December 2005

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We thouroughly enjoyed our stay in southern Calif-
fornia. Everything they say is true...it never rains in California. We had one rainy day in seven weeks. (Sorry, New England)

On weekends, COD (College of the Desert) in Palm Desert holds a gigantic street fair unlike the usual flea markets we're used to. Everything from art to outdoor furniture to designer silver and gold jewelry. We also enjoyed the annual Tamale Festival held in Indio, CA. It attracts a crowd of over 300,000 people with Mariachi bands and an unbelieveable variety of tamales. We rode the aerial tramway which takes you to an elevation of 8,500 feet and hiked the trails atop the San Jacinto Mountains.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Every Thursday night downtown Palm Springs hosts a spectacular street fair with vendors, food and entertainment. (The night of our visit we found Ed McMahon signing his new book... "Here's Johnny")

We've met some wonderful friends...Gordon & Annette McInnes from Grindrod, British Columbia and Ray & Gail Smith from Tehachapi, California whom we plan to stay in touch with and they taught us a new and challenging game...Mexican Dominoes..which we now love to play.

We left California on December 11th and headed to Houston, Texas to spend the holidays with our family and be present for our grandson, Brandon's first birthday on Jan. 9th. I'll
have the added bonus of meeting up with my sister, Gay (recently published author of "Troubled Times") who lives in Big Sandy, Texas.

Highlights of the month!

The tramway holds approximately 80 persons and the floor rotates giving passengers a panoramic view as they ascend the mountain.
There are over 50 hiking trails, wilderness camping, cross-country sking in the winter, and forest ranger programs. As we sat down to a well-deserved hot bowl of soup, it started to snow. It was a real Currier-and-Ives moment.

Palm Springs...
below

Dec 05 Family Album

Di tried her luck at the Spa Resort & Casino in downtown Palm Springs (no big winner this time??) and we also enjoyed a delicious 1/2 price champayne buffet at the Fantasy Casino in Indio.

My mountain holiday decoration

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New friends from
California and
British Columbia