Randy and Robin's Roving Retirement

We left our beloved Palm Springs on March 1st and drove through the Mojave National Preserve to Las Vegas. The preserve had a fire in Aug 2020 and was quite eerie, yet thriving. Incredible numbers of Joshua trees were everywhere. Our new condo is off Flamingo and Buffalo, west of the strip. Most of our Airbnb’s are 1 bedroom, fully furnished and well equipped with dishes, towels and supplies. This one has a washer and dryer in the unit, so we are pleased. We love our king size Vibe bed, which is amazingly comfortable as well as the benefit that you cannot feel your partner’s movement. Another aspect of our constant relocations is that we get exposed to a variety of floor plans, furnishings and neighborhoods. This is a great help for planning our future home when we eventually settle down.

We have continued our quest for amazing almond croissants and have found several French bakeries. We just love Cardenas market and go every Friday for $5 rotisserie chickens which are so delicious that we buy 2. At our favorite non smoking casino, Park MGM, there is a section called Eataly with Italian foods. The Tricolore street pizza there is fantastic. The Vegas strip is packed these days, especially with spring break, so we are staying away and will return only on weekdays. On another note, we were able to get our 2 dose Covid vaccine next door at Walgreens.

We have a walking park across the street and have found several other pleasant parks close by. We took a glorious day trip to Boulder City. We stopped at South Nevada Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery to pay respects to my mom and dad. Next we stopped at Hoover Dam, an amazing site. We ended up at our favorite Hemenway Park in Boulder City to see the Bighorn sheep that congregate there.

One day we took a day trip and drove to an old mining town, Goodsprings. Hiked the Goodsprings Trail, a 2.2 mile loop. Uphill to a beautiful breezy view on a clear 80F day. Came back into town to find a Mad Max style car show.

Fremont Street Experience is always a fun evening. Lots of people, buskers, lights and fun.

Red Rock Canyon is free with our America the Beautiful senior pass. We enjoyed some scenic hiking trails.

We went to Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum. Entertaining, 90 minute + tour, but expensive. Probably not advised if you have a fear of clowns, or are not curious about serial killers, exorcism, or haunted items. No photography inside, so here is all I have.

Vegas is always a fun time, but it was much more crowded than our last visit in October, especially during spring break and with the economic stimulus money in people’s hands. Now off to San Diego, where we are staying in Imperial Beach, one block from the beach 😎.

We are still in Palm Springs, having extended our stay until March 1st to ride out the pandemic in warmth. California has been closed down for a majority of our stay since November 15th, but outdoor dining has just reopened. We are spending our days hiking, walking the downtown corridor, attending the zoo, riding our vintage tandem bicycle and enjoying our pool and hot tub. The local casino has a senior day at the cafe with free pastry with a coffee as well as 50% off lunch. Palm Springs is also a great place for medical tourism and we are catching up on medical appointments. We have also connected with friends and family.

Indian Palms at Coachella Valley Preserve

Garstin Trail

Living Desert Zoo

Willis Palms

Whitewater Preserve

Our current plan is to stay in the US until after Labor Day and then head to Portugal, one year later than our original plan. If Portugal is not feasible, it might be Thailand, Costa Rica or another destination. For now, we are heading back to Vegas on March 1st for 6 weeks, then San Diego for 4 weeks, Tucson for 4 weeks and then to Denver. We will head to Seattle in July, stopping in Sacramento and Oregon en route.

Robolights! What the hell is Robolights? In a nutshell, this guy started making giant robots and post apocalyptic Christmas decorations and over decades developed an immense collection. During Christmas, his 8 million lights attracted many visitors as well as complaints from neighbors and so for Christmas 2019 and 2020 Robolights was not open. It is being moved to another location in Rancho Mirage and another location was opened in Detroit. The following pictures were taken from the outside of the compound, located in a residential neighborhood. Some of the robots are 20+ feet high. These are limited views from the perimeter and so do not reflect the full scale of the display which is no longer open to the public.

We went here a few weeks ago. Decided to get a membership as it pays for itself with 2 visits and we will be here several more months. This zoo is highly ranked, rated 10 best zoos in US by Conde’ Nast Traveler as well as in the top 1% of all attractions in the US on Trip Advisor. It was closed for a short while with new lockdown, but being an outdoor activity, wisdom prevailed and it has opened back up. In contrast to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, this zoo has many animals from sub Saharan Africa. We can’t wait for Wildlights.

What a beautiful place! Fortunately, we have our America the Beautiful National Park Pass. It gives us free entry to all US national parks and saved us $30. Joshua Tree lies at the overlap of the Mojave and Colorado deserts. Lots of hiking trails and campgrounds. For Robin, this desert treasure is truly a spiritual experience.

Another beautiful and peaceful hiking area just north of Palm Springs. Most of the preserves are free of charge to enter. Visitors centers have usually been closed due to Covid. The Canyon Loop Trail actually connects with the Pacific Crest Trail. We did not get that far this time, but we will get back there.

This is a working movie set, but with real buildings, not facades. It is located north of Palm Springs Chilly day when we were there. We had ribs (takeout) from Pappy and Harriet’s.

We absolutely love Palm Springs. Very peaceful, mellow vibe here. We have a 1 BR 1 Ba condo, about 600 square feet. The pool and hot tub are about 100 ft away, but the hot tub has not been heated since our 2nd day here due to Riverside Co Covid rules. Word is out that it may re-open soon, but with new lockdown it may not happen. It is outside and rarely used, so we are excited to finally use it again. We have very friendly Costa’s Hummingbirds on our patio. I have been trying to get one to perch on my finger and have actually touched the chest of one. One actually landed on Robin’s toe while she was seated.

As usual, we have discovered some outstanding nature walks. Big Morongo Canyon, Thousand Palms at the Coachella Valley Preserve, and Joshua Tree National Park. We also found some local walks out our front door, from easy loops, to walking part way up the tram hill, to luxury neighborhoods a short drive away. We actually bought a used tandem bike, a 1968 Schwinn Twinn deluxe. We are working well as a team with Randy as captain and Robin as stoker. Riding a tandem is quite different from solo riding.

After a hectic drive from Vegas, we arrived at Mark and Arlene’s in Fountain Valley, CA. Due to Covid and some high risk people, Mark had us set up in his motor home out front of his home. He even set us up for 2 nights at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Glorious evening as the Baskins took us on the Balboa ferry and an evening in Balboa/Newport Beach and shared a lovely meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Newport Beach

We really enjoyed the Newport Beach Boardwalk. The shops, waterfront homes (many for rent), people watching and bars. After 8 nights in the motor home and with colder temperatures and aching backs, we moved into Motel 6 Costa Mesa.

I grew up in Hollywood, but have not lived there since 1970. I took Robin on a tour of my old elementary schools and neighborhood which was about 1 1/2 miles from Hollyood and Vine. We had a fun walk on Hollywood Blvd, drove Sunset Strip and though Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. We ended up at Santa Monica beach for lunch and a walk on the 3rd Street Promenade, the Santa Monica Pier and finally a walk on the Venice boardwalk. Another day we went to the LaBrea Tarpits.

Another day we went to Forest Lawn cemetery to pay respects to my mother and spread some of my dad’s ashes. Beautiful cemetery with a number of celebrity graves.

Orange County and LA was a fun, entertaining adventure even with a lot of Covid closures. We want to return once it opens up. Next off to Palm Springs, where will stay until March 1st.

Neon Museum

We went ahead and took the evening tour. A worthwhile tour to understand the history of Las Vegas.

Erotic Heritage Museum

Now this was an interesting museum. X Rated, so beware.

Las Vegas Natural History Museum

A smaller, older museum which was still interesting to stroll through. Easy to spend a couple of hours. Only $10 admission.

Mob museum

We had been to the Mob Museum before several years ago. Although a costly admission, it was very entertaining to go again. If you go after 5 pm, there is a substantial discount. 3 floors of fascinating information and history.

Area 15

Not a museum, but Area 15 is an interactive experience. We did not go in as they were booked for a month with social distancing protocol. Pictures are of the parking lot art.