December in Palm Springs

Hi Everyone,

We are settled in at our site in Palm Springs.  We got here on Wednesday, and there were quite a few 50 amp sites open.  In my previous post, I included pictures of a privately owned tiny house we saw at Wilderness Lakes, but here, Thousand Trails is putting in about a dozen of them to rent out.  
Since Palm Springs is a major mecca for "snowbirds," and these Thousand Trails membership parks are very popular with snowbirds, it is certainly no surprise that they jumped on the "tiny house" bandwagon.  These are right across the street from our site.
We were planning on selling products today at their arts & crafts sales, but when Jim spoke to the lady to reserve a table, she said she is booked up for this week AND next.  Imagine our surprise when we went over there today and saw THREE empty tables!  Oh well, it was nice to sleep in this morning.  

Jim is doing great since his cataract surgeries.  He is amazed at how great he can see now, and absolutely blown away by how incredible colors are.  He only has five more days to go on his eye drops, and then he is done.  YAY!!!

As advised, Jim oiled the butcher block cutting board, and we are really, really happy with how it looks, and how it fits in the space.  Charles has agreed to build us a new dining table with a leaf to open it out to seat more people when we need it.  I assured him there is no hurry, but I can't wait to see it when he does get it done!


This is a tiny camper that we saw at Wilderness Lakes.  That's too tiny for us!!!!  



Today we went around the park to see what else we could find here.  Jim had been told there were other tiny houses, besides the white ones the park is putting in.  We saw some "park model" homes here.  Some have been here, and some are fairly new additions to the park.  This is an example of the homes that are here now.
We were delighted to see that some of the folks here are all set up for Christmas.  I love to see the way people choose to decorate their RVs.
 This was at Wilderness Lakes too, and the amazing part is that the head of Jesus is convex shaped, so as you pass it, it looks like He turns to follow you with His eyes.

Aren't these festive looking?  Everybody decorates with their own style.

This is another tiny house here, all jazzed up for Christmas. 

We were slightly amused by this.  As you can see, the name is "Majestic" but for us, anything this small is just not  majestic.  But not every RV we see is being used as a full time home, like ours is.


In my last post, I encouraged each of you to find a way to do something for someone less fortunate than you are during this beautiful Christmas season.  I would like to share with you what we have done so far.  I am NOT telling you this because we are bragging, but maybe to give you ideas.  Our church at Wilderness Lakes decided to give food and gift baskets to 100 needy families in the Menifee area.  We made a donation to that project, and we took two twenty pound bags of Pedigree dog food to a local no-kill animal shelter.  Among other things, my son also gives blankets to the local animal shelter for the dogs.  The only sad part is that the Christmas spirit won't continue all year long for most people.  However, if you want to, you can sign up to donate to a variety of charitable organizations all year long, for less than $20.00 each per month.  A few of these include The Wounded Warrior Fund, the Humane Society, ASPCA, and St. Jude's Hospital.


I know that not everyone is happy about the election results from last month, but the choice was made, and we feel people should accept it.  I was shocked and disappointed by the protests that have gone on in many cities.  Yes, people are free to say whatever they want to, but some of the protests got violent and ugly.  I think that is wrong.  Now we need to get behind President-elect Trump and support him, and pray for him to help make America great again.

Winter is coming, and in many places it has arrived with some very severe weather conditions.  If you live in colder climates, please make sure to do what you need to do to stay safe.  Make sure you have adequate food and water supplies in case you get snowed in and can't go out for things.  Make sure you have your vehicles serviced so you won't be broken down someplace in frigid weather.  RV water hoses need to be heat wrapped so they don't freeze and burst.  In some areas we have been told to leave water lines dripping so they won't freeze.  If you are in an area with a lot of snow and freezing weather, make sure you have salt to spread on the ice so no one falls and gets injured.  Winter weather certainly can be beautiful, but please be sure you take precautions so it won't be dangerous.  

Also, I'm sure you all have seen the news of that extremely tragic fire in Oakland last week.  In light of that tragedy, I want to mention to make sure heating units and fireplaces   are checked and made safe.  Sadly it seems like every year someone dies of fires or suffocation from improperly vented heating units.  If you have elderly neighbors, please check on them to make sure they are OK and keeping warm.  Maybe they need someone to take them to a store to get much needed food or supplies.  We are all part of this Family of God, and we need to help others whenever we can.  


I'll close for now, and wish you all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.