Friday, February 20, through Saturday, February 28, 2015: The Last Week (or so) Back In The Desert:

The first order of business was to find out about the mystery box.  According to the packing slip, the box contained two bar stools that were supposed to go to an RV dealer in East Lansing, Michigan.  I called the dealer, who picked up the ball from there.  Shortly, I received a call from Forest River, the manufacturer of my trailer and who had sent the bar stools, who tried to figure out how the stools ended up with me.  After a second call, he gave up and simply told me I now had two free bar stools.  They're nice, but we have no use for them in our trailer and we will take them with us to Williams.

For no stated reason, Brian cancelled our afternoon session at the gym.  I'm becoming disenchanted with the people at EOS Fitness.  It's good we're leaving the area at the end of the month, so I won't have to decide about a future with them.

Early Saturday morning I dropped off the dogs at The Grand Paw Pet Resort, we finished packing, and we headed for Los Angeles for the weekend.  The first stop was at The Lazy Dog Café in Rancho Cucamonga so Becky could have lunch with Olga Contreras, one of her former secretaries. 

While they chatted and chomped, I plied the aisles at the next-door Costco, actually buying all the stuff Becky had on my to-do list.  I was so proud.

After stopping at the downtown LA Ralph's for my dinner supplies, we completed the run to the Jonathan Town Club, where we checked in for two nights.  The dinner supplies were for me alone since Becky had a dinner date at the Jonathan Beach Club with Aileen Garrigues, a former Union Bank colleague, and Nancy Chestnut.  We met Nancy when she and Aileen visited us at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2009.

We were in LA for the celebration of Becky's dad's 89th birthday (post mortem, of course) and meetings with the family about his estate matters.  The focus of the birthday celebration was the depositing of his ashes at various locations that were special to Bill Shelton.  We first gathered at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Westwood, the site of Bill and Nancy's wedding in 1951, for the first deposit, then moved to the Quad at UCLA, Bill's alma mater, where the second deposit occurred,

then on to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on Gayley Avenue, for the third deposit.  Plans were made for Peter to deposit more ashes at the San Gabriel Country Club, where Bill had been a member for years (and which is located across the street from Peter's home), and for Becky to deposit more ashes at Bill's former weekend home in the '80s at Santa Rosa Cove, adjacent to the La Quinta Resort.

Sunday evening, we watched the (generally boring) Oscar telecast and ate pizza at Peter and Terry's home,

then crashed at the Jonathan Club.

Monday morning, we packed up and headed back to the desert, picking up the Ramsey and Kelsey before noon.  We drove to the La Quinta Resort to deposit some of Bill at the former Santa Rosa Cove home (Mission accomplished!)

and getting back into our normal rhythm before heading for an appointment with my heart doctor---scheduled for 3:30.  We arrived on time at Dr. Bagheri's Palm Desert office, then learned that the appointment was for his Palm Springs office, not his Palm Desert office.  Becky drove the next half hour like we were on fire, then we cooled our heels for an hour or so in the doctor's office because he was not there yet---having an emergency of some sort at the hospital.

For dinner, I broke out the delicious Cioppino from Trader Joe's.

Tuesday was a busy day.  Becky and I both got haircuts and Becky played pickleball for a few hours.

We had an appointment to see some old friends for dinner.  We met Ellen and Mark Burson at Chef George's restaurant just a few blocks away.  The Bursons brought along their friends Peter and Marilyn Lambert, with whom they were spending a few days in the desert.  The six of us enjoyed a marvelous dinner at Chef George's, which is nominally a Hungarian restaurant but has a quite varied menu.  Becky and I shared a gigantic (and wonderful) plate of Paella, a Spanish creation, along with a yummy Hungarian salad and a not-so-yummy Hungarian merlot.

Wednesday evening, we met Kathy Sage, her husband, Peter Shapiro, Richard Petrie, and his fiancé, Honoria Vivell, at the Arnold Palmer restaurant in La Quinta for dinner.  Very nice (and very noisy) place, but the food was fine and we had a great time catching up with our dinner companions. 

We met them again (minus Honoria, who slept in) Thursday morning for breakfast at the Classic Club Golf Resort, just under 3 miles from our RV park.  It's a beautiful setting.

Later on Thursday, Becky headed for Pasadena and a couple of meetings relating to her father's estate.  I cooled it with the dogs.  Because Becky would not return in time, we cancelled our dinner with Karen and Stephen Sloat.  I substituted a nice phone conversation with Karen. 

Friday was largely devoted to a pickleball tournament for Becky (she took second place in the women's bracket)

and my preparing to leave the area on Sunday---picking up prescriptions, stopping at Trader Joe's for things we can't get where we're going, and packing up the stuff with which we adorned our RV site.

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, pickleball tournament for Becky (she tied for second place in the mixed bracket)

and my finishing up getting ready to leave, including the un-fun task of crawling under the slideouts to inflate the tires and disconnecting the sewer drain.  In the post-tournament drawing, Becky won a free wash for our rig.  We can't use it right now, of course, since we're leaving first thing in the morning and won't be back for at least nine months and the certificate expires in 2 1/2 months.  Maybe we can extend its end date.  Anyway, it's a nice ending to our stay here. 

      

Friday, February 13, through Thursday, February 19, 2015: Back In The Desert, Week 8:

Friday morning, we had the carpets cleaned by one of the companies that that circulates through the RV park.  To facilitate that work, we had to rearrange the furniture inside the rig, which was sort of a pain.  But worth it.

My Friday afternoon session at the gym with Brian went well, and I also talked with Kurt who happened to be there.  He explained that he was no longer going to work at that particular gym as he was consolidating his schedule to work at only one gym.  So, it was OK that I had already found another trainer.  I also told Brittany, the sort-of-manager I had spoken with the day before and who had taken charge of managing my situation, that Kurt had not really abandoned me the day before. She said she was happy to hear that.

Friday evening we watched Gone Girl from the redbox.  Very interesting film with a lot of twists.  Well worth watching, even though it starred Ben Affleck, the least interesting actor in Hollywood.   

Saturday, Becky rode her bike to the street fair, and I drove there, since we had to pick up the piece of artwork we had ordered a few weeks ago.  It's just what we envisioned, and I can't wait to get it to Williams to hang it in our entry hall.

 

 

I then transported it home while Becky rode her bike back.

We had originally decided to celebrate Valentine's Day (Saturday) by cooking steaks and having a nice bottle of wine at home, but fate intervened and we postponed that celebration to Sunday.  The intervening fate was a last-minute invitation to join Beverly and Bruce Nickerson at their Palm Desert home for some adult beverages prior to their dinner appointment with some people.

They had just come down for the weekend.  We went to their home and discovered it is only five blocks away from my brother's Palm Desert home (on the same street---Grapevine).  Quite a coincidence.  Bev was a neighbor and high-school classmate of Becky's.  We had a great time catching up with them, and the snacks accompanying the beverages made our planned dinner superfluous.

Sunday morning we actually went to church!  We hadn't yet spent any time this winter with our old friends Karen and Stephen Sloat.  Stephen is the Lead Pastor at the Coachella Valley Christian Church in Indio and Karen is very involved in the weekly service, so we decided to show up and see them. 

It was a nice service and a nice reunion.  We are now scheduled to have dinner with them in a couple of weeks.

Sunday evening we had our Valentine's Day meal.  Becky had picked up filets mignon and lobster tails at Stater Bros. We added a baked potato and broccolini, and the wine was a delicious ten-year old cabernet sauvignon that we had received as a gift from Barbara Coad at Christmas. 

The only low moment was when Ramsey stole one of the pieces of filet off the kitchen counter while Becky's back was turned.  It didn't really matter; we had plenty of food and Ramsey was elated.

Monday morning, we rearranged a lot of stuff inside the rig again so the carpet cleaning people could come back and properly shampoo the carpets.  (Becky thought their work a few days ago was substandard and had talked the boss into a redo.)  But, their machine broke and they didn't show up.  I received my right-ear hearing aid back from the factory.  For the second straight time, they had replaced it with a new one rather than repairing it.  That works for me. 

 

Monday night's movie was Fury, with Brad Pitt, from the redbox.  It was perhaps the grittiest war movie (WWII) I have ever seen. But it was very engaging, and worth the effort. 

Tuesday, we had to do the furniture rearranging all over again.  This time the carpet people showed, and did a fine job. 



After they finished, I went to the gym to have another session with Brian.  It was good.

Wednesday's excitement was having an unexpected lunch with Peter and Terry Shelton (Becky's brother and sister-in-law) who happened to be visiting in the desert for a day or so---without any prior notice.  We met them at the clubhouse at the Desert Willow Golf Resort.  It's a beautiful setting, I had a terrific Reuben sandwich, and we had a good time just chatting.

After lunch, we watched Get On Up from the redbox.  Starring Chadwick Boseman, who did a fabulous job as James Brown, the film had some confusing flashbacks but was otherwise terrific. 

Wednesday evening was Ramsey's last session with Valerie Masa.  He seems to really enjoy following orders now, and Becky has even stopped using his pinch collar on walks.  Kelsey seems to be picking up some of the training---by osmosis I guess---since she's not involved in it.

Thursday, the four of us went to Pasadena for another round of stuff-sorting at the house.  I was only slightly useful, picking up lunch, cutting up cardboard boxes for the trash, and watching the dogs a little, but my presence gave Becky the right to drive in the carpool lane both ways, which is a big advantage on that road.  Several of us had dinner at the Canoe House restaurant in South Pasadena.  It has a Hawaiian theme.  I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich. 

When we got home, we found a large box outside our door.  It was from the manufacturer of our trailer.  We hadn't ordered anything, so we had no idea what it was.  It was too late in the day to find out anything so we just left it there.  That ended this week in the desert

             

Friday, February 6, through Thursday, February 12, 2015: Back In The Desert, Week 7:

Becky dropped off the dogs at The Grand Paw early and at noon we headed out on the 116-mile trip to Newport Beach.  Becky's here for the 45th reunion of her high school class.  I'm here for no particular reason.  I won't be attending any of the reunion functions, and I will spend a lot of time in our room at the Holiday Inn Express on Coast Highway. It sounds like the kind of weekend I like.

The trip to NB was uneventful and we avoided any traffic hassles.  As soon as we arrived we headed for the Pavilions market to load up on necessary supplies.  Just before 6:00, Becky went to the Balboa Inn for the first event of the reunion, a cocktail party from which she returned at 8:00.

It had already been a long day, so we crashed immediately.

Saturday morning we had the usual businessman's breakfast available at this kind of hotel, and Becky left to start her day of walking at least five miles.  We are due to meet John and Sherry Phelan at their home in Irvine at noon for lunch.  After getting lost only once, we arrived on time at their home in what is called Shady Canyon.  We chatted for a while, then hopped into John's Tesla for the short ride to lunch at their local club, the Shady Canyon Golf Club.  The menus they gave to Becky and me did not have prices on them.  How's that for style?  I had a BLT with avocado.  Very nice.  We then returned to their home for some more talk.  We hadn't seem them in more than two years, so we had a lot to talk about. 

We then headed back to the hotel, stopping first at Pavilions again to stock up for my dinner, and Becky lay down for a nap before going to her reunion dinner at the Balboa Inn.  This time she didn't return until after 11:00, reporting that she had a wonderful time with all of her buddies---but they ran out of food and she stopped at Taco Bell on the way home for a snack.

We slept in only a little Sunday morning because we had to get back to the desert and pick up Ramsey and Kelsey before noon.  We had the usual hotel breakfast and hit the road by 8:15 for an uneventful trip back to Palm Desert.  The dogs were happy to see us, as usual, and, again as usual, they were so tired they slept the afternoon away.  I spent some time revising the speaker wiring setup for our "home entertainment system" in anticipation of receiving the new unit on Monday.

Monday was  typical---pickleball and dogs---until my replacement home entertainment system unit arrived by UPS.  Then I swung into action to install it.  It's one model newer than my old one, but it works just the same---except that this one actually works!  Yea!!!  I also got rid of the old DVD/VCR player that was part of the living room system since we rarely watch tapes any more, and we still have the combination player in the bedroom if we need it.  The clutter is now much reduced.

Tuesday involved another trip by Becky to Pasadena for more work on getting the housed emptied of stuff.  I stayed back with Ramsey and Kelsey, taking them on several walks.  Kelsey needs less exercise than Ramsey, so she actually opted out of two of the walks that he initiated.  I was so exhausted from dealing with them that I cancelled my workout with Kurt.  Becky returned from Pasadena at 6:00 PM with food from Panda Express.  Yummy, as usual.

Because Tuesday had been so tiring, the only activity of significance on Wednesday was Ramsey's training session in the class with Valerie Masi.  He did very well, again.

Kurt did not show up for our session on Thursday, so I had a long discussion with the folks at the gym who suggested that I engage another trainer because Kurt was "having some personal issues" that were interfering with his schedule.  It seems he and his pregnant girl friend have decided to get married, and they are setting up housekeeping---clearly a priority.  I scheduled a Friday session with a fellow named Brian, whom I never met.  I later discovered that Kurt had sent me a text message at 6:00 Thursday morning telling me that he had an emergency that would prevent our meeting.  I need to make sure the people at the gym learn that.