Blythe to City of Industry

Blythe to City of Industry

Woke up very early, 5:15am, too soon to get up but after seven hours my back won't take much more. The fact that the bed was like sleeping on a board with a couple of blankets on it probably had something to do with it too. I took a shower, dressed and took the kids for their morning walk then gave them their breakfast. They immediately went back up on the bed next to Tina and went to sleep again. Sheesh! A dog's life...

Breakfast at Starbucks!

As it was still only 6:20am I thought I'd give Tina another half hour of sleep and go across the street to Starbucks for coffee and to catch up on my email. Just as I was finishing,Tina sent me a text requesting a Short Americano for her 'wake up'. When she got done with her shower and morning routine we packed the car, loaded the kids and drove to Starbucks for breakfast. Then we stopped for gas and headed for LA.

Now that's what I call a wind farm!

Like yesterday, traffic was light for most of the drive but by the time we reached Indio and stated going through Windy Pass where all the Wind Farms are located, traffic picked up pretty good. As we continue on I-10 west we got to Beaumont and cut over to CA-60 through the Moreno Valley. Even though Tina and I had driven this route in both directions several years ago when we were staying in Hemet, I had forgotten that we were actually going through a mountain pass. With cars packed head to toe at 60 mph through winding twisting hills on a two lane freeway, fist going up, then coming down it was a real roller coaster ride and one I don't want to repeat any time soon!! But finally we were down on the flats of Moreno Valley where traffic eased up and a certain amount of sanity was achieved - heh, heh!

Heh, heh I had to lift this one from their home page

The rest of the drive to our hotel in the City of Industry, Pacific Palms Resort, was fairly easy. We got off a Azuza Ave and within a mile we were heading up a long winding driveway to the top of a small hill to the hotel. Tina took the kids for a walk while I went in and registered. With key in hand, we gathered a couple of our bags, the kids and made it up to our room.

Looking out over the valley from our room

Almost a Suite

We had a third floor corner room with big sliding glass doors leading onto a private balcony looking out over the valley and one of the two the golf courses. After getting settled in we went down to the Cafe located near the pro shop and had lunch. By 2:30 we were back on the road again headed for our friends Don and Diane house about five miles away.

Don and I have been friends for nearly 40 years, since shortly after Linda and I got divorced back in 1976. Even though we have spent most of those years in different parts of the country we've always managed to stay in touch, writing a 30 chapter blog together, taking several joint vacations, and even motor homing together to Yellowstone one year. He and Diane are trying to get their home ready to sell so they can move to Florida to enjoy the nice weather we have. Diane's daughter Tammy, lives about 15 miles from our place in Naples.

Lighting the Candles on Diane's Birthday Cake

When we got to their place we were surprised to find that Tammy had flown out to surprise her mom for her 29th birthday, Diane's 29th birthday, that is!!And going out to the patio we had another surprise, "Big" Jim, Diane's son and his girlfriend Michelle were there too.We hadn't seen Jim for several years. We all spent the next several hours visiting before Don weent in to make his famous Tuna Caserole for dinner. Just as everything was ready, Diane's grandson "DJ" and his wife Rosie and baby "James" showed up! The last time we saw DJ he was and awkward teen trying to find himself and now here he was married and a father! What a nice family visit for Diane's birthday.

After dinner we had to have the traditional lighting of the birthday cake with the Birthday song, then everybody got dessert!

By eight o'clock Tina and I plus the kids were beginning to feel the effects of a long day and bid adieu to all until tomorrow and headed back to the hotel to call it a day.