HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Who's that masked stranger? Why, it's Mac, of course! We're still in Palm Springs and, yes, we have waaaay too much time on our hands........dressing up a tiny stuffed dog, what will we think of next?

A full moon over Palm Springs on the eve of Xmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Please don't laugh.... at us... with the dogs....

The first photo of us with the dogs was taken at the Palm Springs CA Villagefest where, for a small donation, we had our pic taken with these adorable service dogs (sponsered by Animal Samaritans); next up is Mac (in a most becoming holiday suit) and a friend in front of our "Christmas tree." Then a formal portrait of Mac is his Santa/Pope/yodeler holiday suit; finally, he insisted we take him out to find the real Santa, no luck, but we did find some snow (white paint) in front of a house decorated to the max. And a Merry Xmas to all!!!

Palm Springs - Round 2

We came back to Palm Springs after our trip to LA and these are a few shots of the new condo that we are staying in (and again, it's cheap!). The person waving by the pool is Ed, the weather was warmer back then (around the third week in November), it's gotten cooler since, 60's during the day and as low as the 40's at night. We are planning on staying here until the middle of January, it's really a great place. Nice people, nice weather, not too crowded, very pretty, and surprisingly not too expensive. We are going to go around and look at properties with our rental agent (the guy who got us both condo rentals) soon. This could be the place! I have no idea where we are headed after this. I really don't want to leave!

P.S. The 16th of this month marks 6 months on this trip. I can't believe it, the time has flown.

The weirdness that is Venice Beach and Hollywood

No trip to Los Angeles would be complete without a stroll along the Venice Beach boardwalk and Hollywood Blvd. When we first got to Venice Beach we thought, "this isn't that weird," boy, were we wrong. What a bizarre circus (and the admission is free!). The best were the guys slumped over on the sidewalk with signs that said "need money for beer" or "need money to get stoned." At least they were honest. Now for the photos: the first is just a distance shot with me and Mac; next Ed decides he wants to join the freakshow - I woulldn't go inside, I had no intention of looking at 3-headed pigs. There was a guy standing outside the place with a 2-headed turtle, that was enough. Next up is a group of chanting and singing hare krishnas (what fun!); after that is a pic of a sand sculptor who was actually quite good (but you couldn't take his picture unless you left a tip); finally we have a rather pathetic back-packing clown. Sigh.
Now for Hollywood: the sign of course. The rest is all about Mac. He had photo ops with Barney and Batman and was estatic! Actually, Batman had to come rescue him from Barney, who wouldn't give him up and was squeezing him to death! Nah, not really. What really happened (and what made me realize that "Barney" was losing it) was after we took the photo and I gave him his tip, he said "thank you princess." To me! Last time I looked I wasn't 4 years old! I think that guy has been in that suit too long. As for Batman, he was really getting into it. Notice the split! It's a good thing we didn't visit both of these places on the same day, that's all I can say.

We meet up with my sister in LA, Mac makes some new friends, and we all take a trip to the Queen Mary (and a Russian sub)

We finally met up with my sister in the middle of November. Mac came along of course, and while at her house made some new friends; right behind him in the photo is Tabo (with the big mouth). Mac liked him but was a tad intimidated by him, what with his size and the mouth and all. Now right next to Mac is Hida (with the big red face and teeny tiny black eyes), she was a different story. He most definitely was smitten and was heartbroken when we had to leave.

The following photo is of my sister and Ed on the bridge of the Queen Mary. Next up is Ed inside the Russian sub Scorpion. Finally we have a photo of the Queen Mary and the Scorpion with the city of Long Beach in the background. And a wonderful time was had by all!

We visited Joshua Tree Nat'l Park & Palomar Observatory way back in the beginning of November

Joshua Tree Natl Park is about 35 miles from Palm Springs and it is comprised mostly of, well, joshua trees. I added the pix of the ugly desert beetle and what we dubbed "Snoopy Rock" for a little variety. Palomar Observatory was a 100 mile (one way) trip along hair-raising mountain roads. The next to last photo is of the 200 inch telescope there, the only thing open to the public. The very last photo is of our descent off Mount Palomar and what you see is the smoke from the fires which were still burning, but under control, at the time. As a matter of fact, the road up to the Observatory had just been opened a few days before.

Some pix of a place called Indian Canyons, about 10 minutes from Palm Springs

Indian Canyons is a Native-American owned park that is really quite beautiful, but on the day we were there it was an inferno (in late October, no less!). The temp hit 100, Ed handled it well but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I thought I was going to croak. If you look closely at the sixth pic, that little speck in purple is Ed, that lets you see just how gigantic those trees are. In the following pic Ed pulls one of them down to get a better look (such strength!). I thought the tarantula sign was a riot, it was no joke, either. Finally, a hummingbird at one of the many feeders that were hanging around.

Mac Spends a Day at the Palm Springs Air Museum

Mac does battle in a perfectly sized B-17; next he doubles up with a traveling companion on a German motorcycle from WWII; and finally, he sits atop another car of his dreams, a Rolls (no tissue necessary this time).