No Trip To Palm Springs This Year

 

Pat and me in West Hollywood January 7, 2015 - fun times!

Sad news to report. Neither Pat nor I will be making our annual trip to Palm Springs this year to celebrate Modernism Week.

This photo was taken ten years ago in West Hollywood, before we discovered Palm Springs. 

Every year in January we used to visit West Hollywood until one year a friend of ours (Nadege) suggested we visit Palm Springs. We decided to take her advice and made a one day trip to Palm Springs that year (I think the next year 2016). 

We fell in love with Palm Springs! We extended our stay one day but that wasn't enough. The next year we spent a week in Palm Springs. That still wasn't enough so the next year we spent our whole two weeks in Palm Springs. We continued to do so until COVID hit in 2019 then we took a four year absence. We returned last year and Palm Springs was delightful as always. However, I now have mobility problems plus I don't have the money to splurge on Palm Springs frivolities. I'm not working at the hotel and I now have to cover all my Casa Tipton-Kelly expenses myself. Oh sure, I received a $40 increase in my Social Security payment for next year but that's not enough (by a long shot) to cover a festive holiday in Palm Springs.

We may visit Palm Springs once more before I croak but in the meantime, this is just one of the many wonderful photos and videos I have of our winter holidays in California.

Pat and Ron in Glenn's Hot Tub

 Hey folks! I'm back home and I am exhausted!

I arrived home last night about eight PM after getting up at 3:30 AM yesterday morning to catch my 6:04 AM flight out of Palm Springs. 

What an eventful two weeks! 

So much to write about. 

But right now I have to recover. 

I almost didn't make it through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport yesterday for my connecting flight. 

One thing is for sure, if I ever do take any more flights, I will have to have someone with me. I cannot manage alone. 

I cannot.

But other than my physical limitations that this trip brought to my attention so graphically, I had a wonderful trip. 

Again, so much to write about and I will share all with you, my faithful blog followers.

North Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, California Febraury 16, 2020

North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California February 16, 2020 at the height of the tourist season (and yes, that is Pat in the chartreuse day glow green T-shirt taking his sweater off)


Yesterday I saw this picture posted on my Twitter account of North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California.  This picture was just taken yesterday, it showed a deserted street. Normally this street would be packed with tourists, April being the height of the season in Palm Springs. 

North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California yesterday after the governor's proclamation to close all non essential businesses and and public gatherings

Last month Pat and I were on this street, which is the main street in downtown Palm Springs. It was so different. Jammed packed with folks seeking the warmth of the sun in the cold month of February. Little did we know that we would be in this dystopian nightmare scenario that we are now.

Pat is back in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario Canada. I just got off FaceTime with him. He was walking the empty streets of Hamilton. 

I was going to go down to the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach but yesterday our governor issued an order that closed the beaches. I decided not to go to the boardwalk. Instead I took a walk through our development here this morning.

Bill and I are sheltering in, which actually isn't ad at all. Made me realize that most times we are sheltering in all the time anyway. The only different is that we're not going out to our local supermarket (Food Lion) as often. Usually I take Bill for his ride every day, Food Lion being our usual destination. But since we're fully stocked up with toilet paper, we don't need to go every day. I'll still take Bill out for his ride but perhaps just down to the river. We won't encounter and potential coronavirus carriers during that outing.

I called into the hotel where I work part-time so ask about the occupancy. I still have my job and the hotel continues to stay open. My co-worker told me the only room occupied was the nurse who was there when I last worked on Thursday. The owner of the hotel will keep the hotel open even if we have no guests, just in case someone needs a room like this nurse who is helping out at the local hospital which is only three blocks from the hotel.  

If the occupancy increases at the hotel I will have to rethink even going into work. I am, at the age of 78, in the "at risk" category of individuals.  My health is relatively good, except for kidney stones and recovered from prostate cancer and a defective heart valve. My main concern is that I catch this virus and bring in home to Bill who is 91 years old.  Bill, except for his sight and hearing and circulation problems in his lower limbs, is also in relatively good health. But I have in the past brought home colds and flues for Bill (not intentionally) and I just don't want to take that chance. I think the only way our hotel occupancy would increase is if we start housing the homeless or others who need a place to stay while their loved ones are in the nearby hospital. I fully expect that to happen.  Fortunately for me all of my co-workers are much younger than me. I'm the Old Guy. Being the old guy is strange for me because most of my life I've always been the youngest in my group. Now I'm the oldest.  A paradigm shift for sure in my life.

Stay safe everyone!

Palm Springs Holiday February 2017

Two years ago we visited Palm Springs for the first time. We (Pat and I) fell in love with this desert oasis.  

You know the feeling that when you visit a place for the first time and you know right away that you feel right at home? That's the way I felt about Palm Springs. I felt the same way about Cape Cod the first time I visited Provincetown, Massachusetts way back in 1974.  

This video compilation is of our visit to the top of Mt. Jacinto via a tram.  We met our friends Spo and Someone and also Tim and Larry for the trip to the top of the mountain.

We left the desert heat of the Coachella Valley to the cold winds at the top of Mt. Jacinto. I was so glad I took my hoodie with me because it was COLD up there.  What was a pleasant surprise was how refreshing the air was. Fresh air, no pollutants. Wow, I could live in that air year round. 

I am so thankful to be at this time of my life. Even though I have several health issues that are slowly bringing me down, I can still visit wonderful places like Palm Springs with great friends like Pat, and our friends. And you know what makes all this possible? Every friend, including Pat, I have met through my blogging. 

Moving Around In Palm Springs

More posts about our Palm Springs vaca folks!  During our past Winter Excursions to California I haven't posted near as many memories as I wanted to. I hope to correct that oversight this year before spring and summer overtake my interests here in Delaware.

This is a short video of Pat and I in downtown Palm Springs, California. Folks, check out that beautiful, blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds. Every day folks, this was what the weather was like during our weeklong stay in Palm Springs. Oh sure, the mornings were chilly (around 50 degrees) but all days were perfection like this day. 

Pat and I strolled around downtown Palm Springs every day. Early on, Pat said "Will we have enough to do in Palm Springs?"  Well, that was not a concern as Pat soon found out. I now understand why the vibe and weather has made Palm Springs the destination of choice to so many movie stars and others of wealth and influence.

Only two short hours away from downtown Los Angeles, Palm Springs offers a welcome respite from the stress and strain of every day living. This is why I am seriously considering eventually moving to Palm Springs for my "second retirement" should I reach a grand old age. One thing is for sure, I won't be the only old gay man who has chosen Palm Springs for my final days.

P.S.
Check out those fabulous pants on that one guy on the Segway. I want a pair of those!

Me relaxing during another glorious day in Palm Springs, California last month - no snow!