A COUPLE OF WEEKS AT TT PALM SPRINGS, CA

Sept 15 - Sept 29 - We arrived at TT Palm Springs on Saturday, September 15th, the day the campground reopened.  We thought we would get there early to help Rick and Linda welcome Pickleball players!!  Wrong!!  Linda and Rick were there and it was great to see them again.  We had them over for lunch of Tuna Croissants!!



 But it was far to early and tooooo hottttt (3 digit temps) for any other players to show up!!  Most of the time we just stayed in our air-conditioned motor home and read and watched TV!!

One day we stopped by Home Goods, looking for some kind of basket to keep our shoes so they don't have to spread all over the floor!  Success!!!!  Note:  The basket fits perfectly under our steering wheel table. 



After that we stopped by Ross and bought a "storage foot stool" like one Ken and seen at a doctor's office.  They told him they had gotten it at Ross.  Success!!  Ken added some rollers on the bottom so we can move it around.  You can turn the lid over and it is a large tray.



Friends of ours, Joe and Pam, bought a house in LaQuinta, just a few miles from TT Palm Springs.  We got together with them to catch up with happenings and to enjoy Happy Hour at the Elephant Bar!

I always like to take a picture of the bar with the fans!!  I happened to get our waiter in the picture.

We leave TT Palm Springs on Saturday morning.  On Friday afternoon, we met Pam and Joe for lunch at Pho VU Vietnamese Restaurant in LaQuinta for Shrimp Noodle Soup and Egg Rolls.  We introduced Pam and Joe to Pho VU a year or so ago.  They say it is their favorite restaurant in the area and only about a mile from their home.  The Restaurant was packed with the lunch-time crowd.  Pam said it always is!!  The price is right and the food is wonderful!!  Not fancy but everything is so fresh and reasonably priced!!

 

 

 

 

Here we are -- four happy dinners!!

 

 

 

Thank you Pam and Joe for getting us out a couple of times!!!!

THE ENDEAVOUR'S FINAL FLIGHT!!

Sept 20 - 21 - A moment in history!!  And we missed it!!!  Thursday morning as we watched TV, the west coast news was full of stories and pictures about the Endeavour's Final Flight.  We were watching at 9:00 AM.  TV coverage was following the Endeavour's Final Flight as it headed toward Edwards Air Force Base, scheduled to land around Noon.  If we had left at that moment, we could have made it to Edwards (150 miles from TT Palm Springs) in time to see the Shuttle come in for a landing!!  But we did not leave, and so we missed it!!

Mounted atop a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, the shuttle heads toward Edward AF Base.  (From NBC News on TV)



Early on Friday morning, the Endeavour left Edwards, heading for Los Angeles Airport.  It made flyovers of many Southern California sites en route, including Palmdale, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Griffith Observatory, Disneyland, and the Hollywood sign before heading to LAX.  Notice how low it is flying -- only about 500 feet!!  Amazing!!

The following pictures were taken from The Atlantic, Sept. 29, 2012 – In Focus - Because we were not there!!!

I did not realize that Southern California was so involved in the space program, but they have built and tested most of the space shuttles.  Tens of thousands of people turned out to witness this moment in history.  But we were not there!!!

 

One of several fly-bys over LAX,

 



Coming in for a landing at LAX!!  But we were not there!!

 

Once at LAX, the Endeavour was removed from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft by crane.  Fascinating!!

Around September 12 or 13, the Endeavour will be transported overland to the California Science Center.  We will probably be at the wrong place at the wrong time and will not be able to participate in that moment in history either.  That's OK.  It was amazing to watch the entire episode play out on TV.  Great coverage!!!