Feb 16th to 19th - Desert Hot Springs

Feb 16th – Tues – Desert Hot Springs
We went to the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival this morning. We took a tour of the grounds on a little train (because it was sitting there with empty seats!) and then had a funnel cake for breakfast. It did not take too long to walk through all the exhibits & vendors and we were done.
So we had to stop at a casino on the way home. We eventually lost the money that we won on the last trip and headed home. We had an early dinner and then did laundry. It was an excellent time to visit the laundry room – no waits.
Watched Olympics.

Feb 17th – Wed – Desert Hot Springs
I spent more time on the phone today trying to get paperless bank & credit card statements. Turns out this still cannot be done in Washington. It only eventually took me about 20 minutes on hold to find this out!
We attended a Owners’ Appreciation BBQ at 12:30. We took chairs and a small table to set up by the pool so we could enjoy our lunch and live music provided by Matt Jenkins. Door prizes were included and Terry won a $50 gift certificate for The Cheesecake Factory.
After a short bike ride, we stopped to talk to Lynn and ended up staying for a beer. At 5, Larry & Barb picked us up to go to the Roadhouse bar for more music from Matt and to have dinner & dance. Lynn and her friend Moe joined us there.

Feb 18th – Thurs – Desert Hot Springs
There could possibly have been a power outage today from 9 to 3 so I got up early to make microwave coconut & peanut brittles. I also started cookies (the part needing a mixer) and then showered & dressed. I did not have time to finish baking the cookies before it was time to go to line dancing lessons. The power outage did not occur so the dance class was a go. There were fewer people and Terry was the only man this time.
I finished the cookies when we returned and made breakfast for lunch. We were having a group over to make buddy burners so I made a veggies tray and put little smokies in the crock pot before relaxing with a book.
The buddy burner group included Larry & Barb, Paul, Gilbert & Grace (he had finished his buddy burner), Cliff & Pauline, Lynn and Moe. Cliff & Pauline also brought Bob & Doreen (Doreen is Cliff & Grace’s cousin) and Terry & Eileen. Good thing we started at 4 as we were still melting wax after dark. Terry (not March) & Cliff cut all the cardboard strips, Bob chopped up a lot of the candles and Terry March melted wax & supervised. Luckily I thought to get him a plate of food!
We had a great time with a super group of people.

Feb 19th – Fri – Desert Hot Springs
Bob & Doreen stopped by to pick up the now cooled buddy burners for their group and we had a nice chat with them. It was really windy last night and today.
We took the truck to drop off Larry’s lawn chairs and take garbage and leftover cardboard to the trash and then stopped by to see if Cliff & Pauline wanted to cancel our scheduled golf game due to the wind. They totally agreed that it was not a day for golf. Bob & Doreen had gone there to deliver a buddy burner so we all visited for a while before Bob & Doreen left to have lunch. Next thing we know, Pauline is putting together lunch for them & us. Nice Canadian hospitality!!
A bit later, Terry figured we needed to go to a casino. After I put up a mighty fight – yeah right! – we headed to the nearest casino but had no luck today.
We spent a quiet evening – me reading and watching the Olympics and Terry getting his butt kicked at Chess by the computer.