Palm Springs, California

Last week I spent three days with my very dear and special friends Al and Steve at their home in Palm Springs.  

Al at their condo

They have a beautiful two bedroom condo at a gated community with lovely grounds and a wonderful view of the mountains behind Palm Springs.

A beautiful guest room - I was so comfortable there

I met Al early in my flight attendant career with Republic Airlines and our friendship just clicked.  We both have "Jr" attached to our names and even have the same birthday;  just the day not the year!  Through Al I met his partner Steve who was also a flight attendant with United Airlines.

Both Al and I were commuting during our early flying years so would buddy bid so we could fly together on the same schedule for the month.  Commuting means that we were based in one city and lived in different cities so had to fly to work.  This worked well for us as we could share commuting expenses such as hotel rooms before our trips and sometimes after as well.

We were based together in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and finally San Francisco which was home for both of us as well as Steve.  It was great when we finally got based at home and the three of us would spend quite a bit of time together when we weren't flying. 

Al and Steve eventually bought a home in Palm Springs and transferred flying bases to Los Angeles.  They had a lovely home with a swimming pool and I visited with them a couple of times.  But with being based and living in different cities with busy schedules, we didn't visit nearly as much as we had.  I would occasionally meet up with Al while flying about the airline system which had become Northwest Airlines.

With both Al and Steve flying and commuting to Los Angeles, the maintenance of keeping a home with a pool became too much so they eventually sold the home and bought the condo.  They have been there quite a few years now and have since both retired from the airlines.

It was so good to see and visit with them and we had a great time catching up and talking about old times.  Steve fixed a wonderful dinner the first night that I arrived.  Thank you Steve!  Of course the weather was warm so we spent a lot of time in their wonderful pool which was just behind their condo.

I loved all the Palm Trees

The second night we went out to dinner and John, a friend of ours, met us for dinner.  It was great seeing John and catching up with him as I hadn't seen him in quite a while either.  John was a flight attendant as well and used to fly with Al and I when we were based in San Francisco.  John has left the airline industry as well and is now working for a veterinarian which he loves.

From the left, Al, Steve, and John

Al has started a pet care/walking business and plays tennis to keep busy.  And to have something to do, Steve is working part-time as a TSA agent at the airport which fits right in with his flight attendant experience.

They have two cats Sydney and Rita.  I asked them how they got their names which turned out to be interesting.  Steve used to fly trips to Sydney Australia and Al used to fly trips to Narita, Japan.  Hence the names Sydney and Rita.  Sydney is very friendly but Rita is quite a bit shyer.  Here is a picture of Sydney doing what cats do best.

The last day Al took me to the Palm Springs Museum.  It is a beautiful museum with lots of art work some of which is on loan from many of the residents in Palm Springs.  There is quite an extensive and impressive glass collection including pieces by Dale Chihuly.  While I was visiting, a new metal sculpture was put up in front of the museum and we saw part of the installation with a huge crane. 

 New sculpture

 Amazing detailed glass pieces

This guy was so cute

Just around the corner from the museum was a 26 foot tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe.  The sculpture was brought to Palm Springs from Chicago and the city is thinking about buying the sculpture and keeping it in Palm Springs and keeping Marilyn there since she spent a lot of time in Palm Springs in real life.  The sculpture has been quite a tourist draw and has brought quite a bit of money into the city.  For more information about the sculpture visit her website.

At least I'm not looking up!

Thank you Al and Steve for a wonderful visit and your hospitality.  I had a wonderful time.  You guys must come and visit us now.  We must make it a point to see each other more often.

Calistoga

We decided to celebrate Pat's birthday with a trip to Calistoga.  Not sure how it happened, but we did not get up to the Napa Valley at all in 2012.  

We made reservations at the Washington Street Lodging, where we always stay in Calistoga.  The weather was great and we were able to enjoy time on the deck as well as dining outside.

We picked a few new wineries to visit as well as a stop at our old favorite, Vincent Arroyo.  When we were in Phoenix we were talking with Jonny about Napa and he told us about a winery up there that he really liked.  He mailed up two passes for a tour/tasting at Jarvis Winery.  Neither of us had ever heard of it, but we made reservations for a tour on Thursday.

We did some wine tasting at Raymond this time, as we have always enjoyed their wines.  We made a stop at Rombauer for some of their wonderful Zinfandel's and visited with Gayle and Glen at their winery, too.

It was a wonderfully relaxing 4 days!  What an awesome birthday!

Lee at Raymond Winery

 

Jarvis winery is entirely underground with 45,000 square feet of caves!  There is a natural spring that flows into the cave, which creates a year-round steady humidity and temperature for the wine 

 The waterfall

 Some of the huge wine vats

The bottling machine

 The large bottles are hand-dipped in wax

 Large French oak cuve barrels

 Small French oak wine barrels

Crystal room - the winery contains several large caves for gatherings and parties - the Crystal room is one of them

 Some of the amazing crystals

 Wine tasting at Jarvis.  Each person had a "flight" of 6 glasses to taste the wines that Jarvis produces.  There was also crackers and cheeses to go with the tasting

 Our tour and tasting guide - Rob

 What a delightful time we had at Jarvis!  The tour and tasting lasted for two hours!  Thank you so much, Jon, for the tour and tasting passes - we would have never discovered Jarvis without you.

Visiting Betty & John in Phoenix

In April we went to Phoenix to visit with Betty and John and their family.  The weather was gorgeous!  Although it did get up to 102 degrees on the Monday before we left.  But still, lovely to be out in the gazebo in the mornings and evenings.

Betty and John had lots planned!  We arrived on Thursday and that evening went to the Arizona Broadway Theater.  The theater is a spectacular building, which John designed!  It's fun to go there with them as John gets lots of recognition from the staff there.  It's a dinner theater - dinner is served before the play begins and then dessert is served during intermission.  We saw the show Nine to Five and it was great!  We hadn't seen it before, we were only familiar with the song, but we enjoyed it tremendously.

On Friday we loaded up the van and left to spend the night in Pine.  On the way we traveled to Arcosanti - a community that was envisioned by Paolo Solari, who taught architecture at ASU when John was going to school there.  Solari was considered to be a dreamer, but had some unique ideas about how people could live with very little damage to the planet.

Arcosanti was very interesting!  We were able to tour the community.  There are currently about 100 people living there, although the plans call for an expansion that could house up to 5,000 people.

Paolo Solari also makes bronze and ceramic bells.  They are very well known in the Southwest and all over the world.  We saw where the ceramic and bronze bells were made at Arcosanti, and Betty and John got a ceramic bell to add to their Solari collection.

Betty and John gave us a Solari bell as a wedding gift and we had always loved it but it meant so much to see how it was made and the workmanship that went into it.

After Arcosanti we visited Page Springs Winery!  It's a great winery, totally off the beaten path, but their wines are great!  We were able to sit outside under the umbrella and Lee and I tasted the offerings that day.  Betty got brave and tried a sip or two as well, but she didn't care for it.

We had dinner in Pine and spent the night at the cabin.  Saturday morning was gorgeous and we were able to have breakfast out on the deck overlooking the valley below - wonderful!  We then did some thrift and antique shops and after lunch in Pine we headed back to Phoenix.

Sunday all the kids came for lunch and it was great to see all of the kids and grand kids!  Sadly, we were having such a good time visiting with everyone that we neglected to take pictures!

On Monday we visited Cosanti - Paolo Solari's original community in Phoenix.  It was so interesting to see the architecture.  We were fortunate that we were there when they did the pour of the molten bronze into the bell molds!  As this was where our wedding bell had come from, we picked out another bell to hang outside the front door.

After Cosanti we visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill!  We had a tour and learned all about the production of olive oil and what all of those terms like "virgin" and "extra virgin" mean.  We learned that each tree produces only about 5 gallons of oil in a good year.  We then got to do some tasting - very unique flavors from different olives.  We had lunch at their cafe and bought some olive oil and coffee.  It was great fun!!

We went to a lovely restaurant for dinner on Monday night where we were able to sit outside.  They served the biggest burgers that we had ever seen!  Fortunately we followed Betty and John's lead and shared one.

Then it was home for a relaxing evening.  And Tuesday morning off to the airport for the trip home.

We had such a good time, Betty and John!  Looking forward to the next time, AND Hawaii in 2015!!  Thank you so much for everything!!

Google Arcosanti - it's quite an interesting concept

 

Some of Solari's bronze bells

 

Part of the structure

 

 The workshop.  It was designed to be self-cooling and self-heating based on the position of the sun.  Even though it was quite warm that day, it was cool under the half dome.

 Our guide explaining the process of pouring the ceramic bells.  Betty and John are at the far left, in the shade

 Demonstrating the removal of a ceramic bell from it's sand cast

 Another temperature-neutral structure

One of the private residences there

 

 The stage and amphitheater.  There are plans to dome this over as well

 The residences around the amphitheater

 The steps down to the lower level and the swimming pool in the background

 Some of the newly cast bronze bells

Betty with a large Solari bell

 

 We had lunch in their cafeteria - it was very good!

 Bells!

 And more bells!

Ceramic bells

 

 Some of them were very intricate and large.  It was interesting to hear the different sounds they had.

 The winery!

Cheers!  Betty looks dubious!

 

But she gave it a try!

 

 I think that her expression says it all!!

 Breakfast on the deck in Pine

We passed this tree along the road back to Phoenix.  Someone hung a pair of shoes from a branch and then everyone got in on the act!  There were dozens of pairs of shoes hanging from the "shoe tree"!!

 

 Beautiful cactus bloom!

 Spring in the desert

 Cosanti in Phoenix

This is where they did the casting and assembly of the ceramic bells

 

One of the work and display areas

 

Another amazing Solari half-dome

 

 Pouring the molten bronze into the molds

 It was quite a process

 The final pour for that casting

 Our bell!  It now hangs outside the front door

 The bell at home in Moss Beach

 Queen Creek Olive Mill

 GIANT burgers!!  But they were delicious!!

Jim has a new fishing-related business!  He strings hooks onto these worms!  On Monday, Jim's son Jake came over to do some hand-crafting!  This picture is at the beginning of the day

 

 And here's the product of his days work!  They are very labor-intensive but apparently the fish LOVE them!!