Again another perfect day in Palm Desert and we are enjoying a relaxing week in the desert.

David had departed for a walk around this side of the resort and came back 15 minutes later having walked 3.7 km. He was amazed at the scenery and the beautiful mountains.

Following breakfast we took his rental back to Palm Springs Airport. David led the May using his GPS and it took us a convoluted way. Dropped off and no issues and Jeanette drove home via the I 10 freeway.

David and Ken play golf at 12.00 at the Palms Course At thevJC Marriott Resort in Palm Desert a beautiful course. Jeanette drops us off at 11.35am. This is a spectacular golf course on a beautiful resort hotel and we come back to our Villa areas through several holes after going under Cook Street on the carts.

We find the course challenging and play very slow, with us banked up on each hole. We play with a nice person named Brian from Wyoming who is here on a Conference on environmental issues. The 4th player is a Russian gentleman whose wife drives the cart.

Brian and David hit the ball far further than Ken and the Russian who is frustratingly slow in his set up. Brian plays off 8 and is a very good player.

It is a frustrating day, with pace of play using carts ridiculously slow and it takes 2 hours 25 to play the first 9, but the second takes about 2 hours 20, despite the ranger moving one group to replay the front nine. Our scores are mediocre, we do manage to lose 6 balls between us. David has a 93 and Ken a 97 .

We finish in near dark at 4.45pm drop the cart and rentals clubs off, walk through the complex find Jeanette who had seen us on the 16th hole. The drop off at Ralph Supermarket, purchase beers. Decide too late for a swim, shower and then Ken cooks steaks on the bbq. We enjoy a lovely meal.

We watch the Seahawks take on the Packers in NFL Thursday night. Into bed early after an enjoyable but tiring day.

We woke this morning having slept well. Wished Jeanette a happy birthday, got breakfast and gave her a beautiful card.

Following breakfast and showering and changing and doing my blog, we planned our last full day here at Palm Desert. We intend driving West on the I 10 to see the wind turbines.

Following this lunch for Jeanette’s birthday at a restaurant of her choice. Then back to Desert Willows for a drink and overview of the beautiful course. Ken will check us in for tomorrow’s flight from Phoenix to Honolulu.

So we commenced by driving back toward Palm Springs to view the amazing farms of wind turbines.

Another spectacular day and the desert is showing all its colours. we drive down the I 10. We take in stunning desert scenery of several colours . We see a whole range of desert plants then we come across the world’s largest farms of wind turbines. They present almost an eerie range of views, as some turn , others remain silent and still yet you see the tremendous investment and use of wind as a means of generating electricity which powers several of the cities in this unique valley.

From here we cross over the Interstate 10 and begin to head back East to Palm Desert, but just as we are about to rejoin the interstate Jeanette spots a train heading east and then a long Union Pacific train heading west toward Los Angeles. We quickly drive to Palm Springs Amtrak Station, take photos of the Wind turbines and await the train to arrive.

Quite suddenly, we see 3 Union Pacific engines come around the corner increasing speed as they traverse the station and head west. The train is accelerating as it rushes on and the 150 wagons are making a rhythmic beat as they pass through. Quite exciting to see and then watch the train.

From here we drive to see the golf course at Shadow Ridge, which Ken played earlier in the week.

A stunning set up, although Ken felt the course and pin placements were too hard. We then drove back across to Cook street and to our Villa. We realaxed before heading to the California Pizz Restaurant where we enjoyed an excellent 3 course luncheon to celebrate Jeanette’s birthday. We drove from Palm Desert to Indian Wells via El Rancho a fashionable up market shopping residential area. All very much up market with a whole range of special vehicles. It is a stunning lunch, very good if somewhat different service, with our waiter being over the top.

We enjoyed the whole meal, did sing happy birthday and Jeanette was very pleased with her selection of restaurants and the food was fresh, beautifully cooked and presented and oh so fresh.

Following this we departed at about 2.30pm, feeling fully sated. We returned to the Desert Villas, had a rest. David and Ken enjoyed a swim and time in the hot tub. Just great.

Ken then drove David to the stunning Desert Willow Golf Club, showed David where we has previously owned with Club Intrawest and also the Westin resort. We sat and watched the colours change with a spectacular sunset sitting on the beautiful terrace enjoying a beer. It is an amazing set up with the native trees, the water and shimmering reflections. The colours change dramatically as the sun drops toward sunset. People are still playing the 2 courses and finishing on 9th and 18th. Darkness is approaching quickly and at 4.50pm, the sun had disappeared and the final orange and purple colours change to gray.

It has been a spectacular afternoon, which we have all enjoyed very much. We decide to delay any dinner as we all feel uncomfortable following our lovely luncheon meal.

We watch some NBA on television ,do some packing in anticipation of our early start tomorrow to drive back to Phoenix AZ to fly to Honolulu.

Jeanette is particularly excited as to seeing the kids and hearing their news and celebrating Chris’s birthday.

All in all another enjoyable day to finish off our time in Palm Desert.