Oahu – Day 3

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

Today we slept late, a planned event for the duration of our stay. It works for Diane but I still wake up early. That’s OK.

After a bite to eat we took a trip to the North Shore to visit Waimea Bay Beach Park. Perhaps some of you already know that’s where the Eddie Aikau Invitational (a BIG Wave tournament) is being held Saturday & Sunday. Eddie was a famous, fearless life guard at Waimea back in the day (he was Diane’s age). The tricky weathermen over here apparently can predict when and where to find the big waves. Depending on which news broadcast you watch, the waves are expected to be anywhere from 30-60 feet high. Even at the lowest, it should be fun to watch.

On the way up Nimitz Highway we saw this building on fire. Turns out 911 got the call about 10 minutes before we drove by. Sadly there were three fatalities – 1 elderly man and 2 dogs.

Once past this sad event, we departed H-1 west and took H-2 north to Wahiawa. That’s where we lived from 1986 to 1989 during our last tour in the navy. My initial duty station was at NAVCAMS Eastpac located near this village, and Diane worked for Dr. Corboy at the Hawaiian Eye Center in the town. After two years I was moved to CINCPACFLT Headquarters at Pearl Harbor.

Wahiawa is where many of the Dole pineapples that you eat grow up.

Without incident, we made it to Waimea Bay Beach Park where we just sat around for a while at a picnic table. The parking at the park is limited to only about 20 vehicles. But, if you have a handicap pass you get an extra chance. Thankfully, Diane thought to bring ours with so we generally don’t have any problem finding a place to park, even in small lots. That pass, however, doesn’t help with the incredible amount of traffic traversing the two lane road that connects all the villages on the north shore. It really didn’t bother me at all because I wasn’t driving. Diane, though, had a few choice words for the way some Hawaiians drive. That didn’t bother me, either. I just sat in my seat minding my own business for the duration of the trip.

Although the big waves weren’t here, yet, the surf was pretty stunning by Oregon standards.

Same is true for some of the beach-goers.

On the wasy “home” we stopped at Zippy’s in Wahiawa where we had some Saimin (fancy Ramen). I knew what Saimin was, but asked the waitress if it was like Ramen anyway. She said, “Yes, like Ramen but way bettah”. She was right. Diane did half of her bowl and I ate the rest, including mine. Quite tasty.

After Zippy’s we drove in to Mililani Town where Jeff attended High School. Mililani it the next village down the hill from Wahiawa as you head back to Honolulu.

This is H-1 East on our way back to Honolulu. Notice the people heading West. They’re going to the North Shore, all of them, and this is just a sampling of what the weekend will be like for all roads leading north.

Thought you might like to see the fancy toilet we have in our condo. Once I figured out what all the buttons are for, I found myself going to the bathroom more frequently.

Ala Moana Blvd from our porch. This is one of the busiest roads on the island as it’s right in the heart of the Waikiki area. A number of years ago we stayed in a nearby condo where we survived a tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile. At that time, there was not a car on this blvd and no one was allowed on the beaches. It was quite interesting. Diane bought me a Tsunami Survivor T-shirt. It’s brown.

Sunset with a friendly bird. Notice he’s standing on one leg. He just came up and landed a couple feet away from us while we were watching the sunset. He didn’t leave until we did.

When staying in tall buildings, I use our assigned balcony railing to ensure neighboring buildings are straight up and down. This one looks to be pretty plumb to me.

Having verified that it was OK, I was able to relax.

Oahu – Day 2

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

Jerrie got up and made coffee in a pot just like the one we had in Las Vegas the last time we visited there. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it was the very same coffee cooker, transported to Hawaii so I would have something familiar to work with. Yeah. I’m sure that’s true. Either that, or Hilton buys in bulk, populating all of their properties (of which there are many) with same furnishings and equipment world-wide so the only way you can tell you’re in a different time zone is to look out the window. Yup. It’s really that simple. Kinda like time travel.

When I look out the window here I see this to the north …

… and this to the north east …

I’d show you the view west, but that would require me to get closer to the railing. We’re on the 31st floor and it’s a little freaky getting near the edge. We have a partial ocean view but partial is plenty. We’ve seen the ocean before so it’s not a big deal. It’s more fun to watch the traffic on Ala Moana Blvd below us …

We ate some breakfast, rested a bit, then gathered ourselves for the long trip to get the car. Diane braved the trip, not making me go get the car and come back for her. My GPS indicates that the car is only 700 feet away, but it doesn’t count all the corners one must traverse to avoid buildings and such. But, walking to the front of the property from our room isn’t much less than that. Distances are deceiving. Walking together was the better choice.

Our destination was the Navy Commissary at Pearl Harbor so we could load up on food for the duration. More better than buying food in town. Here’s where we went …

We took Exit 15A , in case you were wondering.

Diane found a spot pretty close to the facility. There were lots of special slots closer to the front door, like Expectant Mother (she refused to park there) and lots of other spots for Flag Officers, CO Afloat, stuff like that, but nothing for Honorably Retired Senior Chiefs. So, we had to go searching. It was actually OK.

Once inside we went directly to the food court on the 2nd level. Diane got a turkey avacado sandwich and I got a very large bacon cheese burger. I didn’t get a picture of mine, but I had to catch Diane in the act of discovering how enormous her sandwich was …

She only managed to eat half of it, saving the other half for dinner (without bread).

After lunch we wandered around the Navy Exchange, remembering how it used to be when we lived here. Things have changed considerably. Things just aren’t as cheap as they used to be. We did buy a few things, however, then made our exit to the commissary right next door. That was a better shopping experience and we got enough food to keep us going for a while.

The trip back to the hotel was familiar because we stayed on Nimitz Drive most of the way. Really familiar territory even though it’s been 34 years since we left. Most of the changes are vertical, not horizontal. They don’t have a lot of choice about direction.

Diane pulled up in front of the main entrance and I commissioned a bellman to get all our food to our room. He got a couple of plastic bins and a luggage cart to make the trip while I took the car back to the parking lot. I took my time getting back to the room because I knew I’d just be in the way. My timing was pretty good. Even though I could have made it sooner Diane still commented “That was quick!”

For dinner Diane ate the rest of her sandwich as planned and I got to eat the rest of the rigatoni she didn’t eat for dinner on Day 1. It was really good. We had planned to go take a walk on the beach to end the day but it got dark quickly so we just stayed in and watched “Gnomeo & Juliet” on Disney Channel. Cute movie. No one died.

About 2030 we headed for bed.

It was another good day.

Oahu – Day 1

Posted on January 19, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

Got up at 0500 to go wait for the airport shuttle.

We were dropped near the middle of the terminal which left us with a very long walk, to the right, to the Hawaiian Air Lines checkin area. None of the kiosks worked which required everyone heading to Hawaii to get in a Conga Line so we could check our bags. Some folks were bummed about having to get in such a long line but they didn’t consider that even had the kiosks worked, they would have still been required to join the line to check their bags. Surprisingly, the line moved along quickly. To dispel the growing feeling of being left behind, an HAL agent spent a lot of time walking up and down the line assuring everyone that the plane would not leave without us. I’m thinking, “Really! Pretty much everyone in line constituted the entire passenger list for FLIGHT 25 so, of course, they were going to wait.”

I was a bit concerned about the weight of our two big bags because Diane insisted on packing them. We were both surprised that both were accepted as being on or under the limit so we didn’t have to pay the $200 I was expecting. One came in at 52.5 lbs, the other was 49.2. Yippee! I think we both said that out loud causing the ticket agent to wonder what kind of people she was letting on the plane.

We got to the gate just in time to board. Diane got us seats just behind the kitchen and toilet section that separated common folks from 1st class folks. Since there were no seats directly in front of us we had about 4 feet of leg room. Plus, the toilet was right in front of us, next to the section that contained our food, How handy is that?

It was a 5.5 hour flight crossing two time zones. Since I forgot to get our iPads from the front pocket of a checked suitcase, we had to use our phones to read our books. It worked OK. We read a little and actually nodded off a couple of times. Since Diane wore her mask the entire time we were on the plane she was equipped with a perfect sleep aid:

We landed safely at 11:16 am local in Honolulu. As it was with Portland, where we had to walk 1-2 miles to get to the departure gate, in Honolulu it was easily that far, or further, to the baggage claim. We walked, rested, walked, rested, walked, etc., until we finally arrived at carousel 7 and noticed right away that it wasn’t running. After all that travel, and resting, we beat our luggage to the carousel. Then we waited a while. And a little longer. It was the typical “wait for your luggage” moment. Whoever flies knows this.

Our suitcases finally made it around the last corner (I was at the end of the conveyor belt where it disappeared into the wall). Had I not snagged them in time it would have been another aggravating 5 minutes until they reappeared. With them in tow, we shuffled off out of the terminal, across a street, to a shuttle bus that looked suspiciously like one headed for some sort of rental car place. Luckily, it was. Turn out that Honolulu, like Las Vegas, and maybe many other airports, have a garage facility dedicated totally to rental car folks.

Diane had already reserved a vehicle so all we had to do was find the Budget Car folks. We did and walked right up to an agent and was issued keys to a new Chevy Malibu after agreeing to pay for an incredible amount of money for insurance. It’s Hawaii so it’s OK. I suppose we could have not rented a car and paid for an Uber every time we wanted to go somewhere but that would never have worked. We plan to go everywhere on this island. We lived here from 1986 to 1989, and have had short visits since, but we’ve got 2 weeks to see it all.

We drove to the Grand Waikikiian in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where Waikiki resides. We parked out front while checking in to our room. When the lady checking us in discovered we had a car her eyes got big as she exclaimed, “Do you know how much it costs to park here?” I said, “No” because I didn’t. She said, “$65 a day for a total of over $900 for your two weeks!” I said, “No one told us” and she said “did anyone ask?” I said “Let me go get the boss” and went to get Diane involved. I was all ready to pull that chain but clearer heads prevailed when she said parking at the Hale Koa lot was more reasonable and the walk wasn’t much further. So, we decided to do that.

I left Diane at the hotel while I arranged for parking the car. I got a lot of walking in getting this all done. Something like 4 miles. But, I got a pass for 30 days for only $120. That’s like stealing for parking only a couple blocks from Waikiki.

Then we went to dinner at Fresco, a nearby Italian restaurant. The food was great, we had a terrific view of the Hilton Lagoon, and we could hear the music from a luau going on in the park.

Fortunately I didn’t spill anything. Diane, however, spilled her water. It was OK. Our waiter had a mop.

We walked back to our hotel, took a shower called it a night. It wasn’t even 8 pm, but our bodies tell us it’s 10 pm so went to bed.

Jerrie Fell Down and went BOOM!

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve been missing in action for just a little less than one month. To me, in my old age, it was just mere minutes. But, in my defense, I’ve been pretty busy during those missing hours. Looking back, however, there’s lots of evidence supporting Diane’s firm belief that I’m a victim of dementia. I know that’s her belief because she points it out every time she quizzes me about something I was apparently supposed to remember. Regarding that, while in the midst of living through those events, and/or discussions it wasn’t made clear to me that it would be necessary to provide accurate answers about details.

Since I’m not much of a detail person I had to struggle through many awkward moments in an attempt to live up to expectations with accurate data. Because of that I did my best to fill my blanks with the best stuff I could make up in a hurry. I’ve done that so often that my reality is blurred with a lot of fake information. The longer I pretend, the more real it becomes.

Considering all that I think perhaps that living in a fantasy world might not be all that bad. I’m so good at it that I’m seriously considering a run for Congress in 2024. Maybe I’ll go for President. There’s considerable proof that anyone can run for, and win, political office without understanding anything about what’s expected. Credentials? Who needs real ones when you can just make up what sounds good at the time. Education? Same thing. All you need is money. Lots of it.

Something that may, or may not, influences voters is that I’m not aligning with a particular party. I mean, c’mon. Why are they called parties, anyway? Doing that kind of defines the kind of activity one might expect of those who affiliate with them. Instead, I’m not affiliating with any organization that is defined as a party. I’m just running for office. There’s another thing that causes me to go “hmmm.” Why do candidates “run” for office? Why don’t they just calmly walk for an office at a brisk pace? How about “vying” for office? Or “competing”?

If anyone wants to help with my campaign all you need to do is write my name in for any position of any ballot anywhere. Don’t send money. I don’t want to feel like I’m obligated to do something for somebody.

This morning was pretty exciting at our house when I tripped over the dog and crashed into the door on Diane’s shoe closet. If I hadn’t been carrying a glass of water and my iPad I could have probably protected myself a little better but being burdened as I was I had to stop my forward momentum with my face and right shoulder. Doing that wasn’t a conscious act as it happened faster than little brain could considered an alternate outcome. So, from about 3 feet from the door I began my descent into the door.

The first contact with the door was made with the outer corner of my right eyebrow, then the frame of my glasses, then my right shoulder. The noise was loud enough to wake up everyone in the house, even in the basement. It was quite astounding.

The door stopped my forward progress making a descent to the floor inevitable. The first thing that happened was gravity took over and I dropped vertically to my knees while my face slid down the door. Then I automatically tipped back and to my right causing my right hand to hit the floor first, then my left, and I rolled onto my back, still holding half a glass of water.

There was a lot of scurrying and exclamation as people tried to discover what all the racket was. Gilligan arrived first, then Diane, then Jeff. Someone took the glass of water from my hands but I don’t know who wound up with the iPad. Then I just laid there waiting to discover what was going to hurt the most. Oddly, there was very little pain involved and nothing broke. After a short period of fending off attempts to get me off the floor, I was able to attain a vertical position on my own. Then we went to Diane’s other house so Jeff and I could work on installing a new garage door opener. I was allowed to participate with the understanding that I would not be allowed on a ladder.

As the day progressed pains in my shoulder, wrists, and knees manifested as a reminder that I probably should have turned on the light before venturing into the dark end where the dog waited.

Now I must limp to my bed and prepare for tomorrow’s chores. We have to finish the garage door opener, then Diane and I have to pack our suitcases. We’re going on a trip.

More Dinosaurs

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

When I added the dino photos yesterday it was apparent that guessing what I was photographing doesn’t work well. My screen was dimmed to the point where I couldn’t see anything because the sun was so bright. A little fiddling with Settings revealed that I actually had the ability to brighten my screen display thereby allowing me to actually see what I was shooting. So, for Jasper, here’s a better one of he big guy, and a couple extra just for fun:

The photo with the red vehicle is the one we’re using. I took this to give a little perspective to the metal sculptures.

Dinosaurs

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

Along one of the streets Palm Springs is a very large lot that hosts a display of about 17 dinosaurs made out of metal. Knowing that there are some little people in our family who really like those things. So, this is for them, and for everyone else who find joy in these critters. All I have are photos for this. No narrative.

That’s it.

Joshua Tree National Park

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

Today I got up at 0500 so I could excitedly anticipate our pending visit to Joshua Tree National Park. There are three entrances to the park from Highway 62 on the north side, and another on the south side from I-10. Since we wanted to see the village of Joshua Tree. Also, the Marine Base at 29 Palms was a place we wanted to go because we like to visit any military base we can. So, we drove west on I-10 then headed up Highway 62 to Joshua Tree where we stopped at an iHop for breakfast. After ordering our food it took almost an hour for them to produce our food, but we were talking the entire time and didn’t complain. Because of our good nature, the wait staff was pretty amazed that we didn’t throw a hissy-fit about the wait, but we were busy talking about “stuff” and didn’t really notice. For our good nature, they gave us the coffee for free. We thought that was quite nice even though we were more than happy to just go with the flow. It’s Sunday, after all, and everyone showed up at iHop for lunch after church. They were really busy.

After we finished eating, we continued east to 29 Palms where we turned north on Adobe Rd for access to the MAGTFTC/MCAGCC, the largest Marine Base in the US. I don’t know what the acronym MAGTFTC/MCAGCC means so if you’re curious you’ll have to look it up. I can help a little because I’m pretty sure the MC stands for Marine Corps. Oh, never mind, I’ll tell you: MARINE AIR GROUND TASK FORCE TRAINING COMMAND and MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER. I had to look it up.

We drove around on the base looking at the really nice base housing, comparing it to the base housing we lived in for many years. That was 33 years ago so things were bound to change. It was fun to check it out.

When we drove off the base we continued straight south into the State Park. The change in the landscape was amazing. The rock structures were fascinating. The Joshua trees turned into a forest that filled all the open space between huge piles of rocks that appeared to have been strewn haphazardly by a giant.

Instead of trying to explain it, I’ll just show you …

Diane at Split Rock with a heavenly light shining on her.

Regarding that last photo … the sun was incredibly bright and I was not able to see what the camera was looking at so it was pure luck that any of them had substance. This one, with a light apparently shining on Diane, caused her a bit of concern wondering what it means. Is it a warning? Is it protection? I have a good feeling about it like God’s shining his light on one of his special people. Or, it’s the Star Trek trying to beam her up, but they missed.

I think you get the idea. That last photo was taken at a location that overlooks the valley in which Palm Springs is snuggled. It’s right below Mt. San Jacinto, elevation 10,833 feet, the mountain on the right.

After viewing this, we went back to our abode. It was a really good day. We got another stamp in our National Parks Passport book.

Thriftyness and Sunnylands

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday we took some time off because all this running around is very tiring and we’re pretty sure I caught COVID somewhere along the line. I think it was on Dinah Shore Blvd. I was really hard to tolerate. Well, not everyone thought I had COVID but it was unanimous that I was hard to tolerate. I admit it, OK, but it was some sort of California illness that made me that way. Even though I was in terrible shape I did my best to keep it to myself and went with Diane to a most amazing thrift store. It was called Collector’s Corner. Very unassuming on the outside but inside it was pretty amazing. It was a little like going to Nordstroms but with wider aisles. And, surprisingly, the prices were very reasonable. Mind boggling.

See what I mean? Amazing. The china cabinet in the first pic was on sale for $75. Neck ties and belts for $2, and silverware. I didn’t look at the prices because all I could think about was how excited Cliff would be to search through them.

The only thing we purchased was a $2 leather belt, oddly from Nordstroms, for Diane. Then we went ‘home’.

Once we regained the safety of our rented room we turned on the news and discovered that there was a Haboob lurking around the Salton Sea and it was slowly heading north, DIRECTLY AT US!

As we watched the news, the evening turned dark, and we experienced our first Haboob ever right off our deck.. That’s a dust storm blowing in quite hard. It was an interesting sight as it blew through the trees by our room, obscuring the swale beyond, and mountains beyond the swale. Normally they are very prominent throughout the day. It was very interesting. The only other time we’ve heard about Haboobs was from Julie when one filled her swimming pool in Phoenix. Because of that we always thought Haboobs only happened in Arizona.

So much for Haboobs …

Today we drove to Sunnylands which is located on Bob Hope Blvd. It’s also on Frank Sinatra Blvd, and a couple of other streets. Getting to our assigned vehicle required that we wipe the dust off the bannisters so Diane could use them. Then we discovered a dirty vehicle. I tried to capture it in a photo but it’s deceiving.

See? It was shiny all over just a few hours previously. Now we’ll have to find a car wash as soon as the dust goes away. Although the Haboob has pretty much gone away, there’s still lots of dust in the air.

See. There are mountains behind that haze of dust.

Braving the local freeways in a very dirty car wasn’t difficult because most of the other vehicles were also dirty. So, we wandered over to Sunnylands for the tours that Diane arranged for us. To avoid embarrassment, she parked as far from the venue entrance as she could.

Sunnylands is an enormous estate that was built in the middle of 900 acres of desert in Rancho Mirage. The 25,000 square foot single level home, surrounded by a private 9-hole golf course and 15 man ma,de lakes sites on 200 of those 900 acres. This link will tell you more than I can remember so you need to read it. What did stick in my mind is that all of the trees and plants on the estate were planted because there was literally nothing but sand when the builders started working on it. It took 3 years to complete and is well worth a look.

We took a little tram driven by Noah who was very knowledgeable about the estate. He drove us all the way around the property and gave us all the history. It was very interesting. You should go there.

These are the only palm trees on the estate.

This estate has been used as the west coast Camp David where many presidents came to relax over the years. All of them were pampered and fed as long as they sat at their assigned seat denoted by a card with their name on it.

This display of silver caught my eye because of the name cards …

Guess why …

That’s it for today.

I have no idea what’s going on tomorrow.

What’s in Indio?

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

Beyond Van Gogh is here for a while, at the Empire Polo Club. We were going to go to this in Portland previously, then Diane learned that it was going to be in Indio during our trip to this part of the world. So, plans were changed to visit that venue here. Never been to a polo club before. Just seen them on TV and in the movies. Seems like a complicated chore for horses, dodging all those long handled croquet mallets, and banging into the other horses. We didn’t get to see any of that, of course, because the Van Gogh event took precedence. It was set up inside an enormous building that is apparently used for polo matches when it rains. Which isn’t very often.

When we first entered the building we encountered a series of small billboard like displays that gave the history about Vincent Van Gogh as well as some short letters that he wrote to his brother Theo and their co-owned dog Buster. Sadly, Buster liked Theo best which is why Vincent never painted a picture of him.

I did my best to read every one of them because they were actually interesting. There was no mention of Buster on any of those letters so I don’t think that’s true about him being co-owned by the brothers. I’ll bet they didn’t even have a dog. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure I just made that up.

After zig zagging through the gallery of Vincents life we exited through a doorway into the larger room where the magic happened. As the users said, the display is on a 37 minute loop. There was no set time as to how long viewers could stay watching the display but the fact that mentioning the 37 minute loop planted the seed that after 37 minutes it was time to leave.

The swirling display changed constantly for 37 minutes so it was difficult to keep our eyes moving in such a manner that allowed us to see everything. There was some danger that we’d have to sit through the display again to ensure we didn’t miss anything. You may have noticed that Vincent painted numerous pictures of himself. That because, as a struggling artist, he couldn’t afford to pay models to sit for him. So, he painted what was available to him.

Seeing all these works by Van Gogh was mesmerizing and very calming as soothing music was played for the duration of the show. Starry Starry Nite, played in a subtle minor key by a bunch of stringed instruments, was prominent, but you had to listen hard to catch the melody.

There were a total of three 2-butt benches scattered around the vertical displays and about minute 26 we were fortunate enough to be near one when it was vacated. So we sat for a while. Then a lady stood lurking near us making Diane nervous. It was evident that she was just waiting for an opportunity to replace us on that treasured resting place. So, at minute 39 we relinquished it and moved on to the last stop, the gift shop. The only things we got were a refrigerator magnet and a wall hanging of Starry Starry Night. Where it will eventually hang is currently unknown but we’re pretty sure the magnet will find a place on the refrigerator.

Leaving the building we were funneled around the side of the building which was next to one of the many polo fields in the area. They take their polo seriously in Palm Springs. There are numerous fields like this all around the city – easily hundreds of acres of them.

After Van Gogh it was time for lunch so we randomly chose Sloan’s to satisfy that need. The food was excellent as was the service. We were pleased with our choice.

Then, we went ‘home’ to our desert oasis. That’s actually true because the name of the resort at which we’re staying is the Desert Oasis.

Friday we have tickets to Sunnyland, one of the many mansions in the area. We both will take a tram tour of the grounds and Diane will get the full meal-deal of a guided visit inside. While she’s doing that I get to watch a movie.

Hope all is well on the home front, and wherever you might be. Stay safe.

Palm Springs

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Jerrie Cate

Today is Wednesday. That mean we’ve been here four days and we’ll enjoy our 5th nite-nite tonight.

My last post was on Sunday. When we arrived the temperature was 100+ and it was still around 90 when we finally went to bed. Those are outside temps, of course. Inside it’s a comfortable 72 because the A/C runs constantly, 24/7, in every hotel/motel/resort room in every village in this part of the country. The electricity necessary to make all that happen is immense but, as luck would have it, there is one of the largest wind farms in the world. I’m guessing about “in the world” but the Palm Springs Farm is really BIG. So big that there is a local company that provides self-guided tours of the farm for the paltry sum of $24.50 a person. I’m pretty sure we won’t take that tour. I don’t see the logic in taking a self-guided tour of a facility that I can view for nothing simply by driving back and forth on I-10. True, there wouldn’t be the drama of driving on roads that weave themselves around the towers on which 150 foot long blades of death spin uncaged above our heads killing birds that dare to investigate them too closely. What fun would that be?

We’d rather take a ride on the tram, one of the things on our to-do list, but wait! It’s closed for maintenance until the 10th. Not a big deal, really, because there are many other things to do here.

For instance, just driving around looking at stuff, using up all that $7.09/gallon gas. We expected that.

I’m complaining, aren’t I? Sorry. We’re actually enjoying ourselves. One fun activity is visiting thrift stores. We do that wherever we go. Kinda lame, you might think, but we enjoy it. That’s what we did on Monday in addition to grocery shopping to get the items we missed on our Sunday shopping spree.

There’s a pool here that we’ve walked passed a few times, but haven’t taken that next step to shed our clothes, jump into a skimpy swimming suit, and test the water. I suggested that we hit the hot tub first, but since it’s been over 100 degrees pretty much every day that seems kind of dumb. So, we won’t do that.

Yesterday we went to see the Salton Sea. Never been there and decided it would be a nice trip. I made sandwiches which we packed into the new foldable cooler we got for that purpose, choosing a foldable one that can be placed in Diane’s already overweight suitcase. Actually, we’ll fill the foldable cooler with excess items from Diane’s overweight suitcase and it can be her carryon.

On the way to see the Salton Sea we saw a sign pointing to Mecca. We’ve always wanted to go to Mecca so we went.

Turns out it’s not what I expected, but it was interesting. Then we continued on to the Salton Sea.

We drove down the west side of the sea to what we considered a likely place to see the sea but the road was closed. They should have put a sign on the highway to save adventurous people from wasting their time.

So, we made our way north to the top of the sea and headed east so we could venture down that side to a designated state park. We drove for many miles looking for an entrance to the state park. Turns out there are many entrances that head toward the beach but they don’t have signs for the little gravel exits along the highway. We noticed that there weren’t any vehicles along the shore which was probably due to the extreme heat. All the smart people stayed home with their air conditioners.

We finally found an entrance that led us to a number of picnic tables and ultimately to a covered one near a restroom. And, it had the only handicap parking slot in the entire park.

That’s where we ate our sandwiches, waved at a couple of park rangers as they drove through the park. Then I walked down to the shore thinking I’d like to see how salty the Salton Sea is but changed my mind when I remembered a small sign on the fence when we entered the park. I said something about poisenous algae in the water. Looking around, I saw the culprit and saved my own life by not touching anything. Also, there was a particularly nasty smell down by the shore.

Then it was time to leave.

On the way back it became abundantly clear that we were traveling through the date palm capital of the world.

I’m guessing, of course, because I really don’t know if that’s true. I just know we saw many dozens of orchard filled with thousands and thousands of date palms ripe with fruit all protected with bags.