the freeway and the RV resort are railroad tracks. About once per hour, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, a giant, 150+ car freight train rumbles past…)

But, despite the trains, we love this place, we are thrilled to come in a day early, and we will be staying two days after the official end of the rally on Sunday, taking full advantage of the opportunity to camp here at club rates…

When we leave here, on Tuesday (election day), we will travel about 6 hours, to Paso Robles, for five days or relaxing in beautiful wine country… More later – stay tuned!

So after we arrived here we had to wait to check in; being the first day of November, there is a huge influx of “snow birds” who come to stay for “the season”. Most come for four to six months, enjoying the great weather in this beautiful place.

We finally secured our site assignment and started to get settled. Soon we were joined by six other Airstreamers who were also coming in one day early. It was great to see these people again after so long. Happy hours soon ensued, and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset…