~Vancouver Canucks~

 We just had the most amazing evening!    We drove from Wilderness Lakes TT Park in Menifee and drove to Anaheim to watch a Canuck game - versus the Anaheim Ducks.  To watch a game in Vancouver is just way too expensive,  so every chance we get to see "our team" play in California we jump at it!

 We arrived an hour early so that we could go right down to the glass and watch them all warm up.  This for us is almost the best part of the game as we get to see all the players really close-up and also having lots of fun!  As always the arena was full of Canuck fans!

Brandon DeFazio made his NHL debut.

 Daniel Sedin

 Ryan Miller

 Henrik Sedin

Yannick Weber

 Dan Hamhuis

 Eddie Lack

 Chris Higgins

Lack

 Nick Jensen

 Kevin Bieksa

 Bo Horvat

 Bonino - Star of the game!!   It was an intense game as Bonino used to play for Anaheim and Kesler used to play for Vancouver.

We SO enjoyed our "nosebleed" seats surrounded by LOTS of Canuck fans!

 

WOW - what a game!!!!  SO much excitement! The game ended up going to a 5 minute overtime as the score was tied at 1 -1 ....... so then off to the shootout they went.  Everyone was standing up and we were screaming at the top of our lungs for our team!   And.............we won!!!!!!!!!!!!!   The best part being that Bonino scored the only goal in the shootout!

~Relaxing in the desert~

 We just enjoyed 2 wonderful weeks in the desert.   The weather was hot and sunny every day, the sunsets were always amazing and we have had so many fun days together!

 The Thousand Trails Park down here has done many upgrades since we were last here in 2010.   They have re-surfaced all the pickle ball courts and added 2 more, re-done all the bathrooms, re-done the pools and pool area and there are always people around mowing, weed-eating or cleaning up.   The staff too, were all SO nice!

 Every night the moon seem to get bigger and brighter - so beautiful!

 Our "mountain dew" boy!

 So many fun times together!

 The recreation lodge always has something for everyone of all ages to enjoy - cartoons, movies, aerobics, bingo etc......    The kids are enjoying "craft time".

The pool area now has these cool green cabanas.

 We love seeing all the windmills in the desert.

After we left the Palm Springs area we drove through the mountains towards Riverside county.   Love the scenery here :)

~La Quinta Cove Oasis~

The other day we decided to go for a hike in the desert.

The scenery is just spectacular.   That is a little oasis in the background.

We walked and walked and walked in hopes of finding the Bear Creek Oasis - with no success!

It was very hot and we had to limit our water intake.    Having a short break in the shade.

We walked through mostly desert but then we came to this canyon with HUGE boulders that we had to climb UP and UP and over.

We thought for sure we would see the oasis at the end......no luck.

We really enjoyed this hike.....................

but after 3 hrs we were feeling a bit weary, very hot and in desperate need of water.

But nothing like ice-cream, a dip in the pool and a beautiful sunset can't fix! We love it down here!

~Heat........friends.........and yum!~

WOW - we are really loving being down here in the desert!   It is SO hot .....every day - just wonderful.   We do school in the morning......then comes water volleyball and swimming in the pool until 4pm.  In the evenings we play pickleball and watch the Canucks when they are on  - all very stressful!!!  :)

Dad, Mum and Jessie do their lengths every day and have got all the kids into doing them now - a bit of a competition to see who can do the most.

While we were here we met up with the Costello Family again.  We met them in Indiana and again in Texas while on our 8 month trip and we were thrilled to see them again.    They are wonderful musicians and we enjoyed listening to them singing/playing again at the "College of the Desert" street fair.

Dad and Mum always talk about their J.I,T.B. oreo milkshakes ......SO.....they treated us all to enjoy one the other day...............oh boy................DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!

Thank you!