We traveled from March Air Reserve Base to La Cahuilla County Park at La Quinta, California. This park is near La Quinta, California which is next to Palm Desert, California. We traveled to this park to visit with Martin Perlmutter and his wife Mary Boles. Martin and Mary live in Tiburon, California just north of San Francisco and are long-time friends of ours. They have a condo in La Quinta and they just happened to be at the condo for a couple of weeks as we were passing through. We decided to stop and visit with them.

We stayed at the Lake Cahuilla County Park just south of town. It has an RV park, but we decided to stay at their equestrian park since the sites were larger and more likely to fit "The Beast." We parked the trailer and then proceeded to stay for three days at Martin and Mary's condo. We only stayed in the RV on the last night at the park, so we did not get to enjoy the park at all. There were very nice people parked around us, so we felt okay about leaving the trailer unattended.

It was a great visit with Martin and Mary; their hospitality was awesome. We went shopping for food at Costco and had dinner at Whole Foods Market. This is a great place to eat since they have a huge assortment of prepared foods to choose from. All you have to do is pay for it by the pound. The next morning, we also walked two miles to Panera Bread with Mary for breakfast. This was fun and we had bagels with coffee. Martin and Mary then drove us to Palm Springs, where we walked about looking at the various shops on the strip. It fun seeing the different shops and eating establishments. Lisa bought some clothing which she rarely does. When we go home, we helped Martin and Mary program their externally mounted garage door unit and their remote control. We had fun working together to figure out the system.

Martin and Mary also took us to the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands for a visit. Sunnylands, completed in 1966, was the winter home of the late Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg. Designed by midcentury architect A. Quincy Jones, the 25,000-square-foot house displays original furniture and décor by interior designer William Haines and partner Ted Graber. With a collection of Tang, Ming, and Ching dynasty artifacts, silver-gilt, Meissen porcelain, Stueben glass, Flora Danica, and sculpture by 19th and 20th century artists, Sunnylands has played a role in 20th and 21st century American history. As directed by the Annenbergs, the estate, often referred to as “Camp David of the West,” serves as a sanctuary for high-level national and world leaders seeking the privacy, the peace, and “the pause” needed for solving the most pressing national and international issues.  The list of dignitaries who came to Sunnylands to conference is extensive. We did not get to go to the actual home where the Annenbergs entertained dignitaries, but we did see the adjacent museum and beautifully manicured grounds. This was a real treat.

We would like to extend a big thanks to Martin and Mary for all of their hospitality during out stay. They did a great job. On Tuesday, February 18, we head out for Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.