Las Vegas to California Jan. 12th to 17th

Jan. 12th

We toured the south end of the Las Vegas strip. We saw the lions at MGM Grand, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, the roller coaster and the Statue of Liberty at New York-New York Hotel. The M&M candy store and the Coke store were neat. We gambled at the Tropicana and other casinos along the way. We enjoyed the buffet at Sam's Town. Lost some money but had a great time.

Jan 13th

We left Sam's Town Las Vegas before 9am and traveled through desert (lots of cacti) and over mountains to the beautiful city of Hemet, California (67 thousand people) in the San Jacinta Valley.
We missed a turn off and and were headed to Los Angeles (1/2 hour detour). We arrived at the Golden Village Resort Hemet at 3 pm (23 Deg. C). The Santa Ana Mountains are in the background.

Jan. 14th

The 1020 campsite resort is lovely. Palm trees surround the 3 pools and hot tubs, billiards room, exercise room, meeting and games room, banquet hall, modern laundry room etc.
The campsites are large with hedges and trees separating each site. Flowers including birds of paradise are throughout the resort.
We got ourselves settled in-- we went grocery shopping at Wal Mart and did 2 weeks of laundry.
After barbecuing our first dinner we had special coffee before lights out.

Jan. 15th

Another warm day of 23 Deg C . The evenings really cool down. An orange and grapefruit tree is growing in our neighbours yard. There are lots of birds especially hummingbirds. We set up a humming bird feeder outside our window. Ron and Marlene Annala (neighbours in Calgary who told us about Hemet) visited out site. We enjoyed a swim in the pool and hot tub. Lynda and I watched square dancing (trying to sign Ralph and John up for lessons) while the guys played pool. Afterwards the 4 of us played floor shuffleboard for the first time. It was great fun.

Jan. 16th

Cooler today 18 Deg C. We went to the swimming pool and had hamburgers at the Palms Cabana-music from 11 am to 3 pm. We drove around Hemet and out to the orange and grapefruit orchards. Ralph and John played pool in the evening while I read.

Jan. 17th ----- Bon Voyage Karilee

Karilee left for Australia (6-12 months) from Vancouver today. We went golfing at Echo Hills with Ron and Marlene. We enjoyed playing 9 holes on the par 4 course for $10.00 each. I did not hit a sand trap or water. It is hard to imagine playing golf in the middle of Jan. Temp. 22 Deg C. We drove with John and Lynda to Costco in Temecula, 30 miles toward the Pacific Ocean in a beautiful green valley. Played shuffleboard in the evening.