Modernism Week Palm Springs * February 2013

Modernism Week in Palm Springs...an annual celebration of arts, architecture, fashion, cocktails
and everything mid-century modern.
Some of the events were held here at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Palm Springs Convention Center (and little me, dressed in mid-century orange)

Tons of mid-century furniture here for sale at really high prices!

I volunteered for this event (selling tickets) and Jim scmoozed and enjoyed the cocktails and the rat-pack ambiance.

Enjoying the poolside cocktail party at the William Cody designed Del Marcos Hotel.

Another Moderism event....a house tour located near the town of Joshua Tree.  Blu homes (Bay Area) designed modern desert digs for the Disney family.

View from downtown Palm Springs in February.....

Lunch at Acqua Pazza in Rancho Mirage....

Vintage Trailer Show...mostly Airstreams but other really cute trailers.  Met many other "Airstreamers"

Settled in for a couple months...Palm Springs

Love the bedroom view from our site.  If I wake up early enough, I can see San Jacinto Peak (10,800 ft) glow pink at sunrise.  The bright light from the tram station at the top is also visible.  The Palm Springs Aerial tram holds 80 people and rotates as it climbs to about 8500 ft.  I'm thinking I'll save that trip for March when it warms up a little more on the mountain.

Cute little Airstream!  We are right on the golf course which is lovely early in the morning. 

The snow has almost melted, days are in the 80's lately.

Back yard...It will be filled with golfers in an hour!

Lake Cahuilla is very romantic...

Lake Cahuilla...a cute little county park near La Quinta.  We had water and electric hookups.  No sewer, but for a couple days it is fine.  They do have a dump station there.  This was a friendly place, with great mountain views and an international group of people.   Campfires are allowed and at night it's desert magic with the fires, crickets, the natural desert campground and the coyotes howling at the moon. 

Jimmy firing up the new travel sized charcoal grill for a Valentines Day steak dinner. 

Table for two...

 

Desert Hot Springs...

It snows in the desert.  Maybe not in the desert, but this storm dropped down below 2000 feet.  Incredibly beautiful here. 

Roadrunner...

Sure, we'll take the free room offer at Aqua Caliente Resort, just outside Palm Springs.  We can park our little beauty here in the secure parking lot and run the refrigerator on propane for the night. 

This big 4x4 Ford-F150 seems like an average sized vehicle when we are in Humboldt County.  Down here, it's easy to find it among the cars in any parking lot.     This roadrunner would not leave the roof.

This guy seems to love the desert...

From our room....sunrise on the San Jacinto Mountains, looking towards Palm Desert.

Sierra Nevada, southern crossing

Road to Tehachapi pass, Highway 58.  We did not want to skirt Los Angeles to get to Palm Springs.  Turned out to be a good route.

Alternative energy.  It ain't always pretty.

Orange Groves

Being from Humboldt County, I guess it's OK to get excited about oranges from a tree.  We stayed east of Bakersfield in a RV park located in an orange grove.  We were waiting for a snow storm to pass before we headed across the southernmost pass across the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Besides providing the orange picker, this place also tempts you with giant donuts for breakfast.  I have this strange craving for donuts when traveling in the airstream! 

Jim picked two crates of oranges..the sweetest ever.  They make for a good "desert margarita".......silver tequila, grand marnier, juice of one orange, splash of simply lime...

Airstream gets some attention, we find a great breakfast in Los Banos, CA

Authorized Airstream service centers are few and far between.  Needed to get a few items repaired so we stopped in Los Banos.  After one night in a motel, we are ready to drive to the desert!

It was a really good breakfast!  I'd stop here again in Los Banos for the housemade sausage patties. 

On the road to see Peter, Aimee & Cyrus...

This guy has mad contractor skills already!

Papa Jim and Cyrus!

Sold our house! Here we go....

Back to the blog...thought I would start out with our lovely Fickle Hill property!

Loved this living room....

Almost empty.  Moving is a big project!

Sold the house January 2013....

Oakridge, Oregon

We stayed a couple nights at Caseys RV resort in Westfir.   To get to the golf course a few miles away in Oakridge Oregon, we took a scenic back road that runs adjacent to the Willamette River.  

We drove by this interesting couple set up on the side of the road.  After we played golf we drove back on same road and saw they were still there, sitting at a small table, 
playing chess in the dappled sunlight.

We stopped and introduced ourselves.  They were a newly wedded couple from the SF Bay Area who were aspiring young journalists.  They said they had been there all afternoon, that we were the only people to stop.  Other passersby would wave at them or flip them the bird.

Since we considered ourselves happily married, we obliged their request and did an audio only interview.  We signed released forms just in case they publish somewhere like "This American Life"with Ira Glass on NPR.  

We wish them good luck and good marriage!

Westfir Oregon * 2012

Westfir, Oregon along the Willamette River.  Lovely area only 40 miles east of Eugene on Highway 58.

We checked out Casey's RV Resort, set on the river's edge.  Nice park, need to call ahead in the summer to get a spot.