Wed Feb 27 Day 48    54F/12C @ 9AM,    65F/18C @ 10:30,  70F/21C @ 12:30

I woke up feeling almost back to normal, though still a bit tired & loggy, but I will go up to the pool.  I only played about an hour as I started to feel cool so I went to the hot tub for a while then lay on a lounge in the sun.  Back at the RV later we left with Larry & Judy for Temecula, (20 miles south), to have lunch at the Souplantation and to go to Costco to check out prices for stuff we need for the St Patrick’s Day Fun Night event we are helping to put on.  We arrived back home a couple hours before the Rick Morgenstern show tonight.  He did a variety show that we really enjoyed then home for the evenings TV.

Tues. Feb. 26 Day 47   66F/18½C @ 11AM

I didn’t have a good night, I was coughing & wakening up quite often so we didn’t go to the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club & I skipped volleyball.  We are driving to Palm Springs today to attend a free event in the Rancho Mirage Library–- a 90 min. audio/visual presentation on Frank Sinatra.  Because of that, I didn’t want to exert too much energy this morning.  Sheila did go to the pool for a shortened game.  We left GVP about 11:45 & got to the library about 12:45.  The #10 freeway is a marvellous road, wide, smooth, with a slight down grade going east.  I was just cruising along hardly any road noise, my foot barely on the gas when I looked at the GPS - - 91 MPH, that’s over 146 KPH, and I am just keeping up with traffic, passing some & some passing me.   After the Frank Sinatra thing, (what Dave Shaner did was to present Sinatra singing 2 versions of various songs, often recorded years apart, with different arrangements and different musicians/bands performing with him).   It was interesting to hear how different he sounded when singing with the different bands & at different times in his life.  For instance, in the songs he recorded in the 1940’s when he was younger, his voice was much more melodic, but it didn’t have ‘character’ & styling it had when he was twenty years older in the 1960’s.  It was a good program, but we both would have liked to have learned more about his life.   After the program, we went with Lois & Bob over to the Daily Grill for a late lunch. We got in just before the lunch menu switched over to the dinner menu at 4 pm--(more $$).  After eating and talking, we strolled down El Paseo Boulevard looking in all the exclusive stores, - Sak’s 5^th Ave, Louis Vutton, Wolfgang Pucks Pizza Place etc.  We stopped in at a Spice store Lois & Bob had been to before. It had every imaginable spice including some we’d never heard of.  They even have taster bottles so you can shake a tiny bit on your hand and taste it.  Sheila bought some Tomato powder, a vanilla sugar, and a small packet of freeze-dried corn which tastes a bit like sweet, corn-flavoured candy.  We left there about 6 pm & were back at GVP about 7:15.  Sheila went over to Larry & Judy’s to see how Larry had done at Texas Hold’em.  (He stayed in for about 2 hrs. before he went broke, - it’s a $10.00 buy in so that is the max you can lose).  Larry had spent the day checking prices, and organizing for the St. Pat’s Day dinner the four of us are putting on two weeks from now.  We will be staying home again tonight, doing the journal & watching TV.  I am feeling better but still coughing a bit & feeling like I have no energy.

Mon. Feb.  25 Day 46   54F/12C @ 9:15,   63F/16½C @ 10 AM,   66F/19C @ noon

We went up for our daily volleyball game but stopped a bit early because we were going with Larry & Judy to visit Jim & Sue and play Jokers and Pegs with them.  We went over to Wendy’s for lunch first, and in looking at their Value Menu I discovered that someone in the organization is not good at math.  They have an item – 10 chicken nuggets for $5 on their regular menu which comes in ‘spicy’ & ‘regular’ flavours.  On the Value Menu they have 6 nuggets for $1.49 and another line has 4 nuggets for 99 cents.  That’s the same number for half the price!  After lunch, we drove down to the Thousand Trails Park in Menifee, where Jim & Sue live, (they are full timers).  Jim makes the Jokers & Pegs games, I have one of his.  We played three games boys against girls; the girls won two games but the last one only by one peg.  Then we went to the Yellow Basket for supper. It is very nice, and very reasonable. You order at a counter but then they bring everything to the table.  After supper we drove home.  The crib game is on tonight and usually Judy & I go but we missed the start by 5 minutes so we are back to the RV for the evening watching our usual Monday night TV shows.

Sun. Feb. 24 Day 46   52F/11C @ 9AM,   64F/18C @ 12:45 

Off to the pool, and found that the water was a bit cooler today than yesterday, we played anyway.  We came back for lunch in the RV and then Sheila settled in to watch the Oscars while I caught up on computer stuff.  I went out to get some take-out Chinese at a place we found that gives giant portions – the large size Styrofoam take out box jammed full to the lid, overflowing almost – all for $5.99!  We split that and sat to watch the Oscars event. It was neat to see that Argo won best picture, because the story was based on the Canadian Embassy in Iran hiding several US embassy staff and getting them out of the country safely when there was an uprising against the U.S. and it’s citizens living there.  Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar for his portrayal of Lincoln.  Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for “Silver Linings Playbook,” a movie Sheila really wants to see.  “The Story of Pi” won several awards & sounds like a good movie.  Sheila wants to see it also.  We had a quiet evening at home for a change.

Sat Feb 23 Day 45   60F/15½C @ 10 AM & @ 4:30PM

I went up for water volleyball, got there about 10:15 & already they had split into 2 pools, Sheila arrived later & played in a different pool than me.  At noon I did the hot tub & shower deal while Sheila did some pool walking and then went back to the RV. I stayed at the Cabana & had lunch & listened to music; today they had a girl that played steel drums.  Then at 1 pm a second volleyball game was started, so I joined in on that too and played till 3:15.  Sheila joined in a bit later & left early. Then, shower again, dry off & back to the RV to get ready to head out with Larry & Judy to supper at the ‘Hibachi Grill & Super Buffet’ we found the other day at ‘Farmer’s Corner” @ Menlo & San Jacinto.  They opened 3 months ago. When we got there we got a table and within 20 minutes there were people lined up & waiting for tables, even though it is a big place.  We just timed it right!  They have a huge assortment of Asian & American food with lots of seafood, (although the raw oysters did have a warning sign about not eating them if you have immune system problems – I only ate 2), and a Mongolian Grill set up where they cook your choices for you.  All for the one price of $9.45 for seniors.   After supper we came back to Larry & Judy’s RV and played Bridge for a cpl of hours or so.  Sheila was the big winner.  She won while playing with Larry, and again while playing with Judy.

Fri Feb 22 Day 44    42F/5½C @ 8:15AM,    50F/10C@ 9AM,    58F/14C @ 10AM,   62F/16½C @ 3PM

We went up for the Friday breakfast here, then back to change for Water Volleyball.   After the game & hot tub they started the music just after noon hour, they usually start at 11. Our favourite entertainer – Larry Stevens – was on & Marie Callenders Restaurant was doing lunch. We listened to the music & ate lunch sitting in the warm sun. Then we went over to Dick & Georgia’s to get info about the St. Pat’s Day Fun Club event.  Afterwards, Sheila & Judy went to the 99 Cent store to get plates & some other items for Fun Nite while I napped.  After supper in the RV, I went over to play shuffleboard while Sheila stayed in the RV to review & add to the notes I’d made during our St. Pat’s meeting today & catch up on other stuff.  By all reports we are supposed to be getting the good weather back for the foreseeable future – I hope.  Time now to relax & watch some recorded shows.   We really miss the PVR--being able to quickly zap through commercials and being able to start watching a show when we come back to the RV after a show has started.

I thought I should show where I am getting the temperatures from, especially when I am saying it is really nice & that dosen't correlate with the figures I am posting.  If you "click" on the picture to enlarge you can see the thermometer clipped at the top rear area of the access panel by the entrance door. It was taken at 10AM on Sunday as I was leaving for the pool. This side gets the morning sun.