December 24, 2014

Nancy and Marcel Sabourin 

Christmas Eve we were invited for Brunch over to Marcel and Nancy Sabourin's place. What a spread they put on!!  The hostestess with the mostest! 

We started with mamosas - yummy!  

Marcel made tourtiere which was delicious. There was buscuits and gravy (another yum supplied by Pat and Jacquie), bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, waffles and all the trimmings!! 









So much food! Finished with egg nog and coffee! Thank you Nancy and Marcel for including us!!

December 20, 2014

 Thursday (Dec. 18th) we got visitors from home (Greenwood).  Nipper and Sheryl got here early afternoon and by the time we finished saying hello and chatting, it was happy hour. Boy that day went by quick - lol.... 










The next day we took them up to the Oasis for a little walk.  Nipper is an avid bike rider, riding in excess of 70 km at a time, so a little walk was just a warm up for him. But we enjoyed the walk again. 

T

December 10, 2014

This was an amazing experience. In the middle of the dry, dusty desert - a paradise!!

'In 1905, visionary stock rancher Louis Wilhelm traded two mules and a buckboard wagon for the Thousands Palm Oasis, an 80-acre jewel of land in the heart of the Southern California desert. “Whatever it will become,” Wilhelm said, “it is too beautiful to belong to one man.” '

The Coachella Valley Preserve, located 10 miles east of Palm Springs near 1000 Palms is a 17,000 acre site that is home to the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, found nowhere else in the world. (we did not see any on our hike) It is also the home of the spectacular Thousand Palm Oasis which is fed by water seeping out of the San Andreas Fault. 

Marcel walked with us

There are several other Palm Oases, including the Willis, Hidden Horseshoe, and Indian Palms, but in the center is the Paul Wilhelm Grove, the location of the Preserve's visitor's center. The preserve has several hiking trails including the McCallum, Hidden Palms, Moon Country, Pushawalla Palms, and Willis Palms trails. We hiked the McCallum and The Moon Country. Total distance 4.4 miles approx.

First we hiked from the visitor center (which is an oasis in itself) to McCallum Oasis,  about 1 mile.













This adventure takes you across the Fault zone, through a desert wash to the McCallum Oasis, one of the largest groves of desert fan palms in California. 

The McCallum Pond once served as refuge for the Desert Pupfish, but crawfish infested the pond, so there are no more fish..... Park employees are seen here checking their crawfish traps. They have trapped tens of thousands in their efforts to eliminate them and restock the pond with fish.


 




Then we took the loop trail through Moon Country. Desert walking up and down hills. 











A vista point on the hillside above McCallum Oasis. The vista point has a wonderful birds-eye view of McCallum Oasis and a 180 degree view of Joshua Tree National Park,

Back at the visitors center

December 7, 2014

Palms to Pines scenic byway

The byway follows CA Hwy 74 and CA Hwy 243 for 67 miles between Banning and Palm Desert. The map on the right will show you the path we took - beginning in Palm Springs then through Idylwild and Banning.

View of the road we travelled

This scenic drive climbs from the desert through the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, about 5000 ft.before descending again to the desert.

 

View of Palm Springs from 2000 ft. elevation

Among the wildlife inhabiting the area are bald eagles, and bighorn sheep, but on our road trip we didn't see any wildlife.

(borrowed picture) Night view of Palm Springs 

These are by far the largest pinecones I've ever seen!

Drivers can pull off the winding and often steep road at a number of pulloffs or lookout points, to view the forested mountainsides.










We had a very nice relaxing day, stopping for a late lunch at the Paradise Cafe at Mountain Centre. 

As we were driving through Banning, we happened upon this sign. Had to snap a photo! 

December 1, 2014

Today Michel went on a nice hike with Henry Rempel. We met Henry and his wife Evelyn (from Chilliwack, BC) in this park a couple of weeks ago. 


This morning Henry and Michel hiked up a hill that is over 2,000 ft above sea level,  








There is a monument built at the top of this hill. It was erected by a Croatian man as a thank you to Pres. Bill Clinton. 

Michel at the monument

Michel enjoyed the hike, and the company.



A couple of hours later he was back home again and we got ready for our little road to trip to see RIch and Tina.

 
Rich and Tina are staying in Thermal, which is about an hours drive from Sky Valley. 

So we enjoyed their company, a little happy hour, and dinner before we began our trek back home.  

November 30, 2014

Darlene, Jacquie and Ginette

Grey Cup Sunday!

The party was at Darlene and Harveys. There were 18 of us including two couples who are not even Canadian! 

Lana, Myself, Lorraine

The ladies sat outside so the guys could watch the game inside where the TV was (Calgary vs Hamilton). It was pretty cool once the sun went down - thus the blankets!

Jacquie, Ginette, Marilyn, Marie

Everyone brought appies - there were so many both tables (inside and outside) were covered with goodies!


And the hostess (Darlene) made a huge batch of chilli. So we all got enough to eat that is for sure!

Marcel, Michel, Bob, Harvey

The guys made a 'pool' for the game and Michel won 1/4 of the pool money. 

Bob, Harvey, Merv, Wink, Pat, Brian

It was a good day. Everyone enjoyed themselves, though I'm not entirely sure they were all happy about the outcome of the game - Calgary won. 

November 24, 2014

We thought Doug and Ginette might be getting tired of left-over turkey from Thanksgiving, so we had Mexican dinner at our house -
black bean enchiladas, spanish rice and re-fried beans.
It was pretty good, if I do say so myself - lol!