Author: Yvonne Wilson

We purchased a map of the stars homes and headed out to track them down. Not the stars as they are long gone, but to see what their homes looked like.

When we came upon the house Liberace used as a guest house, we were invited to see behind the gates by the gardener. He was kind enough to take us around behind the gates so we could see the back of the house and the pool, patio and garden. He explained that his father was Liberaces original gardener for this house and his larger one that he had lived in which is close by. Liberace had turned this house into a guest  house so that when he had people come to visit, they stayed here instead of disrupting his home. His mother and brother George were frequent guests here.. It has been purchased and renovated, but the new owners have tried to honor Liberace while at the same time make it what they wanted for a vacation get away.

The photo of the piano is actually a miniature replica of a grand piano that is anchored to the post box. The front door is in an alcove behind iron gates and on the wall on the right side of the front door is a massive painting of Liberace. The photo of a gentleman waving is the gardener.

I took some more photos of some of the other stars homes and will be posting them. It is really interesting to me to see the architecture, landscaping etc. the old stars chose.

XWe headed out to see the Joshua Tree National Park for the first time ever today. We had driven by signs pointing towards it and always thought it might be fun to go see it and today was the day.

As we drove through Yucca Valley I must admit I was thinking it was a mistake as the landscape was getting pretty bad, which prompted me to rename it “Yucky Valley”. But after we had driven for a while into the park the landscape started to become more interesting. We stopped off at one of the points and did the about one and a half mile circuit trail to Hidden Valley area. At first it was so cold and windy we almost turned back, but we kept on and when we got down into the valley it was so beautiful and sunny. This valley was so well hidden that it once was used to hide stolen cattle. What amazing scenery!! I was really glad we made the trip, the rock formations are magnificent. I am posting a few photos to give you an idea but they truly don’t do it justice.

January 11th, 2016

The sun has come back! The beautiful, brilliant sun has reappeared, and it has warmed up a lot. Two days ago the rain disappeared and the weather started to be more Palm Springs like. It has been in the high 50’s low 60’s and is just beautiful. The mountains are covered in snow and the sun is bright.

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and going for walks everyday. I must admit that a lot of the time has been spent eating and reading but I am hoping the walking is balancing things out.

We did go to see the movie “Eye In The Sky”, it was very good, a nail biter but left me a little frustrated. I believe it is well worth going to see when it comes out though.

We have been to eat at several places, but usually end up at our favorites which are Sherman’s and Babes. We tend to enjoy local haunts rather than the fancier places when we go out. We did get a recommendation for a locals Italian restaurant so will be trying that out soon.

Yesterday we went and strolled around the local outdoor market that is held on the weekends at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. It is always so much fun to spend a few hours walking around it. They have numerous produce stalls, food stalls and so many other little boutique booths selling everything from dog toys to jewelry. We ended up purchasing a wallet for John, a necklace for me and some asparagus. All things we couldn’t live without for sure!

For those of you that know John, you will be surprised to hear he has not gone golfing once this entire week! He told me he has to practice a new swing he is developing. I asked him why and he said that when he was hitting balls the other day he spoke to a guy there who told him about a different way of swinging the club. I said that was a little unusual, how come he did that, John then told me, “well he was just sitting at the course”. Pushing a little further I asked why someone would just be sitting at the golf course, John said “well he was just sitting at a table at the course”. I said why would he be just sitting at a table at the golf course, and after all of this conversation he said “well he was a golf pro, sitting at the table and I took a lesson”. As our friend said “he sure knows how to handle you”.

We have family arriving in a few days and look forward to showing them around the area. Hope the weather continues the way it is right now.

Today we are going to look around a few more open houses, go for another long walk, maybe a movie but the Golden Globes are this evening!

I have included a couple of photos of the magnificent mountains with the snow. Until later!

We came down to Palm Springs on January 4th and what an experience it has been so far!!

When we arrived we were so surprised to see the changes the drought has made here. Most of the beautiful green grass has gone, the magnificent flowers are pretty much extinct!  The people here have turned off their sprinklers and it has really changed the landscape. There are still a few hold outs and those are still throw backs to previous days with the rolling green lawns and beautiful landscapes of flowers and trees. They are gradually in the process of switching to desert landscaping, although there is a ways to go.

So imagine my awe that the day after we arrive, so do the torrential rains! yes I know all about El Niño, but really!, the day after we arrive!? It has rained (and I mean rained!) non stop since we got here.  The streets are flooded with swirling water that can’t find anywhere to run off.  Hopefully it will start to soak in to the ground soon and start saving this beautiful landscape.

We love Palm Springs, have always enjoyed coming down here and experiencing the wonders of this area. We found a condo to rent in the same development we used to own in so we are familiar with the amenities and the immediate area. Turns out one of our dear friends has purchased and lives here now so that is an extra plus.

While being limited on what to do until the weather calms down a bit, we have been enjoying just being here. Something about being here just forces you to calm down, take a deep breath and relax. We have been to some of our favorite places, yes, of course we have eaten at Sherman’s! For those of you that don’t know Sherman’s, it is a locals spot that I will write more about later, it deserves its own mini blog.

We arrived too late for the grand opening of the Palm Springs Film Festival but will be starting today enjoying some of the films available as part of it. We are booked to go and see a film starring Alan Rickman and Helen Mirran. It is the U.S. premiere of a Gavin Hood drama called “Eye In The Sky”, I am really looking forward to this one as they are such great actors it should be amazing. there are so many special films to choose from it is such a treat.

No photos yet, as soon as there is a break in the weather I will be able to get out and take some to share with you. Until then there will be a lot of eating, hot tubbing, reading and great movies!

Meanwhile, if you know how to build a boat or possibly an ark, give me a call!!

      Our daughter works at Pixar Studios and when they have certain events we get an invitation from her. One of the really cool events they do there is called Motorama. It is a car show that includes a combination of cars owned by employees and certain cars that are brought in for display. It is an invitation that is extended to the employees friends and families. Some of the most unique cars are on display and a great lunch is included. What a great time it is!

While I love looking at cars I am not an officianado of them so really couldn’t tell you one car from another,  so you will have to figure them out for yourselves.  I can however tell you that nearly all of the cars on display yesterday were cars I would love to own!

Included in those on display was one that has been made from parts of the Darth Vader costume, they have incorporated the breast plate and light saber.  Also there was a frame from a Tesla. Of course I had to include the cars from the movie “Cars”! You will also see  “emblems” on the back of several of the cars that were created by an employee over the years to depict movies made at Pixar.

Hope you enjoy!  I know we did!

We are just about back to normal sleeping hours, finally!  It is strange how it takes a while to get back to normal when we return home, yet when we go to Italy we are immediately able to get into the schedule…..

Since we have been back home we have been missing Italy a lot. This year Venice seemed to be even more wonderful than ever before. We spent a lot of time with one of our sons and the two granddaughters at the campgrounds just over the bay in Punta Sabbioni, we had a great time. The rest of the time we spent walking all around Venice (the non tourist spots) and riding the vaporettos. We realized that this time we never actually got lost, made a few wrong turns but knew it and were able to correct our errors and find our way with hardly any problems. Felt like locals!

There were quite a few trips that I didn’t write about but over the next month or so when I have a chance, I will post about them.

The heat at home has been crazy. We have been experiencing heat up to 105 degrees and it doesn’t cool down lower than about 80 some nights. We love our home but wish the heat wave would let up some. We took a day trip up to Lake Tahoe to get a reprieve from the heat a few days ago, took some shots and went to a couple of interesting places so I will post those soon.

We head up to our condo in Bend, Oregon tomorrow morning. Looking forward to spending a little time up there on and off over the summer. John is excited as we are arriving just as his golf group gears up for their summer. This time we are going to pick up a couple of bikes and attempt to get back to being a bit more active, less couch potato. Looking forward to biking to one of my favorite breakfast places, McKays Cottage! It is a very popular local spot, just about 1 1/2 miles from our place. I have a plan to bike there for breakfast, another day bike to the park on the lake in Bend and take a picnic and a book……why do most of my plans involve food?!

Hope you enjoy the few photos I have enclosed, I have over 1,000 so will gradually post some that I think you might enjoy.

We have had such a wonderful time here, it is going to be hard to leave!

So many more wonderful memories!

We leave for home tomorrow morning, one more evening in paradise!