FAIRS AND TRAILS

A large tamale festival was held in Indio on Saturday and Sunday. We have been going to a Methodist Church in Indio, so went to the festival after church on Sunday. There were three stages, carnival rides and lots of vendors.

There were many stands selling tamales with lots of different kinds. We aren't experienced tamale eaters so we really didn't know what was a good one and what wasn't. We had a beef one and then we had a chicken. We liked the chicken one the best.

This was a good rock band. Larry was surprised when they played some music by Santana and I said I liked their songs.

We left the festival and did some shopping and for dinner we went to Five Guys. It has just opened and we enjoy their burgers and fries.

On Monday we went for hearing test. I have a little hearing lost in the high pitch range, but a hearing aid wouldn't do much for it. Larry couldn't get his hearing tested because he had wax build up and an infection, so instead he sent him to an ears, nose and throat doctor. They removed the wax and put him on antibiotics. The doctors office was right by this restaurant and I had a coupon to buy one appetizer get one free. We had heard it had good food, so we stopped in.

The decor inside was very intersesting with paddle fans all along the ceiling, it made you feel like you were in Africa. Our appetizers were very tasty. I had chicken tenders and Larry had the crab and shrimp spring rolls. It made a nice light dinner.

On Tuesday 15 of us went to Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It was a beautiful day for hiking.

Lynn organized this hike and is showing us on the map the trails we will be following.

We took several of these trails for about a 2 and a half mile hike.

We started out on the Marsh trail.

Larry waiting for me to stop taking pictures and start hiking.

A panoramic view of the valley, canyon and mountains from the Yucca ridge trail.

A scrub jay checked us out.
Following the trail in the canyon.

It was a little steep here. It was a nice hike and we thank Lynn for planning this outing.

Last Monday I was baking chicken when the convection microwave oven died. After checking to make sure I hadn't just blown a fuse we called a repairman. It needed to be replaced so a new one was ordered, so I have been without an oven for a week. It came yesterday, and today after we returned from our hike, he came and installed it. Lucky for us we have an extended warranty that covered most of the cost. I sure missed my microwave and really am glad to have a new one. Now I can bake some Christmas cookies.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS PARADE

Lynn, Fred, Larry, and Connie. Fred and Connie are from Elizabethtown, PA. They all enjoy playing pickleball. On Dec 4th we all decided to go to the annual Festival of Lights Parade in downtown Palm Springs. We got there about two hours early to get parking and a good view. People already lined the parade route . We found this wall near the beginning of the parade route to sit on.These turned out to be excellent seats for we were right by this realty agency and they gave out free coffee, cocoa, and cookies.

The owners of Realty Executives. Fred had been a realtor in PA, so they offered him a job but he said no thanks, he was retired.

At 5:45 the parade began. Everything was covered with lights, including all the people. There were about 5 bands and each member of the band had lights all over them. It was quite a sight to see.

Fire trucks covered in lights.

Vehicles and floats were ablaze with lights.

There were several large balloons. Palm Springs Macy parade.

This is the largest tractor in the world covered in lights.

We stood on the wall and enjoyed watching the parade for over and hour. It was a lovely evening about 65 and not windy at all. This is a very nice holiday tradition in Palm Springs. It was a great parade and we all were glad we went.