Visiting Friends in LA and Palm Springs - CA

Burbank, CA

Elks Lodge 

On the way to our usual fall visit to Arizona, we were excited to fit in a couple of stops along the way to visit some friends.  We left Placerville early Sunday to drive straight through to Los Angeles to visit with Lee and Trace who are staying in Burbank.  We stayed at the local Elks Lodge for 3 nights.  It's a small RV area with W/E for $25.

 

Since Steve and Trace are still working, they drove over for dinner the first night.  It was Taco Tuesday at the lodge and we went in for dinner after catching up a bit.  

Thanks guys for dinner!  The tacos were delicious!

The next night I made lasagna.  Trace gifted us 2 of the beautiful bowls she had made in her ceramics class.

This one is really cool.  It destems herbs.  I used it for my Italian Parsley.

Dinner came out good and it went very nicely with the bottle of Valpolicella wine they brought. 

We enjoyed their company and were very happy we were able to stop by.

All comfy!

We asked them to bring Jack with them.  He's such a sweet boy.  He was one of Hurley's buddies.

It was a short stay but really nice.  Always too short. Just before we left to head to Palm Springs, one of our friends, Scott, told us we HAD to go to Vic's Food to Go.  It's a Thai place near where he lived that just happened to be a couple of miles away.  I stopped by and grabbed Scotts suggested items and we ate it before we hit the road.  It was delicious!  So much food there was enough left over for lunch the next day. 

Pulling out of the Elks Lodge.

Driving along I-10 this beautiful bridge and building come into view.  I think it's a Court House but not sure.  I know some of you are from this area.  Anyone know what it is?

Palm Springs, CA

Palm Springs Resort

It's a good thing we stopped at Vic's for that Thai food as the traffic was horrendous!  It took us over 4 hours for what should've been a 2 1/2 hour drive.  There were several crashes along the way and it was dark when we pulled in.  Luckily we've been here a few times and know the campground well.  It was an easy pull through site. 

This visit will be with Dave and Marge who were our neighbors when we lived in Brockport in  Upstate NY.  We were so excited when we knew they'd be here just as we were driving through.

They were staying in a nice bungalow with beautiful grounds and pool.

We only had one day so we spent the day taking the tram up to San Jacinto State Park. 

It was a very nice day and the place was packed.  We had to wait 1 1/2 hrs for our tram time.  We snacked at the cafe and walked around the grounds outside.

We've been on this tram before and it's a very nice ride up.  It's $30 each.  The tram rides up through a canyon with views of Palm Springs below.  The tram rotates around so everyone gets a good view through the windows.

The top platform up top sits at 8,516 feet.  The park is beautiful and has many hiking trails.

One of the decks with a nice view of the back in the mountains.

Looking down over Palm Springs from the front viewing platform.

We had a nice lunch then took the tram back down.

The Tram moves very fast.  Here's a short video showing it leaving the upper platform.

Once down from the tram we headed to downtown Palm Springs for dinner.  Along the strip is their version of the Walk of Fame.

Marge with Sonny Bono's Star. He used to be the major years ago.  If you haven't been to Palm Springs, it's a fun town.  There's plenty to do here including nearby Joshua Tree National Park.

Next to the Star is a statue of Sonny Bono at the fountain.  Next to that is Maraca's Mexican Restaurant.  We had great Top Shelf Margarita's and some yummy food.

The outside tables made for some great people watching.

There were people dressed up in all kinds of outfits.  Some classy, some horrible and some funny.

Evening was very pleasant with the warm weather.  We had some Gelato and Sorbetto.  Thanks Dave and Marge for sharing part of your vacation with us and the ornament and pictures.

It was a short but fun week.  On our way to Palm Springs we had the truck and trailer washed.  Boy did it need it as it had been a year for the trailer.  It's still nice and shiny from when we had it professionally deoxidized and waxed last year.  We still recommend Chi Girl if you're in the Pheonix area.  That blog HERE.

On to Surprise for a short visit with family before heading to the Italian Festival in Reno with more friends who will be cooking in the Sauce Contest.