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.
Friday, March 19, 2010
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.
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