Since leaving our Cottonwood friends and heading to the desert to dry out, we spent most of our time at Caliente Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, a few miles north of Palm Springs. We visited with some Okotoks neighbours (John & Grace) who spend their winters here in a beautiful park model home with a large deck. We made regular trips to the community hot tubs and pools which were serviced by the natural acquifiers below the ground in the Desert Hot Springs area. We played golf at nearby Desert Dunes, a Robert Trent Jones design that was purchased 3 years ago by a Canadian group including Kevin Martin (the curler).......unfortunately there were tell-tale signs that they may also be experiencing some financial issues. On another day we did a nice hike from the park up to Flag Mountain and had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with John & Grace, and 150 of their friendly park friends in the community clubhouse.
During the week Rhonda used her spare time to strategically plan her Black Friday attack, bringing back nightmares of my 6:30 am Nashville experience last year. I have successfully avoided Boxing Day in Canada in the past but this is now becomming a worriesome trend. My personal belief about Boxing Day is that it is for the people who have been naughty during the year, and subsequently didn't get the gifts they wanted from Santa on Christmas Day, requiring them to go out in sub-zero temperatures, line up, and then pay for the things they desire. Fortunately, I have been a good boy all my life and Santa has always taken care of my needs. With Black Friday occuring a month before Christmas, it makes a little more sense to go out and cross off items from the family Xmas list, and my dear wife seems to quickly seize upon the opportunity of my willingness to help out in this regard. Last year, Black Friday in-store sales started on Thanksgiving Thursday which we avoided because of the ire from many who thought that it interrupted family get-togethers. Male NFL fans however think it is a wonderful way to keep their wives and girlfriends busy while they watch football all day long........which is probably why the Thursday sales have been expanded this year. So our Chief of Staff decided that the best deals were likely to be on Thursday and we should not let the opportunity slip away.
Our experience started with a search for a restaurant open for Thanksgiving dinner, which took some time as most of them were rightfully closed. We had an ample supply of food in the van but felt like eating out if something was available, saving "our" energy for the sales later that evening. We finally found a spot in Palm Desert, not too far from the stores that Rhonda had selected for "incredible" savings. (I took her word for it it which I have learned to do.........let me know if you need any further marriage advice). Anyway, the restaurant was packed and the short-staffed help were doing their best to accommodate everyone. Still some customers where annoyed that they weren't getting enough attention from our overworked waitress and voiced their complaints. It wasn't an issue for us, we don't sweat the small stuff anymore. It makes one wonder if the unhappy people eating out alone on Thanksgiving Day were travellers like us or they didn't have families and friends to be thankful for.
After our meal we drove over to a large plaza for the two main events, an 8 pm 'special' at one store and a midnight super-deal at another. The first store was already packed at 7 pm when we arrived with long lines beside the many in-store special bargains that were being carefully guarded by store employees until the 8 pm kick-off but my lady's pre-planning worked to perfection (she is clever) and we were there just in time to secure our treasures (or perhaps yours on Christmas Day). Then we returned to the van, set up the bed and went to sleep for a couple of hours, waking up at 11:30 pm. When we noticed a large line-up of approximatley 500 people already waiting for the midnight store opening we quickly got dressed and joined the party.....at least it was a lot more civilized than the 11,000 people in the New York City Macy's line-up. Once in the store we quickly obtained the desired items, paid for them immediately and re-positioned them to the van. At least I did. I suggested Rhonda continue looking for deals....she had done a fine job so far.....but instead of retiring to our comfy king-sized bed, the adrenalin rush had hit and I returned to the store to protect her from the mob mentality of trying to rescue the American economy in one night. As it turns out she found a few more opportunities.........unfortunately by this time the line-up to the multiple cash registers was all the way to the back of the store and I patiently waited in line, sacrificing 30 minutes of valuable sleep time while Rhonda found a couple more 'deals'. I must be in love.......is there any other explanation?
Today we drove an hour north to Joshua Tree National Park..........there are no stores for 25 miles so this is a perfect re-hab facility ( a requirement since our one room home isn't as spacious as it used to be with all of our purchases). A few hikes are in order before we make a previously unplanned return to Las Vegas to catch the Grey Cup game on Sunday........Go Stamps Go!
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| Everything looking good so far |
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| Pinnacle re-union |
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