The Trip Home
Tues 13 Apr
At Val Vista Village RV Resort, Sheila went for a last swim in the pool near our campsite while I unhooked the services, then we went for one last lunch at the Cactus Ranch House Grill and finally pulled out of Val Vista just before noon. Down to a nearby ARCO for enough gas to make Kingman, then on through Phoenix & onto the Hwy north. At Kingman we stopped at Zuni Village which had cablevision so Sheila could watch "Dancing with the Stars".
Wed 14 Apr
Filled up with gas in Kingman at "Terrible's gas station" and off to "Terrible's Lakeside Casino & RV Park." Terrible Herbst, (not his real first name I'm sure), has several casinos and a chain of gas stations. His casino in Pahrump, (near the CA/NV border), has an RV Park and it is Passport America, so for $15/night we got a lakeside site with GREEN grass around us, (instead of the usual gravel), free use of paddleboats on the lake, a pool & hot tub. They also had free WiFi. I tried to send pictures of the place but couldn't get anything to upload to either blog or email. Otherwise, it was a great campground!
Thurs Apr 15
Off to Death Valley, CA as it is right on route more or less. We bought a
park pass for $20 for the car, good for 7 days & stopped at the Visitor's
Centre at Furnace Creek for their slide show & a a Ranger presentation on
the "Creepies & Crawlies that live in Death Valley." First, she talked about
Tarantula spiders, & how like octopii, they have been seriously misrepresented in the movies & literature. They are a very shy, non-agressive animal who spends most of its time hiding in its hole or cave. You will only get bit if you don't give it time to run away & then the bite is no more serious than a wasp sting.
The scorpion, however is a different matter. It will stay & fight, i.e. sting! However, though VERY painful, unless you are very young or very old, the sting is not life threatening. The scorpion is the oldest living creature, having been on earth 450 million years! It loses less water in the heat than any other animal, i.e. it can lose 40% of its bodily fluids before dying. It can go for months without eating.
Finally, she described & showed us photos of the 3 species of Rattlesnakes that live in the park. Of the three, the Mojave Rattler is the most poisonous & agressive. She said they only had 9 snakebites bites last year, even though over 2 million people visited the park. All 9 got the anti-venom & were fine. She said that 58% of snake bites occur because people are teasing them & that 25% of rattlesnake bites are
non-poisonous because the snake just bites, but does not inject it's venom.
Most of what she said about snakes & tarantulas was quite reassuring, tho I
sure would watch out for scorpions!
After that enlightening talk, we drove on enjoying the desert flowers & mountain scenery enroute to Scotty's Castle at the north end where we would exit Death Valley, when about 3:30 pm, all of a sudden--a loud BANG! One rear outside dual tire had blown out, no damage to anything, except the tire. We discovered there's no cell coverage in the middle of Death Valley, so we unhooked the car & I drove 20 miles, (30 Kms) to a pay phone & called 'Good Sam' emergency service. After I finally got through, the dispatcher & I finally, after a lot of explanation, pinpointed where we were, (10 miles north of the junction of Hwys 190 & 374). He said it'd be 60 to 90 mins.till they could get a truck to us. I drive back to the RV & Sheila. No show after 3 hours, so Sheila drove to another pay phone to find out what had happened. After 40 min. on the phone with Good Sam, she found out the Tow company had said they couldn't find us. Apparently, they were not given all the info on where we were & were looking in the wrong place! (They were not given the "10 miles north" part of the information). It would now take 4 hours to get someone to us! Since it was now almost 9 pm, Sheila said phooey! Come tomorrow, about 8 am. We were level on the side of the road, so we camped there for the night. The road was not much traveled so we had part of a day & all night, to experience the solitude & silence of Death Valley.
Fri Apr 16
No one showed up by 9:30 am, so once more, Sheila drove for half an hour to
the nearest phone, to discover there was no record of a request for service at 8 am! We FINALLY got someone out to change the tire by 1:30 and we're off to Scotty's Castle to tour it on a 1 hour guided tour. It really does look like a small castle from the outside & is lavishly furnished inside. The costumed tour guide entertained us with many interesting stories about it's inhabitants. Then, back into NV towards Tonopah and the Banc Club Casino parking lot for the night. Got back into cell range in NV. We had what I thought was a nice supper at the casino restaurant, (Sheila didn't--she said the meat was OK, but veggies & baked potato weren't). Next trip she's going to try their Chinese dishes which looked really good. Sheila played the slots for a while, resulting in lots of play for an investment of $10.
Sat Apr 17
Off & away along the hwy. Nice lunch stop at a picnicking/camping area overlooking Walker Lake just north of Hawthorne. One interesting thing about Hawthorne, (in the middle of the Nevada desert). . . Beside a large ammunition storage depot, (there are bunkers all across the desert, scores of them), there is a sign saying, This is a "Navy Underwater Warfare Training Centre"; & we are in the middle of the desert????????
Stopped in Fallon NV for gas at $2.83--cheapest I've seen, including the big truck stops. Then on past Reno, back into CA to Honey Lake RV Park, a Passport America campground overlooking Honey Lake, oddly, Honey Lake has no water in it that we could see--maybe there's some out in the centre. It is a big lake bed, 20 miles long. The RV park person said the deepest it gets is 6 feet, so dry season really affects it.
Note: I figured out, that this trip we have used Passport America for 12 nights,
saving $15 to $20 a night.
Sun Apr 18
Late start, but off & away to Klamath Falls, just after 10. Unfortunately it is Sunday & the "Les Schwab Tire" shop, (for chains for the Focus & a new tire for the RV), is closed. I checked, & Walmart doesn't carry tires in our RV size, so we'll have to stop there for the night instead of moving on to a casino a bit further north. We will do Les Schwab tomorrow AM. Went to Sizzler for supper then to a movie, "Date Night"which was quite funny. We both enjoyed it, ($6.25 for seniors in a Silver City type theatre.) Manager said we'd be welcome to camp overnight in their lot if we're going to a movie. He said to park over by the back fence, which just happens to be next door to a police station--nice safe place, I'd say. Good to know as it's on one of the hwys into town.
Mon Apr 18
Up early, well for us early - about 7:30 or so. Received a text message from Adeline about her having contractions. Told her hang in there, we are on route as fast as we can, or fast for us. I got my new RV tire & put it as a spare, plus I got good snow chains for the Focus. Drove over to Fred Myers for the discount gas with my Fred Myers card & met Sheila who had been shopping at Wal-Mart while I waited for the tire to be mounted. We hooked up & were off at about 10:45. After one gas stop, lots of enroute snacks, and 2 or 3 "change driver" stops, we pulled into Emerald Queen Casino at exit 135 on "I"5, 420 miles, (680kms), from Klamath Falls at about 6:45. We had supper at their Asian Cafe, (reasonable price & good-sized servings). Two entries, with noodles for $8 filled me! Sheila stayed to play, I came back to RV. No more text messages from Adeline so I guess it wasn't real labour.
Tues Apr 19
Off & away to the border. Sheila wanted to stop at "Burlington Coat Factory" at the outlet shops near Bulington. We got there & couldn't find the coat factory but Sheila did find an "OsKosh & a Carters" so while I went next door to Costco for gas, she shopped away, getting Mikaela another swimsuit, a T-shirt; two cute newborn sleepers etc. & met me at "The "Curious Chef" for lunch--good, healthy food. I discovered they are building a Fred Meyer gas station, plus there is the Costco there, (exit 229 is closest). Good for gassing up going down & coming back. Next stop, Duty Free at the border, then over border, bit of a line, so it took a while, (20 min. or so). Once over the border, we unhooked the car & Sheila headed to Michael & Adeline's to be on hand to take care of Mikaela when Adeline & Michael have to go to the hospital. I joined the Roamers RV outing at Pacific RV Park, arriving mid-way through tea-time. I spent the next 3 nights there. The weather was quite good--we were able to have our tea-times and play Washers & the golf ball game outside. I spent the evenings playing Hand & Foot in the clubhouse.
On Thursday morning, April 22nd, I finally received this text message from Michael: "Welcome to the World, Erica Stephanie Tufts. Born 6:51am, April 22nd. 6 lbs 11 oz. Another granddaughter--how wonderful!
On Friday, Apr 23 I left the RV Park and arrived home late morning after being away since Dec. 29, 2009. Unloaded some of RV, then Ken & I headed out to meet our new granddaughter/niece who also, had just arrived home!
For the record: In the RV we covered 5694 kms, (3538 miles), & drove the
Focus for 2180 kms, (1350 miles).
I tried to post pictures so that they would be in chronological order with the first ones posted below this dialogue being the start of our trip home. They seem to have posted in reverse and are mixed up. The first ones after leaving Mesa, AZ should be Kingman, AZ and the Bolder Dam Bridge! Then we went to Terrible's in Pahrump NV and on into Death Valley. Then out of Death Valley to Tonopah NV and to Honey Lake, CA, then to Emerald Queen Casino, with Erica's pictures being at the end, not the beginning where they are.
So endeth the 2010 snowbird trip blog
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Arrived home for the arrival of Erica Stephanie Tufts
This is a cell phone picture Michael took shortly after Erica was born. It is the only one I currently have on the computer of Adeline with Erica.
Erica Stephanie Tufts, first day
Erica in her car seat ready to go home
Erica with Michael & Mikaela at home
Erica, Michael, Mikaela, Ken
Erica, Michael, Bren
Erica Stephanie Tufts, first day
Erica in her car seat ready to go home
Erica with Michael & Mikaela at home
Erica, Michael, Mikaela, Ken
Erica, Michael, BrenTuesday, April 27, 2010
On route home after leaving Death Valley
Tonopah Nevada, the large Banc Club Casino parking lot, they welcome overnighting RV's. It is morning around 9 AM or so & everyone else has left already.
A lunch stop at Walker Lake north of Hawthorn Nevada, would be a good overnight spot too.
Honey Lake RV Park, Milford, Calif. overlooking the lake which has dried up as far as we could see.
Baby goats at Honey Lake RV park
The final night in USA. Emerald Queen Casino parking lot, at I 5 exit 135 just south of Tacoma
Death Valley & Scotty's Castle
These two are of Scotty's Castle, North end of Death Valley. We were about 30 miles south of here when we had our tire blow out.
Here is where our left rear outside dual blew out and we were stuck overnight. Actually a great spot to experience the vast expanse & silence of Death Valley and the stars at night. The road wasn't busy during the day & nothing at night. The RV provided shade for sitting outside.
Sheila at a view point in south Death ValleyDeath Valley, the above View Point video
Kingman Rv Park & The new Bolder Dam Bridge
Zuni RV Park Kingman AZ, in a pull through for the night
Only a small gap left to complete. The people in foreground are on the top of Bolder Dam as we are driving across it.
From up on the hill before going down and across the dam. The white lines are from aircraft.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Terrible's Casino RV Park Pahrump NV
From out on the lake in the paddle boat looking back towards the beach & the camp sites
Chasing ducks with the paddle boat (way too slow, ducks ignore us and drift out of the way)
Bren in the hot tub by the pool
Looking out the RV window from our camp site towards the lake
Close to shore, looking towards our camp site with our blue car in front of RV
Sheila in the paddle boat, free usage for campground guests
Sheila in swimming pool
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
This posting may be the last as I doubt we'll get WiFi on route, but
you never know.
Saturday Apr 10 onwards
More 85F,(30C), degree plus weather forecast for the next few days
Sat morning started with the 8:30 coffee & donuts gathering at one of
the rec halls, $1.00 donation for the donuts. We met Jim & Ann there
and had a pleasant start to the day. The MC makes a gathering out of
it with announcements, calling for birthdays, anniversaries etc. then
singing Happy Birthday, they tell jokes, stories, updates on people
sick etc.
After that Sheila went out to shop locally & I went over to the pool
for a swim, a hot tub & a sit in the sun. Sheila came back, we had
lunch then went out together as I had some stuff to try to find.
Returned and Sheila went for her swim while I caught up on expenses
entries into Excel.
Relaxing time before heading over to the Steak Fry in the court yard at
5 to meet Jim & Ann & listen to music by Fall River, the western group from the dance last Thurs. We got a table on the patio, got our steaks, (cooked over mesquite
charcoal briquets), it came with baked potato, all the butter & sour
cream you wanted plus a salad, 3 choices of dressing and macadamia nut
cookies & choc chip cookies for dessert-- a great deal! Plus Jim & Ann couldn't eat all their steak so I got several more ounces, nummy. Fall River played till 7 PM and we had a great time, even danced a bit.
Sun
Sheila went out to the shop in the morn then we had lunch & off to the
Mesa Arts Centre for a matinee play called "Forbidden Broadway". It was
a comedy parody on Broadway shows & personalities, 4 actors and a great
piano player. They did some great take offs and satire. Back for supper &
then I went over to the hot tub across the road from our site as I had
a slight back ache. It was 8:30, nice & warm out. Sheila was working
on postcards, emails etc.
Mon
On route back from the play yesterday I saw a Camping World store only
4 kms from our park. Today I went over there to see if I could find a
replacement screw-on hold down for the bike rack. They didn't have one
but found a nut & washer that would work which they gave me. I came
back & put the bikes up on their rack & the nut worked perfectly on the
stud. I also checked all tires & did some other prep work before going
over to the ballroom for the Wii bowling. I have never seen a Wii set
up or tried it so seemed a good opportunity. Out of 4 players I came
second & Sheila came third. It is kind of fun but don't think I would
buy one. Then over to the patio for lunch, I had their terrific taco
salad & Sheila had a cactus burger, (beef, but it came with real cactus
strips). They were like sauteed green pepper but with a sweeter, nicer taste.
Then we played our last Water Volleyball game till 4. Next it
is a short hot tub dip then meeting Jim & Ann to go to The Organ Stop
Pizza. A really neat place, they have the world's largest Wurlitzer pipe organ and the
organist plays requests plus his own selections. I took a couple of
videos of that as well but like the steak fry event ones I can't seem
to get all of them to load so I can post them. The shorter ones
sometimes will load & I can post them but the longer ones, (over 20
to 30 seconds), will not, that, plus the WiFi keeps going on & off so there
may be some videos & pictures after this, or not! We left Organ Stop Pizza
after an enjoyable hour or so so that Sheila & Ann could watch Dancing
with the Stars. Jim & I had coffee in their unit until the girls were
finished. Finally it is late Mon eve, we leave tomorrow so this will
be the "Last Post". I may be able to put the videos on when I'm home &
will let everyone know if I can do it.
you never know.
Saturday Apr 10 onwards
More 85F,(30C), degree plus weather forecast for the next few days
Sat morning started with the 8:30 coffee & donuts gathering at one of
the rec halls, $1.00 donation for the donuts. We met Jim & Ann there
and had a pleasant start to the day. The MC makes a gathering out of
it with announcements, calling for birthdays, anniversaries etc. then
singing Happy Birthday, they tell jokes, stories, updates on people
sick etc.
After that Sheila went out to shop locally & I went over to the pool
for a swim, a hot tub & a sit in the sun. Sheila came back, we had
lunch then went out together as I had some stuff to try to find.
Returned and Sheila went for her swim while I caught up on expenses
entries into Excel.
Relaxing time before heading over to the Steak Fry in the court yard at
5 to meet Jim & Ann & listen to music by Fall River, the western group from the dance last Thurs. We got a table on the patio, got our steaks, (cooked over mesquite
charcoal briquets), it came with baked potato, all the butter & sour
cream you wanted plus a salad, 3 choices of dressing and macadamia nut
cookies & choc chip cookies for dessert-- a great deal! Plus Jim & Ann couldn't eat all their steak so I got several more ounces, nummy. Fall River played till 7 PM and we had a great time, even danced a bit.
Sun
Sheila went out to the shop in the morn then we had lunch & off to the
Mesa Arts Centre for a matinee play called "Forbidden Broadway". It was
a comedy parody on Broadway shows & personalities, 4 actors and a great
piano player. They did some great take offs and satire. Back for supper &
then I went over to the hot tub across the road from our site as I had
a slight back ache. It was 8:30, nice & warm out. Sheila was working
on postcards, emails etc.
Mon
On route back from the play yesterday I saw a Camping World store only
4 kms from our park. Today I went over there to see if I could find a
replacement screw-on hold down for the bike rack. They didn't have one
but found a nut & washer that would work which they gave me. I came
back & put the bikes up on their rack & the nut worked perfectly on the
stud. I also checked all tires & did some other prep work before going
over to the ballroom for the Wii bowling. I have never seen a Wii set
up or tried it so seemed a good opportunity. Out of 4 players I came
second & Sheila came third. It is kind of fun but don't think I would
buy one. Then over to the patio for lunch, I had their terrific taco
salad & Sheila had a cactus burger, (beef, but it came with real cactus
strips). They were like sauteed green pepper but with a sweeter, nicer taste.
Then we played our last Water Volleyball game till 4. Next it
is a short hot tub dip then meeting Jim & Ann to go to The Organ Stop
Pizza. A really neat place, they have the world's largest Wurlitzer pipe organ and the
organist plays requests plus his own selections. I took a couple of
videos of that as well but like the steak fry event ones I can't seem
to get all of them to load so I can post them. The shorter ones
sometimes will load & I can post them but the longer ones, (over 20
to 30 seconds), will not, that, plus the WiFi keeps going on & off so there
may be some videos & pictures after this, or not! We left Organ Stop Pizza
after an enjoyable hour or so so that Sheila & Ann could watch Dancing
with the Stars. Jim & I had coffee in their unit until the girls were
finished. Finally it is late Mon eve, we leave tomorrow so this will
be the "Last Post". I may be able to put the videos on when I'm home &
will let everyone know if I can do it.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
At Val Vista Thurs & Fri Apr 8 & 9
At Val Vista in nice 85F (30C), or more, weather, we actually are running the A/C a few times and don't need the furnace in the morning at all.
Thursday started with coffee & donuts hosted by the park in the main ballroom. It was at 8:30 but for free coffee & donuts I made the supreme sacrifice & got up early.
Sheila went to get her nails done & had to wait to go in the water so I went to Volleyball at 2, Sheila finally arrived about 3 & did a video of the game then joined in. She met Jim & Ann Polluck who had just arrived, (Dogwood Roamers RV Club), so we met them in the court yard after the game to listen to Curtis Knox, have lunch & visit with them. In the eve it was TV, planning next day, & uploading blog videos,- very slow & tedious.
Friday
We picked up Jim & Ann & drove 5 mins to Towerpoint RV Resort, (Owned by Cal-Am company as is Val Vista). We were invited by our Val Vista activities director to go for their Pizza lunch & entertainment. We picked up a rate sheet for them as we like this area & there is a lot to do in Mesa besides the RV resort activities. We came back to Val Vista in time for the water Volleyball game. After that we sat out by the outdoor pool in the sun & had a $3.50 & a $2.50 Pina Colada. Then we got ready to go to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre about 10 mins drive away. They were putting on "George M", the story of George M Cohan. Great buffet & great show. Finally home to plan tomorrow, we may or may not go to the big Mesa Swap Meet that runs Fri-Sun. We've been before, great bargains plus they put on good entertainment by the food concession. More in the next posting.
Thursday started with coffee & donuts hosted by the park in the main ballroom. It was at 8:30 but for free coffee & donuts I made the supreme sacrifice & got up early.
Sheila went to get her nails done & had to wait to go in the water so I went to Volleyball at 2, Sheila finally arrived about 3 & did a video of the game then joined in. She met Jim & Ann Polluck who had just arrived, (Dogwood Roamers RV Club), so we met them in the court yard after the game to listen to Curtis Knox, have lunch & visit with them. In the eve it was TV, planning next day, & uploading blog videos,- very slow & tedious.
Friday
We picked up Jim & Ann & drove 5 mins to Towerpoint RV Resort, (Owned by Cal-Am company as is Val Vista). We were invited by our Val Vista activities director to go for their Pizza lunch & entertainment. We picked up a rate sheet for them as we like this area & there is a lot to do in Mesa besides the RV resort activities. We came back to Val Vista in time for the water Volleyball game. After that we sat out by the outdoor pool in the sun & had a $3.50 & a $2.50 Pina Colada. Then we got ready to go to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre about 10 mins drive away. They were putting on "George M", the story of George M Cohan. Great buffet & great show. Finally home to plan tomorrow, we may or may not go to the big Mesa Swap Meet that runs Fri-Sun. We've been before, great bargains plus they put on good entertainment by the food concession. More in the next posting.
Water Volleyball at Val Vista
Sheila shot this of how they play at Val Vista. It's an indoor pool, small, so max in water is 9, 3 rows of 3 and they keep score. At game end the front row goes to the other side & play starts. They play 2 till 4. every day except Sunday I think. The ball is a larger one than at GVP and you can hit it over in one shot but one person can only hit it twice & there can only be 3 hits per side before hitting it over. I like GVP's play better.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
free entertainment at Cacus Ranch grill at Val Vista
They have an outdoor grill with a patio here. The Cactus House Ranch Grill serves a reasonable variety of food at good prices, ( I had a great taco salad for $5 & Sheila had a BLT that was stacked for $3.99). They have mixed cocktails - Pina Colada, Margaritas, Mai Tai, Daiquiri, Mojito - all $3.50 each, virgin is $2.50. Beer is $6 a pitcher, mini bottles of wine $2.50, screwdriver, bloody mary etc all $2.50. It's like going into a bar 30 years ago! On Thursday they had entertainment out in the court yard. Curtis Knox won 1st runner up at a local senior idol contest. He is great, we got a CD of his for $5.00. We missed the first part as he started at 3 & we were in the VB pool which is behind glass doors at the back on the court yard so we could see the action outside, but couldn't hear.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Apr 7 - at Val Vista in Mesa
April 7 dawns bright & sunny. Forecast high today is 78F(25.5C). The wind seems gusty & periodically strong enough that I am not going to put up the awning.
Sheila is up & off to the 8AM pool exercises whereas I pursue more leisurely activities like having my morning coffee. However at 9:05 I find that I too am in the pool after the exercises finish and Sheila insists on running me through some of them for 1/2 an hr. This climate is ruining my morning sleep-in routine!
After a leisurely lunch & some housework, we head off to water volleyball, (2-4 pm) to see how they play here.
OK, local rules are: you can hit ball twice only and a total of 3 hits on one side of the net. If there are 4 hits the ball goes to the other side. You can hit the ball directly back as well--no passing is required. The ball is a large beach ball & very light. The pool is indoors, and small so they play 3 across and there's only room to go 3 rows back so if there are more than 9 a side, players have to rotate in. WE had a max of 8 on one side but mostly there were just 6.
After Volleyball there was a dance from 4-6 PM in the ballroom with a western group called "Fall River." Cost was $4 each, which included all the popcorn you could eat--good popcorn too.
Back to the RV afterwards. Sheila is wiped out & laying on the bed.
I have put 3 pictures on of our two RV Park sites. The one with lots of grass is in the Palm Springs area, the other is the one in Mesa which, while a really nice place with lots of activities, only has crushed rock around the sites.
There are lots of activities planned over the next few days, a report will follow eventually.
Sheila is up & off to the 8AM pool exercises whereas I pursue more leisurely activities like having my morning coffee. However at 9:05 I find that I too am in the pool after the exercises finish and Sheila insists on running me through some of them for 1/2 an hr. This climate is ruining my morning sleep-in routine!
After a leisurely lunch & some housework, we head off to water volleyball, (2-4 pm) to see how they play here.
OK, local rules are: you can hit ball twice only and a total of 3 hits on one side of the net. If there are 4 hits the ball goes to the other side. You can hit the ball directly back as well--no passing is required. The ball is a large beach ball & very light. The pool is indoors, and small so they play 3 across and there's only room to go 3 rows back so if there are more than 9 a side, players have to rotate in. WE had a max of 8 on one side but mostly there were just 6.
After Volleyball there was a dance from 4-6 PM in the ballroom with a western group called "Fall River." Cost was $4 each, which included all the popcorn you could eat--good popcorn too.
Back to the RV afterwards. Sheila is wiped out & laying on the bed.
I have put 3 pictures on of our two RV Park sites. The one with lots of grass is in the Palm Springs area, the other is the one in Mesa which, while a really nice place with lots of activities, only has crushed rock around the sites.
There are lots of activities planned over the next few days, a report will follow eventually.
2 of our camping spots
The first two are our Val Vista site in Mesa, AZ, the last is our Emerald Desert site in Palm Desert, CA
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Palm Springs to Phoenix(Mesa)
April 5 overnighting at Fantasy Springs Casino off "I" 10
We had our morning swim & hot tub and away Emerald Desert RV Resort by 12:15. We didn't hook up the car as I needed to put gas in the RV & maneuvering in a gas station with car in tow can be awkward sometimes. Then as the casino was only 15 miles down the highway we decided not to bother hooking up at all. Arrived OK, lots of room in the RV parking lot. Into the casino to check it out. No deals on food, lunch buffet was $13, so we got our players club cards & came back to RV for lunch & then back to check out gambling. They had a deal where if you played $20 in a slot the casino would give you $50 in free slot play. I put in my 20, played $20 worth of bets, I went up & down & finally I ended up even when I had "earned" my $50.00. It was a all bit confusing following the directions to play & collect & retrieve"free" plays but I eventually played my free $50 & took out $35.25 in winnings. Sheila, on her free 50.00 "won" $12.50, she also broke even on the original money she put in. So a net gain all round. And we were able to play on the video poker machines, even the 25 cent ones despite the note on the instructions that "free" play was not applicable on video poker machines, worked for us! Back to the RV for an early to bed & early start in the morning, (our type of "early", probably 9:30 if were lucky).
Morning comes, I am drinking my coffee at approximately 9:00 when Sheila says, "I'm ready to go hook up the car" I just about choked on my coffee, she was ready before me! We actually got away at 9:20! Uneventful run to Phoenix down a dead straight road, on cruise control & I was trying to figure out if I could lash the wheel straight & go back for a nap. We didn't loose an hour because Arizona does not move to daylight time so it's the same time as PDT here. We are checked in, on free WiFi & set for 7 days of sun, (around 75F 24C). The local activities report will follow in a few days.
We had our morning swim & hot tub and away Emerald Desert RV Resort by 12:15. We didn't hook up the car as I needed to put gas in the RV & maneuvering in a gas station with car in tow can be awkward sometimes. Then as the casino was only 15 miles down the highway we decided not to bother hooking up at all. Arrived OK, lots of room in the RV parking lot. Into the casino to check it out. No deals on food, lunch buffet was $13, so we got our players club cards & came back to RV for lunch & then back to check out gambling. They had a deal where if you played $20 in a slot the casino would give you $50 in free slot play. I put in my 20, played $20 worth of bets, I went up & down & finally I ended up even when I had "earned" my $50.00. It was a all bit confusing following the directions to play & collect & retrieve"free" plays but I eventually played my free $50 & took out $35.25 in winnings. Sheila, on her free 50.00 "won" $12.50, she also broke even on the original money she put in. So a net gain all round. And we were able to play on the video poker machines, even the 25 cent ones despite the note on the instructions that "free" play was not applicable on video poker machines, worked for us! Back to the RV for an early to bed & early start in the morning, (our type of "early", probably 9:30 if were lucky).
Morning comes, I am drinking my coffee at approximately 9:00 when Sheila says, "I'm ready to go hook up the car" I just about choked on my coffee, she was ready before me! We actually got away at 9:20! Uneventful run to Phoenix down a dead straight road, on cruise control & I was trying to figure out if I could lash the wheel straight & go back for a nap. We didn't loose an hour because Arizona does not move to daylight time so it's the same time as PDT here. We are checked in, on free WiFi & set for 7 days of sun, (around 75F 24C). The local activities report will follow in a few days.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Springs
The weather here is great, sunny & hot. We have done a lot of relaxing by the pool & lounging in the pool side cabanas, they even have pool side food & drink service. They also supply huge towels for your use at the pool. On Sat they had an Easter Egg hunt with eggs scattered all over the resort. We found 2 and one of them had a prize note which turned out to be a $10.00 gift card for "The Cheese Cake Factory", plus the jelly beans & you kept the plastic egg. Then Sat night we drove to the cheap movie place to see "When in Rome" for $2.50 each. It was a pleasant, amusing, movie. Sunday we went down to the Collage of the Desert open air swap meet/flea market. Miles of booths and interesting stuff from clothing to tools. Plus a food fair & live entertainment. It runs every Sat & Sun 7 till 2. On the return trip I went to a local branch of the Altura Credit Union I found in Hemet and took out cash from the ATM, no fee at all. Back to Emerald Desert & into the swimming pool. I was sitting on a lounge chair when all of a sudden the chair started to rock like someone was pushing the back of it back & forth. Then someone yelled out earthquake! The water in the pool formed small waves that went back & forth across the pool but they wern't big enough to spill up over the edge much. That all there was to it, just a little tremor. So our 4 days in Palm Springs winds down, we leave tomorrow but check out time is noon so we will go for a dip in the pool & hot tubs and leave at the last minute. It is about a 4 hour drive to Phoenix/Mesa and as I do not want to be driving through Phoenix at rush hour our plan is to drive 15 or so minutes down hwy "I" 10 to the Fantasy Springs Casino, stay there Mon night & get to Phoenix/Mesa early to mid afternoon on Tues.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Final day For Lauderdale and the trip back
Mar 30 - Mar 31
Into the motel and We have the afternoon & evening free & as we never got to go swimming much in the Bahamas, Sheila called & set up a snorkeling boat trip to a reef off Fort Lauderdale. We bought an all day bus ticket, ($2.50) and first went to the International Swimming Hall of Fame Museum which is just up the block from the boat pier. Sheila really enjoyed the museum & even I found some interesting info. The boat trip turned out great. We anchored in about 15 feet of water on a reef about a mile off Fort Lauderdale beach. we tested out the camera underwater, even took some video. I will try to post some photos but the blogger seems to take too long to upload and the computer times itself out & quits.
After the boat trip we started back to the motel. At a transfer stop we saw a neat cafe, (The Quarterdeck), with outside tables so decided to stop & eat sitting outside and had a great time. I had a great lobster biscue & calamari. We finally left about 7:45, caught the bus to the central terminal to connect with our bus to our motel only to discover that our bus stopped running at 8PM and no other bus went anywhere near. So we get a bus that goes somewhat closer & then have to take a cab.
Wake up call for 4AM is set up. We get up & have a cab to the airport, only 10 minutes away, about 4 miles; Sheila had checked with Expedia & was told cab fare would be about $5, which is why we chose this motel, we get there & the fare is suddenly $20.00. Sheila is planning on phoning Expedia, (she has the name of her contact), and blasting them for crap nformation. Anyway, through security, & on board & off. "Breakfast Service" turns out to be one small muffin. We land in Houston, change planes and get another "Breakfast Service" which is cereal, milk, & a banana. Next it is movie time. The seats have individual screens & we discovered that "Old Dogs" was on. For $6 you get Direct TV broadcasts. One flaw we discovered was that while watching the movie whenever the flight crew had an announcement the sound from the movie cut out so you had silent bits you never knew what happened. Then the movies and /or TV etc shows start & finish on Direct TV's schedule not the planes take off so you can be in the middle of what you want when it starts up on takeoff. Another lesson learned, don't pay to watch movies on planes. Otherwise flight goes OK.
We land, drive back to the RV, pull it out of storage & drive a couple of blocks to a side street where we park for the night, (the street is one with empty fields on both side where a lot of trucks park overnight all quite legal).
April 1 we get Sheila's bike wheel fixed (it was bent from having a broken spoke), then off up the hwy to Palm Springs & Emerald Desert RV Resort. It is a nice place and the weather is great. We set up then into town for the street fest., 4 blocks of vendors, entertainment, & food. We also went to LOOK Patio Bar but they had changed ownership & didn't have the super Flan/Creme Caramel they used to make, they also seem to have gone more "straight" so the fun ambiance was missing, too bad! They do make a great French Onion Soup & had happy hour 2.50 drinks plus a girl singing & playing piano on the outside patio so we stayed for a while.
Into the motel and We have the afternoon & evening free & as we never got to go swimming much in the Bahamas, Sheila called & set up a snorkeling boat trip to a reef off Fort Lauderdale. We bought an all day bus ticket, ($2.50) and first went to the International Swimming Hall of Fame Museum which is just up the block from the boat pier. Sheila really enjoyed the museum & even I found some interesting info. The boat trip turned out great. We anchored in about 15 feet of water on a reef about a mile off Fort Lauderdale beach. we tested out the camera underwater, even took some video. I will try to post some photos but the blogger seems to take too long to upload and the computer times itself out & quits.
After the boat trip we started back to the motel. At a transfer stop we saw a neat cafe, (The Quarterdeck), with outside tables so decided to stop & eat sitting outside and had a great time. I had a great lobster biscue & calamari. We finally left about 7:45, caught the bus to the central terminal to connect with our bus to our motel only to discover that our bus stopped running at 8PM and no other bus went anywhere near. So we get a bus that goes somewhat closer & then have to take a cab.
Wake up call for 4AM is set up. We get up & have a cab to the airport, only 10 minutes away, about 4 miles; Sheila had checked with Expedia & was told cab fare would be about $5, which is why we chose this motel, we get there & the fare is suddenly $20.00. Sheila is planning on phoning Expedia, (she has the name of her contact), and blasting them for crap nformation. Anyway, through security, & on board & off. "Breakfast Service" turns out to be one small muffin. We land in Houston, change planes and get another "Breakfast Service" which is cereal, milk, & a banana. Next it is movie time. The seats have individual screens & we discovered that "Old Dogs" was on. For $6 you get Direct TV broadcasts. One flaw we discovered was that while watching the movie whenever the flight crew had an announcement the sound from the movie cut out so you had silent bits you never knew what happened. Then the movies and /or TV etc shows start & finish on Direct TV's schedule not the planes take off so you can be in the middle of what you want when it starts up on takeoff. Another lesson learned, don't pay to watch movies on planes. Otherwise flight goes OK.
We land, drive back to the RV, pull it out of storage & drive a couple of blocks to a side street where we park for the night, (the street is one with empty fields on both side where a lot of trucks park overnight all quite legal).
April 1 we get Sheila's bike wheel fixed (it was bent from having a broken spoke), then off up the hwy to Palm Springs & Emerald Desert RV Resort. It is a nice place and the weather is great. We set up then into town for the street fest., 4 blocks of vendors, entertainment, & food. We also went to LOOK Patio Bar but they had changed ownership & didn't have the super Flan/Creme Caramel they used to make, they also seem to have gone more "straight" so the fun ambiance was missing, too bad! They do make a great French Onion Soup & had happy hour 2.50 drinks plus a girl singing & playing piano on the outside patio so we stayed for a while.
Snorkeling trip photos
The following photos are:
Two yellow fish, lower center
Sheila diving
More fish
The captions will not space themselves with the pictures so sort it out by yourselves
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
corretion for double entry
Mar 29 late PM
When I checked the TuftsTravels site I found that the unfinished Mar 24 blog was published twice and in double spacing somehow. I guess the wonky WiFi at Remada held it or something, who knows. Anyway I have deleted both those & the expanded Mar 24 to Mar 29 with the cruise added on is in it's place.
Mar 30 early AM
Clear blue sky & sunny so looks like a good day shaping up.
When I checked the TuftsTravels site I found that the unfinished Mar 24 blog was published twice and in double spacing somehow. I guess the wonky WiFi at Remada held it or something, who knows. Anyway I have deleted both those & the expanded Mar 24 to Mar 29 with the cruise added on is in it's place.
Mar 30 early AM
Clear blue sky & sunny so looks like a good day shaping up.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Mar 24 to Mar 29 - the cruise, before and after
Mar 24, The Florida adventure continues
Down to the "welcome centre" to find out that the shuttle to presentation had left at 8:00. Sheila had specifically phoned them & was told to be at the Welcome Centre by 9:00 to go.
she thinks the woman she talked to assumed we had a car & could get to the presentation on our own. OK, so now the next tour is tomorrow, and the shuttle doesn't return until the afternoon so we have to check out, take our luggage with us & then we have to find a bus or cab to make our own way back into town,(the tour is about 13 miles west of downtown), to connect with the commuter train to West Palm Beach for the cruise ship boarding 1-3PM dragging suitcases all the way.
I am not pleased!
So, on with the day. We phone bus info & get times to get a bus from the Remada Inn location to the Jungle Queen boat tour of Fort Lauderdale's waterways & summer cottages of the rich & very rich. We bought $2.50 all day bus passes. The bus ride took a while & ran down the west side of Fort Lauderdale, we were the only Caucasians on a fairly full bus and it took about a hour to get to the boat dock on the Atlantic beach side. We discovered they keep the bus AC turned on even when they don't need it. Sheila said it was like spending an hour in a refrigerator wearing a light top & Capri pants!
The boat tour was well worth it.I took video & pictures of the summer cottages along the many waterways. They also said that you could go from here to New Jersey without ever going into the open ocean, also you could go south to the Florida Keys as well. The "cottages" were spectacular in size & location. Many were worth multi millions and they are all just vacation homes for people like the original owner of Wastech,his net now worth over 1 billion, also the Firestone family vacation home, owners of Radio shack, Oscar Mayer, Budweiser etc., etc. We saw a house once owned by Gloria Vanderbilt, Johnny Weisemuller, (tarzan in the old movies and an Olympic champion swimmer), Lee Majors place, (million dollar man), a house used by Al Capone as a speakeasy, & other houses owned by big auto dealership owners & CEOs. I'll try to attach some pictures. We stopped at an island for a break for nibbles and a crocodile handling demo. They can close their jaws with a very loud "WHAP". It was a 3 hour tour with lots of info and lots to see.
After that, we caught another bus to try to find the "Downtowner Pub" we had passed on the river tour. It offers cheap happy hour drinks, 2 for 1 appetizers and is the hangout of Jimmy Buffet when he is in town. We found it & Sheila had a couple of very strong vodka & cran/orange drinks for 2.75 each, she had to ask for extra mixer for each one. Finally away to more buses with the same passenger complexion as before. All really friendly people. A couple of times they overheard Sheila wondering about something & chimed in with an answer or help finding something. They are difficult to understand tho, with their southern/Creole accents, soft voices & fast speech! The bus drivers were all great in helping us find our destinations. Well, to bed early as we have to pack up everything and get up early to be down in the lobby with all our luggage for the "tour" shuttle leaving at 8. Apparently we will get breakfast out of it & we have lots of ammo to fire at them regarding their incompetent promoters and all the trouble & rigmarole we have had to put up with. I doubt I will have WiFi on board at least not without a considerable cost, (the onboard internet was 5o cents a min), so it may be a while till next blog, that is if I can get this one sent as the hotel WiFi keeps dropping out. This Ramada is a dump!
Mar 25, getting to the ship
Well, I don't have room to keep going with the next problems in detail. Here is the, hopefully, short version. After being continually assured that there was a complimentary shuttle waiting to take us to our cruise ship in West Palm Beach,(so no need to rush through our presentation) we were told that "yes", there was a shuttle, but "No" it wasn't complimentary. By now our plan to cab a short distance to a mall then bus to the Tri-Rail station & train to West Palm Beach had run out of time. We had to pay $90.00 for a shuttle car to the cruise ship up the hwy at 70 mph+ to make the ship barely an hour before sailing. At which point we hadn't had lunch & all the restaurants were closing for the afternoon till supper. No food available for an hour, 0h the horror, the horror!!!. Not only did we miss lunch, but we missed most of the party leading up to "sail away"!!
Mar 25 to 28, on board our 2 cruises
The cruise was fine, it's only a 1,000 pass.ship so--less of everything we have had on previous cruises. We booked a shore excision snorkeling trip in Bahamian water only to have it canceled due to high wave activity. At the end of the first cruise the ship was good in that they let us leave our big suitcases (2) on board so we walk off with shoulder bags went through Customs, (a breeze), out the front door & back in to check in and board again. Our new cabin was in the exact same position on the opposite side of the ship from the first so we had a large window looking out the other side. For the second cruise we booked the snorkeling with a day, (incl. lunch buffet) at a resort called "Our Lucaya"--a multi acre 5 star resort. The snorkeling was canceled again, due to high winds, so we went to the beach to swim. We had lounge chairs on the sand so were quite comfortable. The water, I must report, was not as warm as the Caribbean, Tahiti, or Australia - in Queensland, but once in, it was fine. It was a nice day.
I have not been covering much ground in the last couple of days as just before the cruise, both my calf muscles were really sore & stiff, we don't know exactly why but are guessing it was due to wearing my sandals for a lot of the walking around in Fort Lauderdale and they have no good heel, arch or foot support.
Tomorrow we disembark, make our way about 5 miles to the Tri-Rail station by cab for about an 1 1/2 hour ride to Ft Lauderdale & then about a 4 mile cab to the Red Carpet Inn, our motel for the next two nights before flying back to California. I hope my next line tomorrow will be: ....an uneventful trip, arrived OK.
Mon Mar 29 disembarkation & down to Fort Lauderdale
Uneventful trip, arrived OK: off ship, took cab to train, train to Fort Lauderdale, bus to Red Carpet Inn, checked in for 2 nights, all OK so far. Good WiFi connection & restaurant on site, bus stop a cpl hundred feet away.
Down to the "welcome centre" to find out that the shuttle to presentation had left at 8:00. Sheila had specifically phoned them & was told to be at the Welcome Centre by 9:00 to go.
she thinks the woman she talked to assumed we had a car & could get to the presentation on our own. OK, so now the next tour is tomorrow, and the shuttle doesn't return until the afternoon so we have to check out, take our luggage with us & then we have to find a bus or cab to make our own way back into town,(the tour is about 13 miles west of downtown), to connect with the commuter train to West Palm Beach for the cruise ship boarding 1-3PM dragging suitcases all the way.
I am not pleased!
So, on with the day. We phone bus info & get times to get a bus from the Remada Inn location to the Jungle Queen boat tour of Fort Lauderdale's waterways & summer cottages of the rich & very rich. We bought $2.50 all day bus passes. The bus ride took a while & ran down the west side of Fort Lauderdale, we were the only Caucasians on a fairly full bus and it took about a hour to get to the boat dock on the Atlantic beach side. We discovered they keep the bus AC turned on even when they don't need it. Sheila said it was like spending an hour in a refrigerator wearing a light top & Capri pants!
The boat tour was well worth it.I took video & pictures of the summer cottages along the many waterways. They also said that you could go from here to New Jersey without ever going into the open ocean, also you could go south to the Florida Keys as well. The "cottages" were spectacular in size & location. Many were worth multi millions and they are all just vacation homes for people like the original owner of Wastech,his net now worth over 1 billion, also the Firestone family vacation home, owners of Radio shack, Oscar Mayer, Budweiser etc., etc. We saw a house once owned by Gloria Vanderbilt, Johnny Weisemuller, (tarzan in the old movies and an Olympic champion swimmer), Lee Majors place, (million dollar man), a house used by Al Capone as a speakeasy, & other houses owned by big auto dealership owners & CEOs. I'll try to attach some pictures. We stopped at an island for a break for nibbles and a crocodile handling demo. They can close their jaws with a very loud "WHAP". It was a 3 hour tour with lots of info and lots to see.
After that, we caught another bus to try to find the "Downtowner Pub" we had passed on the river tour. It offers cheap happy hour drinks, 2 for 1 appetizers and is the hangout of Jimmy Buffet when he is in town. We found it & Sheila had a couple of very strong vodka & cran/orange drinks for 2.75 each, she had to ask for extra mixer for each one. Finally away to more buses with the same passenger complexion as before. All really friendly people. A couple of times they overheard Sheila wondering about something & chimed in with an answer or help finding something. They are difficult to understand tho, with their southern/Creole accents, soft voices & fast speech! The bus drivers were all great in helping us find our destinations. Well, to bed early as we have to pack up everything and get up early to be down in the lobby with all our luggage for the "tour" shuttle leaving at 8. Apparently we will get breakfast out of it & we have lots of ammo to fire at them regarding their incompetent promoters and all the trouble & rigmarole we have had to put up with. I doubt I will have WiFi on board at least not without a considerable cost, (the onboard internet was 5o cents a min), so it may be a while till next blog, that is if I can get this one sent as the hotel WiFi keeps dropping out. This Ramada is a dump!
Mar 25, getting to the ship
Well, I don't have room to keep going with the next problems in detail. Here is the, hopefully, short version. After being continually assured that there was a complimentary shuttle waiting to take us to our cruise ship in West Palm Beach,(so no need to rush through our presentation) we were told that "yes", there was a shuttle, but "No" it wasn't complimentary. By now our plan to cab a short distance to a mall then bus to the Tri-Rail station & train to West Palm Beach had run out of time. We had to pay $90.00 for a shuttle car to the cruise ship up the hwy at 70 mph+ to make the ship barely an hour before sailing. At which point we hadn't had lunch & all the restaurants were closing for the afternoon till supper. No food available for an hour, 0h the horror, the horror!!!. Not only did we miss lunch, but we missed most of the party leading up to "sail away"!!
Mar 25 to 28, on board our 2 cruises
The cruise was fine, it's only a 1,000 pass.ship so--less of everything we have had on previous cruises. We booked a shore excision snorkeling trip in Bahamian water only to have it canceled due to high wave activity. At the end of the first cruise the ship was good in that they let us leave our big suitcases (2) on board so we walk off with shoulder bags went through Customs, (a breeze), out the front door & back in to check in and board again. Our new cabin was in the exact same position on the opposite side of the ship from the first so we had a large window looking out the other side. For the second cruise we booked the snorkeling with a day, (incl. lunch buffet) at a resort called "Our Lucaya"--a multi acre 5 star resort. The snorkeling was canceled again, due to high winds, so we went to the beach to swim. We had lounge chairs on the sand so were quite comfortable. The water, I must report, was not as warm as the Caribbean, Tahiti, or Australia - in Queensland, but once in, it was fine. It was a nice day.
I have not been covering much ground in the last couple of days as just before the cruise, both my calf muscles were really sore & stiff, we don't know exactly why but are guessing it was due to wearing my sandals for a lot of the walking around in Fort Lauderdale and they have no good heel, arch or foot support.
Tomorrow we disembark, make our way about 5 miles to the Tri-Rail station by cab for about an 1 1/2 hour ride to Ft Lauderdale & then about a 4 mile cab to the Red Carpet Inn, our motel for the next two nights before flying back to California. I hope my next line tomorrow will be: ....an uneventful trip, arrived OK.
Mon Mar 29 disembarkation & down to Fort Lauderdale
Uneventful trip, arrived OK: off ship, took cab to train, train to Fort Lauderdale, bus to Red Carpet Inn, checked in for 2 nights, all OK so far. Good WiFi connection & restaurant on site, bus stop a cpl hundred feet away.
On board
With the Captain, entrance to the View Lounge. The nights special is 2 for 1 drinks. They also have the right idea, you buy one drink for $7, keep the plastic glass & get refills for $4. I even found a good drink - coffee, ice cream & chocolate for $4 or 2 for $4 at Meet the Captain night.
Exiting West Palm Beach harbour, a narrow passage with this neat beach
At dock, West Palm Beach looking towards downtown
Here we are, just off the shipWhile I sat with my sore calf muscles Sheila whooped it up on the View Lounge dance floor. This video was taken with Sheila's new camera, hand held by me so it is a bit unsteady at times.
At the resort, Grand Bahamas Island
Sheila in one of the curved pools winding through the resort
Me, admiring the pools clear, cool, water
At the lunch buffet restaurant, neat decore
Sheila in another resort pool, right on the beach, swim up bar on the right
Sheila in the water at the resort beach
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
to Florida Mar 23
On route to Florida - Mar 23 - Blogging to you from 34,000
feet. We are about 2 hours out of Phoenix headed east. Our
day started OK, we got away from GVP, got the RV stored OK,
& off down the hwy to the airport. Arrived, parked, got
shuttle to US Airways terminal, we were next at the check in
line & to the gate with about an hour to flight time. They
announced that due to a full aircraft they would do courtesy
checked baggage to help eliminate carry-ons so we did our
2nd checked bag, (1st one was $25.00), and started to board
at 12:10 for our 12:40 departure. Then the pilot came on to
say they had discovered a very small cut or nick in one of
the tires & needed to have it checked out by a maintenance
mechanic. Well after numerous announcements that all would
be ready in "minutes" we finally pulled out of the gate at
1:35 & took off @ 1:45. Our connection in Phoenix is supposed
to take off at 3:00. We land at 2:40 but there is no one to
man the exit ramp gate to move it to the plane, off finally
at 3:00 at gate 13, walked 15 feet to gate 14 to the line
already boarding our flight to Fort Lauderdale. It pulled
away from the gate at 3:15 and we were down the runway &
wheels up by 3:30. We didn't get to obtain any food at the
airport as was the plan so we had to buy on board. We were
back in row 25 and they started serving from the front &
were out of Sheila & my selections by the time they got
here. Second choice had to do. They do provide free pop &
coffee still. Note to Adeline, your laptop works fine at
34,000 feet. We arrived Fort Lauderdale with a bang,
literally, it was a hard landing, just a big bang though, no
problems. Touchdown at 7:05 our time 10:05 local time. Took
a cab to the "bargain" hotel we were offered at a low rate
if we listen to their presentation, the special rate they
offered was $49.00 total for two nights. They didn't
mention the $15.00 a night room tax and the fact that it was
a $45.00 cab ride from the airport. The regular rate on this
Remada Inn is $125.00 a night, incl tax, so it is about half
price, (we pay out $124.00). The Red Carpet Inn we booked
for the 2 nights for our return trip is $146.00 for the 2
nights total and is about a $5.00 cab fare from the airport,
and we don't have to waste time listening to some time share
sales pitch. At least this Remada has WiFi so I am posting
this tonight. More to follow sooner or later.
feet. We are about 2 hours out of Phoenix headed east. Our
day started OK, we got away from GVP, got the RV stored OK,
& off down the hwy to the airport. Arrived, parked, got
shuttle to US Airways terminal, we were next at the check in
line & to the gate with about an hour to flight time. They
announced that due to a full aircraft they would do courtesy
checked baggage to help eliminate carry-ons so we did our
2nd checked bag, (1st one was $25.00), and started to board
at 12:10 for our 12:40 departure. Then the pilot came on to
say they had discovered a very small cut or nick in one of
the tires & needed to have it checked out by a maintenance
mechanic. Well after numerous announcements that all would
be ready in "minutes" we finally pulled out of the gate at
1:35 & took off @ 1:45. Our connection in Phoenix is supposed
to take off at 3:00. We land at 2:40 but there is no one to
man the exit ramp gate to move it to the plane, off finally
at 3:00 at gate 13, walked 15 feet to gate 14 to the line
already boarding our flight to Fort Lauderdale. It pulled
away from the gate at 3:15 and we were down the runway &
wheels up by 3:30. We didn't get to obtain any food at the
airport as was the plan so we had to buy on board. We were
back in row 25 and they started serving from the front &
were out of Sheila & my selections by the time they got
here. Second choice had to do. They do provide free pop &
coffee still. Note to Adeline, your laptop works fine at
34,000 feet. We arrived Fort Lauderdale with a bang,
literally, it was a hard landing, just a big bang though, no
problems. Touchdown at 7:05 our time 10:05 local time. Took
a cab to the "bargain" hotel we were offered at a low rate
if we listen to their presentation, the special rate they
offered was $49.00 total for two nights. They didn't
mention the $15.00 a night room tax and the fact that it was
a $45.00 cab ride from the airport. The regular rate on this
Remada Inn is $125.00 a night, incl tax, so it is about half
price, (we pay out $124.00). The Red Carpet Inn we booked
for the 2 nights for our return trip is $146.00 for the 2
nights total and is about a $5.00 cab fare from the airport,
and we don't have to waste time listening to some time share
sales pitch. At least this Remada has WiFi so I am posting
this tonight. More to follow sooner or later.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Mar 19 - 22
March 19-22
Friday nights play, "The Love List" turned out to be great. We liked it probably the best of the 3 we've seen.
Sat after VB Sheila went out shopping again and when she returned I finally got to go on the roof to do the caulking for the minor water leak that developed. I'm pretty sure I found & resealed the spot. It was at the top left rear courner. I have also added sealer to both rear courners top to bottom & around the rear window. I put a lot of sealing goop in & around the top courner, so now we wait for a rain storm & find out if I got all the spots. We BBQ'd supper & ate outside in the nice weather. It has often been warm enough to eat outside but until DST kicked in it always was getting dark too early. We are off to the dance with Rockin' Rhonda. We were late getting there & it's a good thing we had seats saved by Gerry & Sheila as it was jambed full. Rhonda's group comprises a fantastic keyboard player, drummer, bass guitar & Rhonda plays guitar. They had the dance floor full doing the twist and good ol' rock & roll as well as several line dance numbers.
Sun after VB we went out to the KFC buffet for lunch. For $7.79 (seniors price) you have a choice of 3 kinds of chicken, grilled, original & crispy plus a lasagna, another pasta dish, vegetables, mashed potatoes with 2 kinds of gravy, salad stuff & dessert of apple cobbler, vanilla pudding, various fruits, canned & fresh it also included your drink from the self serve fountain. After that we drove down to Temecula Old Town where the Blue Grass festival was on. They had groups playing on the streets plus a main stage set up which had chairs on grass so we sat there, all free. They also had groups playing in the theatre - A/C & with nice seats. Sheila saw one group advertised that she wanted to see so she paid $5.00 to go in. She talked me into joining her later & I did but I thought the outdoor free groups were just as good as the indoor ones. We found Gerry & Sheila at the free stage. We got there about 3PM & after it all ended at 6PM we all went back to the Souplantation for a late supper.
It's Monday, our last VB day, we said good by, see you next year to everyone. Neva, a 6 month resident took several people's emails so she could keep people updated on happenings here. Next is packing to head out early Tues to store the RV & drive to the airport. We will take the laptop so if I find WiFi I may be able to post to the blog before we return, if not I will be able to add stuff for a massive trip report blog upon return. I played in the Monday crib tourny while Sheila packed & watched dancing with the stars. I won top prise again but due to only 8 people there I only won $3, (of which $1 was entrance fee), once I won $6.00. It's now 11PM & Sheila is almost finished packing, she didn't want me to pack as she dosen't like they way I pack. It's taken a lot of practice to reach this point!!!!
Friday nights play, "The Love List" turned out to be great. We liked it probably the best of the 3 we've seen.
Sat after VB Sheila went out shopping again and when she returned I finally got to go on the roof to do the caulking for the minor water leak that developed. I'm pretty sure I found & resealed the spot. It was at the top left rear courner. I have also added sealer to both rear courners top to bottom & around the rear window. I put a lot of sealing goop in & around the top courner, so now we wait for a rain storm & find out if I got all the spots. We BBQ'd supper & ate outside in the nice weather. It has often been warm enough to eat outside but until DST kicked in it always was getting dark too early. We are off to the dance with Rockin' Rhonda. We were late getting there & it's a good thing we had seats saved by Gerry & Sheila as it was jambed full. Rhonda's group comprises a fantastic keyboard player, drummer, bass guitar & Rhonda plays guitar. They had the dance floor full doing the twist and good ol' rock & roll as well as several line dance numbers.
Sun after VB we went out to the KFC buffet for lunch. For $7.79 (seniors price) you have a choice of 3 kinds of chicken, grilled, original & crispy plus a lasagna, another pasta dish, vegetables, mashed potatoes with 2 kinds of gravy, salad stuff & dessert of apple cobbler, vanilla pudding, various fruits, canned & fresh it also included your drink from the self serve fountain. After that we drove down to Temecula Old Town where the Blue Grass festival was on. They had groups playing on the streets plus a main stage set up which had chairs on grass so we sat there, all free. They also had groups playing in the theatre - A/C & with nice seats. Sheila saw one group advertised that she wanted to see so she paid $5.00 to go in. She talked me into joining her later & I did but I thought the outdoor free groups were just as good as the indoor ones. We found Gerry & Sheila at the free stage. We got there about 3PM & after it all ended at 6PM we all went back to the Souplantation for a late supper.
It's Monday, our last VB day, we said good by, see you next year to everyone. Neva, a 6 month resident took several people's emails so she could keep people updated on happenings here. Next is packing to head out early Tues to store the RV & drive to the airport. We will take the laptop so if I find WiFi I may be able to post to the blog before we return, if not I will be able to add stuff for a massive trip report blog upon return. I played in the Monday crib tourny while Sheila packed & watched dancing with the stars. I won top prise again but due to only 8 people there I only won $3, (of which $1 was entrance fee), once I won $6.00. It's now 11PM & Sheila is almost finished packing, she didn't want me to pack as she dosen't like they way I pack. It's taken a lot of practice to reach this point!!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
March 17 - 19
Mar 17 - 19
Today, Wed. March 17, we went to a Best Buy to get Sheila a new camera like the one Michael has that she can use easier & not take blurry pictures all the time. While she was looking at cameras I wandered around looking at small TV's suitable for the RV and the wall mount type brackets to see how they worked. Then I saw a large TV, over 40 inches, maybe 50, and the picture was not all that clear. Then I saw some glasses beside an easy chair & the sign - 3D TV!!!!!!! I sat down, put the glasses on & it was unbelievable, 3D just like in the movies. The film was that animated one about the girl that gets super powers & they lock her away with 3 other "monsters" - a blob, a cockroach, (I think), & a kind of prehistoric fish lizard thing, it also had a giant caterpiller or something. I forgot the title, Ken & I saw it together. Anyway the 3D effect was very, very good. I talked to the salesperson and he said they just got them in a few months ago so I'll bet the Canadian Best Buy may not have even heard of them. You do need a special TV, blue ray player, the 3D glasses, which are hard wired to something, and a blu ray 3D movie disc. The TV was on at around $2600.00 and they said the glasses are $140 a pair, plus there's your blu ray player. Still, for around $3,000 or so you can watch 3D movies on your TV.
By the time we had got away from GVP & down to the Best Buy in Murrietta and bought the camera it was supper time so we just had to go back to the Souplantation for another nummy meal. I'm not sure if it was a plot by Sheila to get taken out for supper but fortunatly it worked. It was hot today,80F, (28C), we used the A/C driving down & back.
Oh, & the camera Sheila did buy is an Olympus stylus tough 6020, it is apparantly waterproof to 16 feet, shock proof if dropped from 5 feet, dust proof, has 14 mega pixles, & it says HD movie for the video part.
Thursday arrived hot & sunny again. After our VB regular noon finish a few of us played VB for another 45 mins before retiring to the hot tub & then lunch. We have our storage for the RV booked for a week (8 days) at a local mobil home park for only $20.00 and Sheila went off to pay them, get the storage gate combo & do a little shopping. We BBQ'd supper and I went off to Mex Trains but Sheila said she was tired & had emails to read & deal with. I returned from Mex Trains to find her & the car gone. She wasn't too tired to go shopping again!
Fri I took the camera to test it at VB & then to see if I could download pictures to the Laptop. I didn't buy a memory card as we have one in our old camera, one in my phone & one in the picture viewer, something must fit!. The phone card fit into an adapter & I could put it into the camera. I have no idea how many pictures it will hold but as I actually figured out how to download to the computer we can use it & download every day or so. My next problem is that the instruction manual is in the internal memory of the camera & a message comes on screen to hook it to a PC, which I did but nothing happened & I have no idea how to access the instructions. Maybe have to go back to Best Buy to find out how.
Tonight we (me & Sheila, Gerri & Sheila) are going to the dinner show of "The Love List" comedy play. We've seen 2 other plays by the same group and enjoyed them both. More on the play next post.
Today, Wed. March 17, we went to a Best Buy to get Sheila a new camera like the one Michael has that she can use easier & not take blurry pictures all the time. While she was looking at cameras I wandered around looking at small TV's suitable for the RV and the wall mount type brackets to see how they worked. Then I saw a large TV, over 40 inches, maybe 50, and the picture was not all that clear. Then I saw some glasses beside an easy chair & the sign - 3D TV!!!!!!! I sat down, put the glasses on & it was unbelievable, 3D just like in the movies. The film was that animated one about the girl that gets super powers & they lock her away with 3 other "monsters" - a blob, a cockroach, (I think), & a kind of prehistoric fish lizard thing, it also had a giant caterpiller or something. I forgot the title, Ken & I saw it together. Anyway the 3D effect was very, very good. I talked to the salesperson and he said they just got them in a few months ago so I'll bet the Canadian Best Buy may not have even heard of them. You do need a special TV, blue ray player, the 3D glasses, which are hard wired to something, and a blu ray 3D movie disc. The TV was on at around $2600.00 and they said the glasses are $140 a pair, plus there's your blu ray player. Still, for around $3,000 or so you can watch 3D movies on your TV.
By the time we had got away from GVP & down to the Best Buy in Murrietta and bought the camera it was supper time so we just had to go back to the Souplantation for another nummy meal. I'm not sure if it was a plot by Sheila to get taken out for supper but fortunatly it worked. It was hot today,80F, (28C), we used the A/C driving down & back.
Oh, & the camera Sheila did buy is an Olympus stylus tough 6020, it is apparantly waterproof to 16 feet, shock proof if dropped from 5 feet, dust proof, has 14 mega pixles, & it says HD movie for the video part.
Thursday arrived hot & sunny again. After our VB regular noon finish a few of us played VB for another 45 mins before retiring to the hot tub & then lunch. We have our storage for the RV booked for a week (8 days) at a local mobil home park for only $20.00 and Sheila went off to pay them, get the storage gate combo & do a little shopping. We BBQ'd supper and I went off to Mex Trains but Sheila said she was tired & had emails to read & deal with. I returned from Mex Trains to find her & the car gone. She wasn't too tired to go shopping again!
Fri I took the camera to test it at VB & then to see if I could download pictures to the Laptop. I didn't buy a memory card as we have one in our old camera, one in my phone & one in the picture viewer, something must fit!. The phone card fit into an adapter & I could put it into the camera. I have no idea how many pictures it will hold but as I actually figured out how to download to the computer we can use it & download every day or so. My next problem is that the instruction manual is in the internal memory of the camera & a message comes on screen to hook it to a PC, which I did but nothing happened & I have no idea how to access the instructions. Maybe have to go back to Best Buy to find out how.
Tonight we (me & Sheila, Gerri & Sheila) are going to the dinner show of "The Love List" comedy play. We've seen 2 other plays by the same group and enjoyed them both. More on the play next post.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
March 14-16
Mar 14 - 16
The Chinese restaurant is called Mr You's. For future reference it is up Sanderson at Esplanade in the big Mall on the right. It is a counter service place and they use those big square take out boxes for the food. The price for rice, chow mein & 1 entree was $4.69, 2 entree's $5.69 & 3 emtree's $6.69. The rice and chow mein portions were huge, then they piled the entree(s) on top. Sheila picked a teriaki chicken as 1 of her entree's & they pulled out this full breast of chicken then cut it up with a cleaver. It was all they could do to close the take out box, what a deal!! Need less to say we brought some home, Sheila had probably 1/2 left over. Sunday eve instead of Bridge we went to hear Erma, (one of the VB players), singing in the ballroom, she does gospel stuff & Sheila really wanted to hear her.
Monday was our usual VB, lunch, music routine and over for the crib tournament in the eve. I got the booby prize, second week in a row, so I got my $1.00 back. The weather is finally what it should be, hot & sunny, (as opposed to warmish & sunny). The local full timers & long term residents have been saying this has been the maybe the worst winter ever for cool temps & rain.
Tuesday we set out on our bicycles for our last bike to breakfast ride. We went to 7 Hills Golf club. Their breakfast special of 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, (or bacon), 2 pancakes was $3.49. Sheila had the biscuits & gravy, (it tastes better than it sounds), for $2.99. With the restaurant prices down here it's a wonder we ever eat in our RV at all, but then food prices are equally cheap. We were late getting back for VB so a few people wanted to play after the noon finish time so a few of us played to 1:00. Then had lunch at the Cabana & listened to Angela singing. The performers start at 11AM so we listen to them as we are playing VB in the pool, it's great playing to music.
After ploughing through Expedia on the weekend & yesterday I had finally found a motel with 24 hr shuttle to FLL for our return trip. Rather than book on-line Sheila wanted to phone to double check the shuttle thing. Well, first thing the booking guy says is ignore anything on the internet re 24 hr shuttle, it doesn't start till 5AM, we fly out at 6AM. So after a while they get another place that is reasonable, (nothing has a shuttle at 4AM other than maybe the $100 plus a night places), so she settles for something called the Red Carpet Inn, 4 miles from the airport at around $60 a night more or less not including hotel etc. taxes of around $15 or more a night.
After all that it is now late afternoon, it is 80F, (27C), in the RV so we have the fan on & windows open & Sheila went out to get some pre-prepared ready to eat salads at WinCo. We have a date with Gerry & Sheila to play the "Sticks" game tonight. Gerry emailed me the directions so we can set it up when we return. The only equipment is several decks of cards and about 50 sticks which are tongue depressors that I will have to put writing on for what you have to make from your hand of cards. I've played it but Sheila hasn't, my Sheila that is.
Wed plan is to go down to a Best Buy in Murrietta, (20 miles), as Sheila wants to get another digital camera like Michael & Adeline have that has a big display and is easier to use and has a longer lasting battery. More on that next post.
The Chinese restaurant is called Mr You's. For future reference it is up Sanderson at Esplanade in the big Mall on the right. It is a counter service place and they use those big square take out boxes for the food. The price for rice, chow mein & 1 entree was $4.69, 2 entree's $5.69 & 3 emtree's $6.69. The rice and chow mein portions were huge, then they piled the entree(s) on top. Sheila picked a teriaki chicken as 1 of her entree's & they pulled out this full breast of chicken then cut it up with a cleaver. It was all they could do to close the take out box, what a deal!! Need less to say we brought some home, Sheila had probably 1/2 left over. Sunday eve instead of Bridge we went to hear Erma, (one of the VB players), singing in the ballroom, she does gospel stuff & Sheila really wanted to hear her.
Monday was our usual VB, lunch, music routine and over for the crib tournament in the eve. I got the booby prize, second week in a row, so I got my $1.00 back. The weather is finally what it should be, hot & sunny, (as opposed to warmish & sunny). The local full timers & long term residents have been saying this has been the maybe the worst winter ever for cool temps & rain.
Tuesday we set out on our bicycles for our last bike to breakfast ride. We went to 7 Hills Golf club. Their breakfast special of 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, (or bacon), 2 pancakes was $3.49. Sheila had the biscuits & gravy, (it tastes better than it sounds), for $2.99. With the restaurant prices down here it's a wonder we ever eat in our RV at all, but then food prices are equally cheap. We were late getting back for VB so a few people wanted to play after the noon finish time so a few of us played to 1:00. Then had lunch at the Cabana & listened to Angela singing. The performers start at 11AM so we listen to them as we are playing VB in the pool, it's great playing to music.
After ploughing through Expedia on the weekend & yesterday I had finally found a motel with 24 hr shuttle to FLL for our return trip. Rather than book on-line Sheila wanted to phone to double check the shuttle thing. Well, first thing the booking guy says is ignore anything on the internet re 24 hr shuttle, it doesn't start till 5AM, we fly out at 6AM. So after a while they get another place that is reasonable, (nothing has a shuttle at 4AM other than maybe the $100 plus a night places), so she settles for something called the Red Carpet Inn, 4 miles from the airport at around $60 a night more or less not including hotel etc. taxes of around $15 or more a night.
After all that it is now late afternoon, it is 80F, (27C), in the RV so we have the fan on & windows open & Sheila went out to get some pre-prepared ready to eat salads at WinCo. We have a date with Gerry & Sheila to play the "Sticks" game tonight. Gerry emailed me the directions so we can set it up when we return. The only equipment is several decks of cards and about 50 sticks which are tongue depressors that I will have to put writing on for what you have to make from your hand of cards. I've played it but Sheila hasn't, my Sheila that is.
Wed plan is to go down to a Best Buy in Murrietta, (20 miles), as Sheila wants to get another digital camera like Michael & Adeline have that has a big display and is easier to use and has a longer lasting battery. More on that next post.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Continuing with the Horse Racing eve. It was lots of fun, they gave us $130,000.00 "play" money to bet & buy a horse if we wanted. If you were a horse owner & he won, placed, or showed you won extra over what you may have bet, (10,000 for a win). You could bet up to 3 horses per race. At the end of the race they threw a die with numbers & if a winning horse number came up he was disqualified. I lost 80,000 in winnings when this happened to my horses. At the end of the evening the 3 top earners each won a bottle of wine. The top 3 were all over a million with over 2 mil for the grand winner, all with 130,000 starting money. They had profiles of the horses available so you could see how they did etc.
The weather is finally getting into the HOT category. Lots of people comeing out for water volley ball.
On Friday after a great VB session we made arrangements to go down to Temecula with Gerry & Sheila for the car show in Old Town Temecula. We left around 5, got there to find they had the main street in Old Town closed off for cruising. The street for several blocks had hot rods, antique, modified, & classic cars parked along the side and they also had them cruising up & down the road pretty much running bumper to bumper there were so many. We wandered up & down for almost 2 hours enjoying the sights & sounds of the cars. I've never seen so many neat old cars in one place before. I will try to add one or two pictures. I didn't take many as it was dark by 5:30 so was not good for taking pictures. After we went to a place called Souplantation which is a buffet type place. It has a long salad bar with many many choices then they have 5 or 6 different types of soup,the new england clam chowder was certainly one of the best I've ever had if not the best, 2 or 3 pastas,the mushroom Alfredo was my favorite, several types of breads, including 2 delicious Focasia types, and desert - a frozen yogurt dispenser, toppings, jello which really had a good flavour and an apple dish. As usual we left the restaurant stuffed. Souplantation is located on Ynez street (ave?) in a large mall across the road from the large mall that has Trader Joe's.
On Sat after a lovely warm to hot start to the day & a great VB game the wind started to gust a bit early PM & it got quite cooler. I spent the afternoon on the computer trying to find a motel/hotel in Fort Lauderdale for the 2 nights after we get off the boat. Because we have to fly out at 6AM I want to find one with a shuttle to the airport and also that is not to pricey. Once I find one I'll book it from here. In the eve we went to the dance with Rainbow Cottage. The dances go from 7 to 10so we have time after to catch up on emails, joournal writing & sometime a TV show we have recorded from earlier. It is late Sat night & we still haven't found time to watch Numbers from Fri night.
Sun morning and it is sunny & warm early, went over to the VB pool to discover it was full of people at only 9:55. Then we discovered that it was now daylight saveing time, we were an hour late! So we played a little 4 on 4 after the official noon finish until 12:30. Back to the RV for lunch. At the dance last night Sheila got the name of a Chinese restaurant near by that was highly recomended so I guess we are going out for supper tonight
The weather is finally getting into the HOT category. Lots of people comeing out for water volley ball.
On Friday after a great VB session we made arrangements to go down to Temecula with Gerry & Sheila for the car show in Old Town Temecula. We left around 5, got there to find they had the main street in Old Town closed off for cruising. The street for several blocks had hot rods, antique, modified, & classic cars parked along the side and they also had them cruising up & down the road pretty much running bumper to bumper there were so many. We wandered up & down for almost 2 hours enjoying the sights & sounds of the cars. I've never seen so many neat old cars in one place before. I will try to add one or two pictures. I didn't take many as it was dark by 5:30 so was not good for taking pictures. After we went to a place called Souplantation which is a buffet type place. It has a long salad bar with many many choices then they have 5 or 6 different types of soup,the new england clam chowder was certainly one of the best I've ever had if not the best, 2 or 3 pastas,the mushroom Alfredo was my favorite, several types of breads, including 2 delicious Focasia types, and desert - a frozen yogurt dispenser, toppings, jello which really had a good flavour and an apple dish. As usual we left the restaurant stuffed. Souplantation is located on Ynez street (ave?) in a large mall across the road from the large mall that has Trader Joe's.
On Sat after a lovely warm to hot start to the day & a great VB game the wind started to gust a bit early PM & it got quite cooler. I spent the afternoon on the computer trying to find a motel/hotel in Fort Lauderdale for the 2 nights after we get off the boat. Because we have to fly out at 6AM I want to find one with a shuttle to the airport and also that is not to pricey. Once I find one I'll book it from here. In the eve we went to the dance with Rainbow Cottage. The dances go from 7 to 10so we have time after to catch up on emails, joournal writing & sometime a TV show we have recorded from earlier. It is late Sat night & we still haven't found time to watch Numbers from Fri night.
Sun morning and it is sunny & warm early, went over to the VB pool to discover it was full of people at only 9:55. Then we discovered that it was now daylight saveing time, we were an hour late! So we played a little 4 on 4 after the official noon finish until 12:30. Back to the RV for lunch. At the dance last night Sheila got the name of a Chinese restaurant near by that was highly recomended so I guess we are going out for supper tonight
Temecula Car Show
One of the antique vehicles parked.
A work in progress. It looked like it was a real old time dog catcher truck. The one behind was done up as a fishing expidition car. I had to use flash & I don't have any programs to lighten the image to see more, they all went in the crash.
This fancy hot rod was one of the best we saw. The car just beside it is one of the cruisers goinf down the road.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
March 4 - 10
Our usual activities took up most of the days, water volley ball, crib tournies, Tuesdays bicycle to breakfast outing, Mex trains, shuffleboard, eating & listening to music. The weather is staying below normal & we did get some rain the other day.
We went to AAA about booking flights to Fort Lauderdale for Sheila's booked mini cruises & found out that they don't book flights only as a service but charge $35 per ticket/person because with all the internet booking sites the airlines will not pay agents anything for booking only flights anymore. So, reluctantly, I went on-line, got confused by the proliferation of sites as some seemed to be sites to pick sites to book. I went to Expedia which I had heard of and after a lot of rigamorole, confusion & major waiting for the computer to move from one screen to the other. I booked some flights. It then said check back in 24 hours to see if it is confirmed. That involved more waiting for information screens to open & then process my itinerary number. Maybe it is quicker on wired internet conections but on wireless it is s l o w. I also found out that what day of the week you fly is very relevant for the price. Tues, Wed, are the cheap days. Also Easter is early April so flying on April 1 or April 2, (good Friday), or even later, is not reasonable, (like over $100.00 more each). However what we have is as follows:
Fly out of Ontario airport, (ONT), in Riverside, (an hours drive away) on Mar 23 on US Airways flight 1552 at 12:40PM to Phoenix at 1:53PM where we change to US Airways flight 185 out at 3PM and finally arrive in Fort Lauderdale, (FLL), their time at 10:06PM. (Time zones add 3 hours to the time, it'll be about 8PM for us).
The return is on Mar 31 out of FLL at 6:00AM on Continental 1649 to Houston at 7:50AM then out on Continental 1723 at 9:45AM arriving ONT 11:25AM.
We could have gotten a 8:45 AM departure from FLL but that would have cost about $50.00 more per ticket. As it was the flights weren't too bad, $300.80 to fly east & $307.80 to fly west for both of us. To fly out of Palm Springs airport would have been a lot more money per ticket.
We also found out that airlines now charge per checked bag, $25-$35 each, they don't serve any meals, but you can buy food. One airline quoted drinks at $2 & snacks at $7 - note that they said snacks, not a meal for $7. I wonder what other fees etc. are out there we don't know about yet.
The cruise thing worked out OK in that we board ship on the 24th, then out to Bahamas & back, get off & an hour later get on again for a second mini cruise to a different part of the Bahamas. I think we are back on the 29th. The cruises go out of Port of Palm Beach, 47 miles north of Fort Lauderdale. However there is a West Coast Express type comuter train that runs all day with about an hour between trips & cost under $6.00 one way. The stops are located just a short cab ride from hotels & the ship dock.
We still need to find a hotel for the night of the 30th that has a shuttle to the airport for the 6AM departure for which we will have to be there by around 4AM or so, yuk!
So the plan is to drive out of the RV Park on the 23rd morning putting the RV in storage somewhere, drive the car to ONT, park in long term, which seems to be about $10.00 per day. Then when we return drive the car, get the RV & find somewhere for that night.
We spent this afternoon, (Wed), playing pegs & jokers with Sheila/Gerry & Sally/Fred & us. This evening there is a Horse Raceing evening in the ballroom. You are given play money to buy or bet on horses and the actual races are real races on a TV screen, (from a CD or tape). It's BYOB & finger food to share with your table, sounds like fun.
The forecast is for improving weather from now through the weekend into next week, I hope so. Everyone is saying this is the worst winter they have had here in years. It's still nicer than being at home but I would like a bit more hot sun.
We went to AAA about booking flights to Fort Lauderdale for Sheila's booked mini cruises & found out that they don't book flights only as a service but charge $35 per ticket/person because with all the internet booking sites the airlines will not pay agents anything for booking only flights anymore. So, reluctantly, I went on-line, got confused by the proliferation of sites as some seemed to be sites to pick sites to book. I went to Expedia which I had heard of and after a lot of rigamorole, confusion & major waiting for the computer to move from one screen to the other. I booked some flights. It then said check back in 24 hours to see if it is confirmed. That involved more waiting for information screens to open & then process my itinerary number. Maybe it is quicker on wired internet conections but on wireless it is s l o w. I also found out that what day of the week you fly is very relevant for the price. Tues, Wed, are the cheap days. Also Easter is early April so flying on April 1 or April 2, (good Friday), or even later, is not reasonable, (like over $100.00 more each). However what we have is as follows:
Fly out of Ontario airport, (ONT), in Riverside, (an hours drive away) on Mar 23 on US Airways flight 1552 at 12:40PM to Phoenix at 1:53PM where we change to US Airways flight 185 out at 3PM and finally arrive in Fort Lauderdale, (FLL), their time at 10:06PM. (Time zones add 3 hours to the time, it'll be about 8PM for us).
The return is on Mar 31 out of FLL at 6:00AM on Continental 1649 to Houston at 7:50AM then out on Continental 1723 at 9:45AM arriving ONT 11:25AM.
We could have gotten a 8:45 AM departure from FLL but that would have cost about $50.00 more per ticket. As it was the flights weren't too bad, $300.80 to fly east & $307.80 to fly west for both of us. To fly out of Palm Springs airport would have been a lot more money per ticket.
We also found out that airlines now charge per checked bag, $25-$35 each, they don't serve any meals, but you can buy food. One airline quoted drinks at $2 & snacks at $7 - note that they said snacks, not a meal for $7. I wonder what other fees etc. are out there we don't know about yet.
The cruise thing worked out OK in that we board ship on the 24th, then out to Bahamas & back, get off & an hour later get on again for a second mini cruise to a different part of the Bahamas. I think we are back on the 29th. The cruises go out of Port of Palm Beach, 47 miles north of Fort Lauderdale. However there is a West Coast Express type comuter train that runs all day with about an hour between trips & cost under $6.00 one way. The stops are located just a short cab ride from hotels & the ship dock.
We still need to find a hotel for the night of the 30th that has a shuttle to the airport for the 6AM departure for which we will have to be there by around 4AM or so, yuk!
So the plan is to drive out of the RV Park on the 23rd morning putting the RV in storage somewhere, drive the car to ONT, park in long term, which seems to be about $10.00 per day. Then when we return drive the car, get the RV & find somewhere for that night.
We spent this afternoon, (Wed), playing pegs & jokers with Sheila/Gerry & Sally/Fred & us. This evening there is a Horse Raceing evening in the ballroom. You are given play money to buy or bet on horses and the actual races are real races on a TV screen, (from a CD or tape). It's BYOB & finger food to share with your table, sounds like fun.
The forecast is for improving weather from now through the weekend into next week, I hope so. Everyone is saying this is the worst winter they have had here in years. It's still nicer than being at home but I would like a bit more hot sun.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Tues Mar 2 to Wed Mar 3
On Tuesday I got set for Sheila's return, filled up with propane, (tank took 12 US gallons so was quite empty), tidied up inside, & made the bed for the first time since she left.
Wed I played VB and went to listen to music & have lunch as usual but I couldn't sit still for long so went back to RV & got set up to meet her at Palm Springs airport. She had said she now had curly hair & was feeling tired so I might not recognise her. Therefore I got a large piece of cardboard & printed her name on it to hold up for arriveing passengers so that I wouldn't miss her. It worked, she found me. We headed off to Morongo Casino just off hwy 10 west of Palm Springs. They had a special for new "Winners Club" card members, we got 50% off a lunch buffet. They said to hurry down as it was now 4:15 & lunch stopped at 4:30. So we got in for half off lunch buffet just as the dinner prices were to start, we got the dinner selection too. It worked out great as lunch was $10 each & dinner $15 so we paid $10 for the both of us & got dinner selection. We finally waddled out around 6:00 and headed back to GVP where the Peter & Mary Show was to start at 7:00. A British couple doing songs, music, & comedy which went to 9:00. They asked if any birthdays today & Sheila put her hand up so the room sang her happy birthday, then later they called her up on stage, (and me too), did a magic trick with us both - (Peter was tying 2 scarfs together then had Sheila take the tied end & tuck it down her shirt front. Then me & Peter each pulled on a scarf end and it came out of her blouse with a bra atttached). They said for her birthday she won a prize of one of their music CD's and Sheila bought another one, we though they were quite good. After the show it was back to RV for a bit of TV & that ended the day.
Wed I played VB and went to listen to music & have lunch as usual but I couldn't sit still for long so went back to RV & got set up to meet her at Palm Springs airport. She had said she now had curly hair & was feeling tired so I might not recognise her. Therefore I got a large piece of cardboard & printed her name on it to hold up for arriveing passengers so that I wouldn't miss her. It worked, she found me. We headed off to Morongo Casino just off hwy 10 west of Palm Springs. They had a special for new "Winners Club" card members, we got 50% off a lunch buffet. They said to hurry down as it was now 4:15 & lunch stopped at 4:30. So we got in for half off lunch buffet just as the dinner prices were to start, we got the dinner selection too. It worked out great as lunch was $10 each & dinner $15 so we paid $10 for the both of us & got dinner selection. We finally waddled out around 6:00 and headed back to GVP where the Peter & Mary Show was to start at 7:00. A British couple doing songs, music, & comedy which went to 9:00. They asked if any birthdays today & Sheila put her hand up so the room sang her happy birthday, then later they called her up on stage, (and me too), did a magic trick with us both - (Peter was tying 2 scarfs together then had Sheila take the tied end & tuck it down her shirt front. Then me & Peter each pulled on a scarf end and it came out of her blouse with a bra atttached). They said for her birthday she won a prize of one of their music CD's and Sheila bought another one, we though they were quite good. After the show it was back to RV for a bit of TV & that ended the day.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday Feb 28 2010
A day to remember, Canada wins Mens Gold in hockey after a very exciting game to match the Womens Gold winning game. We also took Gold in the Mens curling but I didn't see the game. And Canada now has 14 Gold Medals, to take top spot in number of Gold Medals ever won by any country in a Winter Olympics. We were tied at 13 Gold Medals with 2 other countrys, now we are the top.
It was a great weather day, sunny & clear after yesterday & last nights rain storm. We had a great VB game, splitting into 2 pools. I got back to the RV 1 min after the start of the game & watched the first period in the RV, then over to the Big TV in the clubhouse where there was quite a excited crowd of Canadaian & US supporters. Everyone stood & sang for the anthem at the medal ceremony.
It was a great weather day, sunny & clear after yesterday & last nights rain storm. We had a great VB game, splitting into 2 pools. I got back to the RV 1 min after the start of the game & watched the first period in the RV, then over to the Big TV in the clubhouse where there was quite a excited crowd of Canadaian & US supporters. Everyone stood & sang for the anthem at the medal ceremony.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Fri/Sat Feb 26/27
Fri started with the usual VB, Cabana lunch & music. Spent the afternoon looking up flight times for our Florida trip then after supper it was shuffleboard with an ice cream break between games provided by George & Wayne the organizers. Then back for Olympic TV & more computer time looking at flights etc. It was a nice warm day but big storm forcast for to-night.
Sat I woke to rain around 8, rolled over & slept till 10:30. There were also some strong wind gusts. Decided to do laundry & some shopping. Rain returned off & on. When I came out of Target it was raining a normal Vancouver type rain, not too hard, and people are standing in the doorway not going out, waiting with their shoppping carts for the rain to stop I guess. The rest of Sat will be some interior cleaning & TV. The Olympics isn't quite over but right now Canada has more gold medals than anyone else and no matter what happens on Sunday we can't be surpast in overall total gold medals. I'd say the "own the podium" program worked well. I saw the team pursuit gold win. The hockey game is on at noon all time zones live. I don't know when they will show the closeing on Sunday but after the opening delayed start I have signed me & Sally up for Bridge at 6:30. I have seen several shows on NBC profiling Canada and today a half hour show on what a great friend & neibour we are & how we really came to help when Sept 11, 2001 grounded aircraft. It was mostly on Gander NF & how they really came through to help over 6,000 stranded passengers, they said that given Ganders pop of 10,000 it was like 6 million people suddenly showed up in NY needing everything. It was the type of show you would expect CTV to produce, not Tom Brokaw of NBC.
Sat I woke to rain around 8, rolled over & slept till 10:30. There were also some strong wind gusts. Decided to do laundry & some shopping. Rain returned off & on. When I came out of Target it was raining a normal Vancouver type rain, not too hard, and people are standing in the doorway not going out, waiting with their shoppping carts for the rain to stop I guess. The rest of Sat will be some interior cleaning & TV. The Olympics isn't quite over but right now Canada has more gold medals than anyone else and no matter what happens on Sunday we can't be surpast in overall total gold medals. I'd say the "own the podium" program worked well. I saw the team pursuit gold win. The hockey game is on at noon all time zones live. I don't know when they will show the closeing on Sunday but after the opening delayed start I have signed me & Sally up for Bridge at 6:30. I have seen several shows on NBC profiling Canada and today a half hour show on what a great friend & neibour we are & how we really came to help when Sept 11, 2001 grounded aircraft. It was mostly on Gander NF & how they really came through to help over 6,000 stranded passengers, they said that given Ganders pop of 10,000 it was like 6 million people suddenly showed up in NY needing everything. It was the type of show you would expect CTV to produce, not Tom Brokaw of NBC.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Fun Night Feb 24, the Volly Ball group table, organized by Neva. From lower left clockwise we have: Sheila, Gerry, Gerri, Ross, Neva, Ralfe, then lower front right is Bob, his wife Cheryl is on his right.
This one shows Cheryl better. The standing lady above Bob's head is Rose. Ross is on Neva's right, me & Neva have the same checkered hats that we wear for VB
Tues/Wed Feb 23/24
Tues was an overcast day so a bit cooler. IHOP for bike breakfast, they were doing a charity thing with the Childrens Hospital where you got a short stack for free, thats three 6 or 7 inch pancakes, for a possible donation. They have a delicious butter pecan syrup too. I ate my stuffed strawberry french toast but had to take my scrambled eggs, sausage & hash browns home for tomorrows breakfast. After it was VB as normal. Then, after hot tubing as I was going to sit & listen to music someone called my name. Turns out it was Pete & Marg from the Hot Springs desert BLM camp that we met there last year, they were in the group with Ed & Doreen. I went out & did my shopping for tomorrows Fun Night, I got a black shirt at the Sally Ann but I couldn't find Cheese Wiz at WinCo so got a medium cheese dip. I got some more cleaning done in the RV. I've finished the back bedroom now, (windows & fantstic fan screen & blades). I watched Olympics & saw the Canadian skater come third in the short skate. (In the Wed LA newspaper she got a full page story & picture on the front of the sports section). The NBC coverage starts tonight at 8 & they bounce between various events and it ends at midnight. Sometimes I don't stay up for the end.
Wed is warmer with lots of sun. I tried the bratwurst at lunch,mmm good. After music ended at 2:00, I went to get my cheese & celery ready. Turns out the medium cheese dip is hotter than I would call medium. I mixed in a bunch of shreeded cheese & cream cheese to "cool" it a bit with limited results so I have lots of chese dip. A lot did get used so I don't have too much left. After filling up on "finger food" we had Dave entertaining with songs, funny poems & jokes. Then Gerri & Ross held a trivia quiz, out of 20 questions our table got 15 right. At the end they said anyone over 12 stand & ours & one other table tood, anyone over 13 & they sat so we won & everyone got a prize, mine was a nice blue rectangle glass nibblies dish, a good addition to the RV. Back to the RV for TV and Olympics. Saw Canada get silver in speed skating womens relay and Canada get the Gold & Silver in womens Bobsled.
Wed is warmer with lots of sun. I tried the bratwurst at lunch,mmm good. After music ended at 2:00, I went to get my cheese & celery ready. Turns out the medium cheese dip is hotter than I would call medium. I mixed in a bunch of shreeded cheese & cream cheese to "cool" it a bit with limited results so I have lots of chese dip. A lot did get used so I don't have too much left. After filling up on "finger food" we had Dave entertaining with songs, funny poems & jokes. Then Gerri & Ross held a trivia quiz, out of 20 questions our table got 15 right. At the end they said anyone over 12 stand & ours & one other table tood, anyone over 13 & they sat so we won & everyone got a prize, mine was a nice blue rectangle glass nibblies dish, a good addition to the RV. Back to the RV for TV and Olympics. Saw Canada get silver in speed skating womens relay and Canada get the Gold & Silver in womens Bobsled.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
GVP's Canada Day and the Valentines Fun Night
The video is from utube. I don't know who filmed it. Of the almost 9 mins it breaks down as follows: 0-12 seconds is people gathering for a group shot, square dancers I think, nothing to do with GVP. 12- 30 seconds is, I think our first Fun Club Night event which was a pot luck where you brought a dish & put it out to form a giant buffet for everyone. They then took pictures of the 12 months with everyone haveing a birthday in the month. Pearl said they're thinking of doing a calander as a fund raiser. 30-1:38 is of Canada Day, with the piping in of the Olympic torch and some shots of the crowd. We aren't in anywhere that I could see. From 1:38 to the end at 8:47 is the second Fun Club Night which was the Valentines Day one on Mon Feb 15, the theme was wear red and it was pot luck for your table, (tables usually seat 8 so bring a dish for 8). What is on screen is the entertainment section, the hat parade with comentary, it was quite fun & funny. I show up in the back ground of some shots in a red shirt mostly in the last half.
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