OLA: Feeling Warm in Palm Springs!

Bill finally got his shot at Marilyn Monroe in Palm Springs!

It is amazing! We drove down to Acton, California from Seattle, Washington on March 15 and watched the browns and whites turn into greens and yellow, the low 50s into the high 60s, and winter into spring. We had stored the RV in Acton and after a day of rest we proceeded to Palm Springs. Before reaching the area we saw the heavy smog hovering over the San Bernardino area. Glad we’re not staying there.

It cleared when we reached Coachella Valley,  sheltered by the San Bernardinos to the north, the Santa Rosas to the south, and the San Jacintos to the west and the Little San Bernardinos to the east.  It has 354 days of sunshine with the coolest days in winter in the lower 70s °F! Now it is in the high 80s! So out came our summer clothes and away went our winter apparel.

Thousand Trails Palm Springs Resort

 Several cities make up the Valley; Palm Springs and Palm Desert are the biggest. We are parked in the TT Palm Springs Resort in Palm Desert. Towering date palm trees mark every camp site! Bill enjoyed the spa while I took to the fitness center. A strip mall with a Stater Bros. grocery is just about a mile from the campground and Bill walks it (and beyond) every day to either pick up stuff or return a Redbox movie!

First order of the day was my prescription glasses! I had cataract surgery done on both eyes in Missouri last October. When I had my eyes checked in Seattle in February, the ophthalmologist said I needed a yag laser procedure done because a film had developed between my plastic lens and the optic nerve on each eye, a common recurrence of cataract surgery. And I had to wait after it was done. Finally, I found The Vision Professionals in Palm Springs and my Silhouette pair will be delivered by March 29!

and at night, Bill was still there!

That’s when we found out that Marilyn Monroe had been transferred from Chicago, Illinois where we first saw her, to downtown Palm Springs on the corner of Tahquitz Canyon Way and Palm Canyon Drive. It turns out that the 36-foot statue is moved to a different location every year. Bill finally had his dream photo taken: under Marilyn Monroe’s pants, morning and night time!  Actually the city of Palm Springs is trying to buy the permanent rights to her. Good move for an area of 55+ retirees!

I found my yellow van at the Villagefest!

Villagefest at night

Every Thursday night a Villagefest is held around this Marilyn Monroe corner on Palm Canyon Drive. We had many choices for dinner; finally we bought Meditteranean grilled chicken and sat at the only space left on the sidewalk. Lots of good singers serenaded the thousands, hoping to sell their cds. Since the RV cannot take any more additional weight, we have learned just to buy food. This time around we found awesome local dates, blueberry banana bread, and dark, heavy, multi-grain bread.

Bill and Carol in Plaza Theatre for the Fabulous Palm Spring Follies

Amazing Hula Hoop Artst

At the famous Plaza Theater on Palm Canyon Drive, very near Marilyn, a unique show is staged 9 times a week when in season (when snow birders flock to Coachella Valley). On its 22^nd season, The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies is the great show featuring a 55+ cast. As a matter of fact, its oldest male singer/dancer is 84 and female is 77! I just knew I could be a star too! And the variety act of an amazing hula hoop artist and the hit songs, It’s My Party’, ‘Judy’s Turn to Cry’, and ‘You Don’t Own Me’ by the singer Leslie Gore made the night more special!

Bill with Leslie Gore

Just six miles from our Resort is Old Town La Quinta, the historic district of one of the cities in the Coachella Valley. On Saturdays a small strip features ‘Art under the Umbrellas’, with about 70 artists, under umbrellas, who sell their art pieces: paintings, glass fusion, unique jewelry pieces, sculpture, unique apparel designs, etc. Unfortunately, they were very pricey (definitely for the rich of the Palm Springs area) so Bill and I just had pasta Bolognese and drinks and beat the heat inside a bar!

Art under the Umbrella at Old La Quinta

Charlie Ferris 

After a jam-packed Palm Sunday mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church also in La Quinta, we headed back to camp for the ‘Charlie Ferris Show’. It was an entertaining night of music from the late fifties to the late sixties carefully selected by Charlie. He had exactly the audience he wanted and we could not help but clap our hands, stomp our feet, and sing with him, at signature songs of Bobby Darren, Roy Orbison, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vee, Elvis Presley,  even Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra!

a very relevant throw pillow we found at Villagefest!

We truly felt warm, so warm in fact that my hives flared up again! Come to think of it, my first hives appeared in Florida! Could it be that I am no longer accustomed to the kind of warm-hot weather that I grew up in for 54 years?  I hope not or our settlement plans for Phoenix, Arizona will fizzle out. But, in the meantime, more about Palm Springs, Palm Desert and nearby areas next week!

OLA: Driving Down the West Coast!

Beautiful Mount Shasta at the Break of Spring!

Bill's birthday on March 10 at Red Robin

It was the height of winter when we arrived in Seattle, Washington, home of my eldest daughter Trisha and husband Deejay last January 8. We had stored the RV at the TT Soledad Canyon Resort in Acton, California.  And now, we are back at camp, from winter to spring, from the low 50s to the high 60s, from the very social driven lifestyle back to our tranquil, cruising one!

Trisha's birthday with a Filipino Feast at home on Mar 12

Krishna on her March 1 birthday

One of the activities we had in Seattle was a Mexican dinner for the birthday of  Paolo, husband of Darlyn, Deejay's sister. But the big celebration was the five-in-the-city birthday on March 3 during the family reunion when April joined us from England and Claudine and family from Calgary. April's birthday will be on March 31 and Claudine's was on February 7. But we also had special day dinners for Krishna on March 1, Bill on March 10, and Trisha on March 12.

We had planned to leave right after April departed but could not because of final dental, eye, and family doctor’s appointments.  \Thus we were able to watch Yeye win her varsity tennis match and wait for the results of Krishna’s cosmetology state board exams (which she easily passed)!

Yeye's winning form in her varsity tennis match!

the colors of spring along I-5!

After all the delays, we are finally back at camp in
Acton which is almost an hour from Los Angeles. Our drive South took us 7 ½ hours on I-5 from Seattle to our first stop in Medford, Oregon. But now, instead of the view out of our car windshield being glaciated brown foothills, everything has started to turn brighter greens and yellows. What an amazing switch of the seasons. When we crossed over to California the next day, Mount Shasta greeted us with a smile! 

Cherry, Zan and I at the Westfield Solano Mall

We took a little diversion and drove 4 1.2 hours to Fairfield, California for the chance to visit with my sister Cherry and her daughter Zan. A Pinoy lunch of arroz caldo, fresh lumpia, and Bicol Express from the Inay Restaurant inside the Westfield Solano Mall satisfied us. Cherry teaches 3-5 year-old kids ballet at the Fairfield Community Center, 25 minutes from her home with husband Rick in Vallejo. Then we had coffee, tea, and dessert at Starbucks just outside the mall. I was so glad to have been able to hug my sister and niece after over 2 years!

Cherry, Bill, and Zan at Starbucks in Fairfield, Calfornia

Alvin, Patrick, and Diane with Bill and me
at Pietro's in Lodi, California

At 4:30 PM we drove east to Lodi, California to visit Deejay’s sister Diane, her husband Alvin, and their delightful 1 ½ year-old Patrick. The super gracious hostess that Diane is, wine and aperitif was waiting for us! Patrick animatedly took to our ‘pasalubong’, a talking and singing Ernie. Then we trooped to Pietro’s, a fine Italian restaurant, with huge herb gardens in front, for clam spaghetti, spaghetti with meatballs, spaghetti carbonara, and veal saltimboca. By 8:30 pm we were back at their lovely home for coffee and a little tour. As we were about to leave, Patrick refused to let me go! That felt so good and I just know I will miss him.

delightful Patrick!

We stayed at a Stockton motel just 20 minutes from Lodi, right on the freeway so that we could get an early start on our journey, another 4 ½ hours to Acton. Arriving there in the early afternoon, we took the RV from storage and found our spot. We allowed ourselves just one day to prepare for our moving on to Palm Springs to spend the start of spring for 2 weeks. After Mass we had barbecued chicken being sold outside the church for a fundraiser for St. Mary's Catholic School.  Then we headed to the grocery store to stock up on a few supplies since our refrigerator was empty!

home sweet home!

Yes, we are definitely back to our cruising lifestyle with simple meals, relative quiet, and each other!  

OLA: Celebrating Moveable Feasts

Steak and Paella Dinner at Home!

celebrating five birthdays at once!

It was in November 2009 when we had a complete family reunion in Mazatlan, Mexico.  My youngest daughter  April (still unmarried) did not make it to the October 2010 reunion in Spokane, Washington and also the Orlando, Florida reunion in Jan 2012. So when she flew in at 11:30 PM from her P&G Cincinnati global project team meeting for HP, we were ecstatic! At 2 pm of the next day, Claudine, pregnant with my third grandson, arrived from Calgary, Alberta with first-born Enzo and his half-brothers Ashton, and Andre. Only Arnold, Claudine’s husband, could not make it this time. Finally, March 2013 had all my three daughtersl with me at the Seattle home of Trisha and Deejay with their kids Krishna, Yeye, and Kenji!

poker night

The first order of the week was Poker Night! Deejay and Trisha prepared chili and cornbread, brats and works, grilled pork chop, chocolate fountain, and lots of drinks. Deejay’s sister Darlyn made cupcakes and a guest brought mango torte! We played a total of six rounds of Texas Hold’em.  Deejay, Claudine, and April won one round each. Trisha and I were not so lucky but I made it to third place three times!!! My kids say I am too cautious and do not know how to capitalize on good hands. Oh well, I am used to playing with sexygenarians, even more conservative octogenarians, in campgrounds.

Crabpot Clambake

Next day was Bill’s treat for a clambake at Crabpot, a famous seafood place in Bellevue. It was our day of feasts and that night Bill grilled steaks while I made Paella Valenciana! It was my first try and Bill, after a whirlwind try at six stores, was unable to find any chorizo de Bilbao.  So I just used pepperoni sausage as substitute. I know…excuses, excuses. Admittedly, it was not as good as it could have been, especially since I could not find the bay leaves! But it was nevertheless a birthday treat for five birthday celebrants: Claudine for February 7, Krishna for March 1, Bill for March 10, Trisha for March 12, and April for March 31! Darlyn brought a large ice cream cake for the ceremonial blowing of the candle (5 in all!) for dessert!

Mizuki Feast

Next was Claudine’s treat to Mizuki, a popular Japanese buffet restaurant in Tukwila.  Does this sound like a ‘Moveable Feast’, a la Hemingway?   After the sumptuous meal we shopped at the Westfield Mall. Bill finally found the watch he had been looking for over this past year, a titanium solar eco-watch! He also finally had a birthday gift for himself! That night we bought comfort food for dinner at home… chicken joy, from Seafood City’s Jollibee, a highly popular Filipino chain! Then we had a long ‘board meeting’ up to the wee hours of the night at the dinner table!  

Korean Feast!

The following day started with leftovers for brunch. While they all went to the Tullalip Outlet Mall, I had a yag laser procedure done to remove the thin layer that had developed between the plastic lens and the optic membranes, a common occurrence after cataract surgery that blurs the vision somewhat. At the end of a hectic shopping and clinic day, we met at the Korean Palace Bar and Grille for a great Korean buffet of all things bulgogi…shrimps, beef, pork, and lots of veggies. I had the singular honor of cradling 6-year old Kenji in my arms, crashing hard after consuming what must have been 20 shrimps!

We woke up to a huge Filipino breakfast of longganiza, tocino, fried eggs, and fried rice. Claudine could not get more vacation days so sadly she had leave at mid-day of the fifth day. Actually, I could not see her off as I had to have dental cleaning work done before we went on tour again. That evening Trisha cooked her to-die-for Italian meatballs and spaghetti from scratch, using 40 tomatoes in all, paired with Yeye’s pizza from scratch, three different kinds! Then we all watched American Idol’s female semifinals.

@the Microsoft Visitor Center

Trisha and Deejay’s vacation leaves came to an end so we took April to the gym and the mall. Then I cooked kare-kare (oxtail stew with peanut sauce), one of those Filipino dishes April said she missed. At night we watched the Idol male semifinals. I guessed 8 of the top 10 (four of the top five in each group)! The next day we were invited by Fides to have lunch at Microsoft’s Commons followed by a tour of the Microsoft Visitor Center/Museum.  April bought a Windows 8 package for only $25 at the Microsoft Company Store (retail price outside was $99)! That night the girls (Trisha, April, Krishna, Yeye, and I) all went out for appetizers, cakes, and drinks at Cheesecake Factory. Actually, we talked till almost midnight, again! Good thing Trisha could still drive!

Cheesecake Factory Girls' Night Out

Godmother April and Goddaughter Yeye at the airport

Unfortunately April had to leave for Newcastle upon Tyne where she is on assignment with HP for three years. Parting was sad, but we will join her there this summer so…yehey!  As this became a celebration of moveable feasts, we may each have gained a few pounds (two for me) but, definitely, our hearts became fuller! 

OLA: Visiting Vancouver

Carol with the Giant Strawberries in Granville Island

It is so nice when you get to visit places because of your children! Several years ago I went to San Diego because my eldest daughter Trisha won a much-coveted all-expenses paid trip there for topping the sales campaign of her bank, Chase Manhattan Bank, where she is now an investment banker. In August Bill and I will go to the UK to visit my youngest daughter April who is on a 3-year assignment there as HP’s project manager for Europe and the Africas for a global client. And just last week we went to Vancouver to join my middle daughter Claudine, a project director of the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada, who was participating in an international Oil & Gas convention. 

fine dining at Granville Island

Ranked five years in a row as ‘one of the most livable cities’ in the world, Vancouver SMSA has a population of 2.3 M, the third largest in Canada. The city is also one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse because 52% of its residents do not speak English as their first language. 30% of the population is of Chinese heritage, brought about by the huge immigration from Hongkong before the transfer of the city-state to mainland China. 5 % is of Filipino origin.

familiar Goldilocks' counter

We stayed at the luxurious Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel for two days.  Claudine arrived at the hotel at 6:30 pm straight from the airport to share a Filipino meal of chicken adobo, chicken and pork barbeque, pinakbet and arroz caldo which we picked up from the Main Branch of the Goldilocks Bake Shop on West Broadway. Then we watched the Oscars as I wrote about last week

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custom broom company at Granville

While Claudine was in conference, we went to Granville Island which we had missed (last visits were with Fides and Benjie in 2011 and also in 2009 when we were making our way back from Alaska). The island is the Queen of Vancouver destinations. Its Public Market has a tempting assortment of vendors, showcasing unique products like very special custom brooms and gastronomic delights like fine bread, special cheeses, and five varieties of native maple syrup.

Carol with the pigeons

We sampled the food court, a fascinating collection of international cuisine, outside of which is a small boardwalk reminiscent of Trafalgar Square where pigeons cavorted with passers-by.  Granville Island also has a trendy and expensive ‘yellow’ restaurant, art galleries and an Art School, and the Fraser Community Center. During spring, summer, and fall, there is always outdoor entertainment and, as a matter of fact, there was a guitarist singing for us, braving the cold!

Carol with Bolet and her daughter Yeye

After we satisfied ourselves with the scents and flavors of Granville Island, we picked up my friend Bolet and daughter Yeye from her home in Naples Way to enjoy another Filipino meal at T. Pinpin, the Vancouver branch of the restaurant on T. Pinpin Street in Manila’s Escolta district. Unfortunately, it was closed so we proceeded to GotoKing, another favorite Filipino food chain, but it was also closed! We finally had luck at Cucina Manila where we had kare-kare, binagoongan, pork sinigang, and bistek.

The last day of the convention, Claudine was free from 3:30 pm so we headed for New Town Bakery for their famous siopao that we both bought for ‘pasalubongs’. Next was Goldilocks for their famous ‘mamon’ and ‘polvoron’. Finally, we had dinner at Max’s Chicken. For the third day in a row, we had a Filipino meal! This time it was of classic Max’s fried chicken and pork sinigang. Claudine also brought home one whole fried chicken for her hubby Arnold who told her not to go home without one!

Carol and Claudine at Max's

unique cheeses from around the world at the Public Market!

Finally, we took Claudine to the airport for her 7:15 pm flight back to Calgary while we headed to the International Peace Arch again between the towns of Surrrey, BC and Blaine, Wa. It took us 30 minutes to get to the border and the wait time there was only 5-10 minutes compared to our way in that took 30 minutes. And that was our short visit to Vancouver…my lovely daughter Claudine, pregnant with my fifth grandchild, Granville Island that we have missed, and from three Filipino restaurants! It was our third trip together to the city and we are now good for the next two years perhaps before we miss it and find another good reason to go back.