Morgan Hill 4/8/2011

We came to Morgan Hill to spend some time bird watching here and in Moss Landing over at the coast. We were in site 268.

 

We also picked up a mouse that got into our bird seed. At least I think it was a mouse. A neighbor gave us some sticky paper but the rodent got off of it leaving some fur and never came near it again. Would not touch the cheese and peanut butter in the mouse traps we had. So we took the bird seed and put the container in the car reset the trap with seed and the next morning the seeds were gone and the trap sprung but the mouse got away once again. Smart little devil. We reset the trap this time I put the seeds on double backed tape he has not come near it since. We moved and I haven’t seen sign of him.

This Wild Turkey liked the bird seed too. Mr. Tom enjoyed scratching around in the grass.

Mr. Tom chasing some female turkeys.

We drove over to Moss Landing for a picnic, to see the ocean, look for birds and see if the Sea Otters were still around. They have a small Marina.

Across the street from the town there is a cement plant and a power plant. These are the smoke stacks from the power plant.

The Sea Otters were there and playful as usual.

We found the ocean and these Sanderlings. This is a favorite spot for surfers. This is part of Monterey Bay, Monterey is south and Santa Cruz north.

Here is some of the birds we saw.

White-crowned Sparrow singing up a storm.

American Avocet

Snowy Egret fishing.

Willet getting his lunch.

The one bird that we did not see were the Brown Pelicans. We saw hundreds of them in the fall when we were here but there wasn’t a one this time.

Hollywood Part II 4/2/2011

Now that we have ate lunch and rode the subway to Hollywood now is the time to people watch and see the sites. Oh what strange people there are visiting Hollywood.

First Bill posed with Marilyn Monroe.

Then Dick got a little more friendly.

This is part of the décor of a large shopping center in the middle of Hollywood. And that is where you will find the view of the famous Hollywood sign and the casting couch.

I am the only one that tried it out. Actually it is made of cement and not comfortable at all.

These lighted columns are connected to the Kodak Theatre and they list the Oscar winning movie and the year it got the Oscar.

Gruman’s Chinese Theatre. This is where you will find the shoe and hand prints. It is amazing how small the hands and feet look of the stars from the 40’s and 50’s compared to what they look like now.

The historic El Capitan Theatre.

At Hollywood and Vine the end is near groupies were out telling us all Judgment Day is coming May 31.

Next we took the bus to The Farmers Market.

We had a very quick snack here and there wasn’t any time to really look around. Would like to come back to this Farmers Market and spend the day. They have built a large shopping center beside this market with exclusive shops and there is a trolley that runs the full length of it.

So back to Union Station and our train ride home.

It was a great day with good friends.

Hollywood with Bill & Karen and Jack

We planned a trip on the MetroLink with Jack Thomas to Hollywood. Jack lives in the park and leads tours all over LA for free. From Soledad Canyon TT we met Jack at the Vincent Grade Station at 9:00 AM. This was on a Saturday and there were 5 of us so we got a discount on the tickets. $7.50 a person. These tickets are round trip and when you reach LA they can be used on the subways and the buses. Bill and Karen found a dog sitter for Lucy, George & April. Terri was visiting a new grandbaby for the week.

Jack our leader. This is one of the new cars and all the seats are facing backwards. This car is in the front of the train and for safety reasons all passengers are facing backwards until the return trip when the train runs backwards.

Bill on the train as you can see Saturdays are not busy days.

Karen and I were comfortable riding backwards. We got to see the Lions and some Tigers at Tippie Headron’s lion retirement compound and a film company shooting a scene with soldiers with guns. Interesting trip to LA Union Station.

Union Station, downtown LA.

From here we took a bus to Clifton’s Cafeteria for lunch. It is on the National Register as a historic building. Walking to Clifton’s I commented to Karen I felt like I was in Mexico. Shops selling junk to jewelry and the 2 magazine stands with just Spanish magazines and papers. Nothing in English. A number of shops selling and renting wedding gowns and gowns for 15 year old Latin girls.

15 year old Latino girls have a coming out party.

Next stop was Clifton’s.

They used to have 3 cafeterias in the LA area and each with a different motif. This is the only one left. The theme is Yosemite.

Food was good and filling and we were ready to continue to Hollywood which meant we needed to walk toward the financial area to catch the subway to Hollywood.

On our way up to Hollywood from the subway.

Stay tuned for Hollywood. 

A Movie & Happy Hour

We met Ken & Faye at Palm Springs TT in 2005 and saw them again in 2006 at Chesapeake Bay TT. This year we both were back at the Palm Springs Preserve. Faye had found a good movie to see and the price was right. We went and picked them up and went to the Cinemark in Cathedral City. I do have to say that the pictures are not as clear and sharp as usual. We didn’t bring the camera and Dick used his phone.

That’s right it was .75 a person and the movie was The Social Network. Slow starting movie but it turned out to be great. After the movie we drove to the Elephant Bar for Happy Hour. Great place on 111 in Palm Desert. The food was excellent and the drinks fantastic.

The fans over the bar and tables did move around some air.

Faye & Ken

Good movie good food what more could you ask for?

Palm Springs Pool Tournament 3/9–3/13/2011

It seems so long ago but it has been just 1 month. I wanted to thank everyone for all their help in bringing food and cleaning up. The park is ready to welcome us back next year.

9-Ball winners

1st Don Lanphear, 2nd Earl Frederick and 3rd Dick Thomas

Jack & Jill

1st Jadine & Richard 2nd Betty & Jerry 3rd Darol & Ruth

8-Ball Singles

1st Vern Haley 2nd Paul Rose 3rd Tom Pridemore

8-Ball Doubles

1st Geo Rickel &Geo Stahl 2nd Dick Thomas & Vic Kondra 3rd Ray Thomas & Marvin Swafford.

Civic Park in Palm Desert in March

My sister and her husband came for a visit in March and we had a great time visiting. We started out to go to the Moorten’s Botanical Gardens but it was closed so we decided to find this park instead, go to dinner at the Elks and maybe some dancing.

This is one of the many sculptures in the park.

Linda posed with the fisherman. They had great sculptures throughout this park.

A place to rest.

This is part of the Holocaust Memorial.

Now on the other hand these are not made out of bronze but are very real turtles, and some of the biggest turtles I have seen in awhile.

We got to the Elks and we were the last 4 people without reservations to eat dinner. The meal was excellent but the music was lacking. It was Karaoke with marginal singers. We had a great time visiting with Linda & Larry. No picture of Larry or Dick but they were there.

Why we like the Palm Springs area

This area is very beautiful from one end of the valley to the other and that is one of the reasons we like it so much. The other reason is that there is so much to do.

Snow in the San Jacinto Mountains.

The hills on the other side of the valley are very beautiful in the early evening when the sun is going down.

The taller hills in the background are part of Joshua Tree Nat’l Park.

Then you have these strange cloud formations that were amazing at sunset. This was taken from the Palm Springs TT Park in Palm Desert. Stay tuned to what comes next.