I can't believe we've been home from California 8 days! And...that I've been so busy I haven't had time to download photos from the trip. Life has been wild and crazy and FUN around our house this week since two of our grandsons (16 and 11) were here for their Spring Break. George is driving them back now, so while the sheets and towels are washing and drying, I finally finished a post about our trip.
Voila!:
We usually fly right into Palm Springs and then drive the short distance to Palm Desert, but this year we flew into Los Angelos and then drove the two hours to Palm Desert.
It's always exciting to arrive at our timeshare in Palm Desert (it's a Marriott property called Shadow Ridge). It's a gorgeous place and we feel like it's a second home since we come every March and spend two glorious weeks.
Near the main lobby area where we check-in.
Even saw a beautiful rainbow one morning!
A view from our balcony...golf course, water, mountains...beauty everywhere!
Flowers and trees and cactus are healthy and just gorgeous!
Lots of bunnies and we see them lots of places, but especially in this one spot. They are adorable!
Since it was just the two of us for the first few days, we spent some time by the pool just relaxing (and I was still trying to get over my congestion).
We celebrated our 33rd anniversary at Sullivan's on El Paseo...it's a tradition. It's expensive, but worth it for a special celebration.
We ate decadent breakfasts like this one at Keedy's. Oh.My.Word!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kim and Terry arrived to spend 5 days with us!
We had lunch at P.F. Chang's at The River at Rancho Mirage and walked around and shopped. It was a little breezy and cool.
Me with Kim (my "baby" sister)
We did a little site seeing and walking around. That's Kim and I waaaay back there behind the flamingos. LOLThese next photos are from our trip to San Diego to go to the San Diego Zoo:
We...actually George...took the scenic route and drove us over the mountains. It's steep and windy and scary, so Kim and I held our breaths most of the way. LOL Here's Kim and I at the first observation area.
Kim and Terry
Gorgeous views!
George and I have been to the zoo many times and love it, but it's always a treat to go again.
Here's just a FEW photos of some of the animals we saw (believe me, I took lots and lots, but I'll spare you):
He was HUGE, but picture perfectly gorgeous.
This was amazing to watch. They have trained the elephants. The lady sitting on the stool to the right opened a small door and the elephant put his/her trunk out immediately and the lady was offering some type of food. Then the man comes and opens another door and IMMEDIATELY the elephant lifted one of his/her feet and placed it on the ledge so the worker could give him/her a pedicure. We watched this for a long time and the elephant stool still and quiet the whole time.I teased and said I would be nice and quiet too if I was fed the whole time I was getting a pedicure!!!!
We didn't get a pedicure, but we found these "foot massage" machines. For a quarter you got a serious massage! (And some giggly girls.)
The guys had to try it too, of course.
The monkeys (of all types) are my favorites. I could watch them ALL day. They fascinate me. George usually has to pull me away.
When this guy stood up, the whole crowd went "WOW"! He was HUGE!
The flamingos were a beautiful color! I've heard it has something to do with their diet or supplements they are given. So pretty!
What a beautiful, but really different animal...an Okapi
Really large panda
Hippo...so weird to see them swim in a glass fronted enclosure! HUGE!We had a great time at the Zoo!
One night Kim and Terry treated us at Mama Gina's for dinner and desert to celebrate our anniversary (a second celebration!). The photo didn't turn out great, but we sure had a good time.
Another day we took them to downtown Palm Springs to walk and shop...and eat, of course.
We went to see the Palm Springs Follies that night...always always fun and entertaining...another tradition.
We ate several times at In-N-Out! Cheap burgers and fries, but delish! They are not in the south so we always look forward to going when we are in the west.
We bought some steaks and grilled in the last night. Delish! As you can see, even the grill area is scenic. We sure enjoyed their visit!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second week our friends (from Destin) Max and Vickie flew in and spent 6 days with us. We had a wonderful time.
We celebrated our anniversary (the 3rd celebration!) at Mama Gina's. Getting to go twice during our trip was nice!
One day we took them up to the observation point on Hwy. 74 to see the valley from up high.
Looking down to see part of the winding road we took up. Some of the desert flowers were in bloom...not as many as there were in past years. Still a beautiful place.
We spent lots of time just being "tourist" and enjoying all Palm Desert has to offer.
Max and Vickie in downtown Palm Springs. Love seeing the mountains literally right by the main street. Vickie loved the way they trim the palm trees. She and I had a good time shopping!
We had a really good time at Las Casuelas for lunch. A great band was playing and we enjoyed watching everyone dance.
The guacamole was incredible and the margaritas were HUGE and delish!
One day we went to The Living Desert, which is right in Palm Desert. Such a gorgeous place and it was fun seeing different animals from what we saw at the San Diego Zoo.
I love the giraffe!
The ostrich is in the same fenced area as the giraffe. See the one in the back.
Love watching the ostrich run. They are BIG and FAST.
Gorgeous blooming cactus everywhere and there were also some HUGE palms.
We had breakfast at Keedy's one morning and then came back later for milkshakes and ice cream sundaes. Keedy's is a Palm Desert landmark. 
Our timeshare is located in a beautiful place. We enjoyed taking walks every day.
We stayed pretty busy during the day, but in the late afternoon we enjoyed spending time on the balcony having happy hour and watching the golfers.
A few nights we stayed in and grilled out so we could enjoy the beautiful sunsets.
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After Max and Vickie left, we spent the next few days just chilling by the pool and dining out, just the two of us.
On Thursday we sadly packed up and left Palm Desert. We drove to LA to spend one day and night before catching our flight home.
I took these photos out the car window. Love seeing the mountains and the windmills!
Our first stop was Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, our favorite Italian spot. Unbelievably good!
We took some time to enjoy Rodeo Drive although we didn't make any purchases :-(
After checking into the hotel, we made a quick trip to the airport to pick up our tickets since our flight was VERY early the next morning and then had In-N-Out burgers 
It was a wonderful two weeks. Can't wait until next March when we can do it all over again.
I'm California Dreaming! And wishing I was headed that way again. I could definitely live there if our family wasn't all on the east coast.
Whew! Now that I've finished this long and tedious post and the boys are gone, I'm hoping to visit each of YOU and see what you've been doing. Can't wait!
Hugs from the beach,
Kat
"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."
