Mike and Beth's Adventures

Our drive across country was paused so we could kick back and explore Palm Springs and the surrounding area.  Honestly, I was ready to stop.  Towing Amy Marie demands full attention and after two days I was ready for a break. Plus we had a timeshare week to use or lose.... Our home for the week was the Westin Desert Willows Resort, Very nice spot to recharge.  Our Villa was near the "quiet pool" and had a BBQ just outside. There were good shaded areas to walk, especially early in the morning or just at sunset. One of the discoveries we greatly enjoyed was Sunnylands,  the former  Annenberg Estate.    The property was owned by Walter and Leonore Annenberg.  The property has very striking desert gardens, which are open to the public.  The site is also used as a conference venue.  Well worth visiting, and it is free! If you would like to tour the main house, book your reservation at least a month in advance. For additional information, visi...

  “Defiance departing slip 22 alpha”, “Sojourner on channel 78 alpha requesting a slip for 2 nights”, The VHF radio traffic as we approached Roche Harbor was non-stop.    The harbormaster on the VHF radio was talking continuously, managing the extremely high volume of traffic leaving the harbor, moving into a slip, in a holding pattern waiting for a slip or in the final bucket of “you are way down the list, what is your phone number, we’ll call if something opens up. I really felt as if I had flown into a ma jor international airport with the radio traffic occurring with multiple accents and the staccato instruction of the harbormaster being continuously fired back.   As we moved through the marina toward the fuel dock, we had to stop and hold short of an intersecting fairway to allow a yacht the size of a frigate to depart.   Looking around us we could see that every available spot was filled, sometimes with 4 boats jammed into a space meant for 2.   We lo...