La Quinta, California: Seriously too busy to blog! It has been a beehive of activity here at Taylor Manor since returning from Spring Break in Europe with the grandchildren. We had nearly a week to recover, then Marie & Matt arrived from Portland for a few days of sunshine and golf.
We gave them the complete tour - including a day trip to Borrego Springs to see the art installations, and a day wandering the streets of Palm Springs to see Marilyn.
M&M left Thursday afternoon, and L&L (Lisa and Lucile) arrived Thursday evening. Lucy wanted to see Katseye (kinda a K-Pop/Pop band from Los Angeles), so Lisa decided to take an 11 year old her to Coachella. (Truth be told, I think Leo was about five the first time he went to Coachella to see his classmate's dad play at the festival.) Lisa and Lucy had VIP wristbands and enjoyed all the festival had to offer - though they only went Friday and Saturday.
Our girls had a fantastic time. They caught the entire Katseye set, and then stayed to see Sabrina Carpenter with guest star Madonna! Madonna said she opened at Coachella 20 years ago - and Lisa was there to see her in 2006. Wow! Tonight, Madonna wore the same costume she wore 20 years ago. Nostalgic.
I sent the girls home with a loaf of whole wheat honey bread and a dozen chocolate chip cookies... and we had a few days to get organized again, before driving over to Los Angeles to see Lucile perform in High School Musical at her school.
Kelsi is the student who has re-imagined Romeo and Juliet into Juliet and Romeo for the "East High School" musical... and there is a problem with the school male star athlete and the female school genius if they should play in the Big Game or the Big Math Contest... or star in the school musical. It was very good for a group of youngsters!
Lucile's best skill was "playing the piano" while other actors were singing. Lucy does not play the piano - but she can act!
After the play, the 4L's had a birthday dinner for Dave! We rushed back to our house the next morning, trying to beat Stagecoach traffic - yes, we have three weekends of music festivals a 7-iron shot from our country club. It means not leaving the property from Friday-Sunday. We hunker-down. There is zero cellular service all weekend, as all the hipsters suck it up. Even if we did need to go to the grocer, the shelves are bare.
Speaking of hunkering down... Wow. Last night was just awful. The winds picked-up (as they often do in the desert), but by the time the sun set, we were in dangerous 50mph gusts. For the first time in our many years in the desert, tops of palm trees blew off! Snapped right off!
The Stagecoach Music Festival was evacuated for several hours last night, but they started up again where they left off and at were still playing at 1a... which is when I finally took a sleeping pill. Ugh. Someone might pull my Parrothead card, but I really really really do not like country music.
We saw the destruction this morning. All of the palms on our property survived, but a palm behind our neighbor's house (on the golf course, not on their property) popped-off:
Dave rode his bike this morning and saw so much damage from the storm. We went to the clubhouse for our usual Sunday brunch and talked to so many guests (of our members) who had been at the Polo grounds last night during the evacuation. They reported so much confusion - couples separated, belongings left behind. It was GET OUT OF HERE NOW... but where to do? Most festival goers are bused-in from Palm Springs area hotels. The people we talked to said they just walked back to our country club (next door). Lucky.
We learned from the gardeners at our club the trees die after losing their heads. They will need to be replaced. So sad. Each tree is well over 40 years old. (The trees are date palms that no longer produce fruit - usually around 40-45 years old. Menopausal date palms. They sold for landscaping.) I feel the trees are very strong, as it is often windy in the Coachella Valley... but last night was just too much.
Insert sad face here.
Dave spent his birthday cleaning up outside as I was cleaning up inside (DUST!). Hoping for a restful week, a fun Cinco de Mayo, and then the kids are here for Mother's Day weekend.
Until my next update, I remain, your wind-blown correspondent.
Happy birthday Dave!!
Happy birthday Dave!
Hope you shoot your age on the golf course!!