PRE ROSE PARADE

The Rose Parade Rally was 6 days jam packed with activities.  Our first evening had us boarding a bus for the hour long drive to Palm Springs to see the Palm Springs Follies.  It was a great show and well worth the drive.   All the entertainers have to be older than 56 but they looked great. The larger than life size statue of Marilyn Monroe is in the center of town and draws quite a crowd.  the next two days had us touring Hollywood including a walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Equestfest as well as Bandfest and a visit to one of the barns where the floats for the Rose Parade are decorated.  Bandfest was great because it brought back memories of our days as "band parents" but the highlight was seeing what goes on behind the scene in decorating the floats.  Everyone knows that the floats must be dcorated using natural materials but, to see the volunteers using seeds to decorate signs and cut up flower petals to cover all exposed areas of the floats was AMAZING!

 

The next post will be the parade and just about every float along with some of the bands and equistrian participants.

FIRST DAY OF THE RALLY WE ATTENDED THE PALM SPRINGS FOLLIES

PRE PARADE FLOAT DECORATING TOUR

DOGS FOR DEFENSE

DECORATING WITH FLOWER PETALS AND SEEDS 

 

DR SEUSS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

EQUIFEST PERFORMANCES BY EQUESTRAINS THAT WILL BE IN THE PARADE

OUR GROUP AT EQUIFEST

BANDFEST. FIELD SHOW PERFORMANCES OF BANDS THAT WILL BE MARCHING IN THE PARADE

LOS ANGELES AND HOLLYWOOD CITY TOURS

GRAUMANN'S CHINESE THEATER



ONE STAR ON WALK OF THE STARS

 

ENTRANCE TO PARAMOUNT STUDIOS

RODEO DRIVE

MORE FROM PUERTO PENASCO

Hi everyone we are now in San Diego and this is the second installment on Puerto Penasco. It was definately a relaxing time. It is not a real busy tourist area although they would like to be. Part of he problem is getting there. You have to drive or drive. There is an airport but at the present time there are no scheduled flights.  The RV park we were at has probably 300 sites or more but my guess it is only 25% occupied.  There are also other parks that are not even open. But the people are upbeat and doing the best they can. We also visited some of the condos and a vacation home community all didn't seem to have very many occupants.  But for us it was super relaxing and we will return on our own again if the opportunity presents itself again. Of course we will be back in January with our Adventure Caravans group before heading to the Baja.

 

The next update will be of the Rose Parade sometime in January. 

 

  

JUST RELAXING

 

NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO STUFF IS FOR SALE

THIS BUILT UP OLD PICK-UP CHASSIS IS USED TO LAUNCH BOATS
DOWN A RAMP INTO THE SEA. IT SHOWS HOW INGENIUS THE MEXICAN
PEOPLE ARE. ITS A HECK OF A LOT CHEAPER WAY TO LAAUNCH A BOAT
WITHOUT SPENDING A LOT OIF MONEY ON INFRASTRUCTURE 

 

LAST CHANCE FOR JEWLERY

WE VISITED THE CONDO NEXT DOOR TO THE RV PARK THIS IS THEIR POOL OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN

ALTHOUGH MEXICANS DON'T CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN
THE KIDS COME TO THE RV PARK FOR
"TRICKY TRICKY HALLOWEEN

WE WERE CHICKEN

A CHEEP MEAL SHRIMP AND CLAMS

SHRIMP RIGHT OFF THESE BOATS

THE LAST SUNSET

HI FROM PUERTO PENASCO MEXICO

After the Balloon Fiesta was over we headed down to Mexico for some RandR before our next assignment.  On the way we passed the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park and made a very interesting detour on our way.  The pictures say it all.

 

We then made our way  down to Puerto Penasco aka Rocky Point in Sonora, MX on the northern end of the Gulf of California aka Sea of Cortez.  One of the lesser known vacation areas in Mexico.  It is where Arizonians "go to the beach" since it is only about 200 miles from the Phoenix area.  As you can see, our RV site is a hop over a 3 foot wall to the beach.  There are lots of restaurants, it is cheap and you can shop from the comfort of your RV since the vendors walk along the walkway selling everything from silver jewelry to pottery and pedicures.  The people are friendly and practically everyone speaks English and the $ is the currency of choice but the ATM's only disburse pesos. Away from the beach the area is depressed. Up until several years ago the area was an up and coming tourist area but due to the American economy and the media hype on the drug cartels' violence we were told tourism was 80% off. This year tourism is returning and is up. These people rely on the tourism and it is a shame that they have suffered. We have had a nice relaxing time and have not at all felt threatened. Although there a quite a few abandoned condos and other projects things are improving. We talked to one realtor in the condo next to the RV park. This is an upscale condo with  only 13 units left for sale and there do not seem to be many resales in the condos but much property elseware for sale. Some signs of the comeback are the new Sam's Club and Bodaga Aurrera the Mexican Walmart subsidiary, a new 6 screen movie theater showing first run US movies with spanish subtitles, and rumors a cruise ship port is on the way. There is also a new coastal road that will reduce time for those traveling to southern California.

THE PAINTED DESERT

 

 

THE PETRIFIED FOREST

 

BUMP ON A PETRIFIED LOG

A CLOSEUP OF A PIECE OF PETRIFIED WOOD

SCATTERED PERTIFIED LOGS WHERE THEY DROPPED

 

ANOTHER PIECE OF PETRIFIED WOOD

A TREE THAT FEEL AND BECAME PETRIFIED IN PLACE

 

 

 PUERTO PENASCO MEXICO

 

OUR FIRST AND SECOND SUNSETS

NEW FRIENDS - JOHN, JANET, ELVA AND CASEY

RELAXING

 

 

 

RELAXING

SHOPPING IN OLD TOWN

FISHER BETTY WITH HER LARGE TRIGGER FISH
SOMEDAY I'LL LEARN HOW TO FISH AS SHE CAUGHT THE BIGGEST