We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:20 am, April 1 not really getting the joke, caught the early ferry, drove across the border and arrived in Bellingham with hours to spare before our flight left. Looking for things to do, we started at the Bellis Faire Mall. Our first clue that we were in a different country was the guns lining the walls of a large sports store. You can buy a variety of rifles and what looked like semi-automatic weapons for anywhere from $149.00 to $459.00! We would have had to add the exchange of course – but resisted since a large sign pointed out the Canadians were not allowed to handle the firearms.
After tiring of the mall we headed south since the Tulip Festival started April 1. We wondered if we were making a mistake when the snow started falling but made it to La Conner and found fields of daffodils but no sign of tulips yet. Spring is late everywhere it seems.
Back to the airport in Bellingham where Homeland Security announced that the threat level was now at orange and we were all to keep a special eye out for unattended baggage. We finally struggled across the tarmac in freezing wind and rain to pack ourselves in the plane. Just as we settled the captain announced that the current temperature in Palm Springs was 82 degrees. You can imagine the response.
After two hours of flying, the clouds cleared to reveal brown mountains, hills and valleys spotted with cities and towns. A rainbow of pollution hung on the horizon – a thick, rose-tinged band of smoke topped by smaller layers of pink, orange and yellow blended into a bright turquoise sky. We walked across a tarmac again – this time the blowing wind was warm and dry and silhouettes of palm trees could be seen behind the building.
After tiring of the mall we headed south since the Tulip Festival started April 1. We wondered if we were making a mistake when the snow started falling but made it to La Conner and found fields of daffodils but no sign of tulips yet. Spring is late everywhere it seems.
Back to the airport in Bellingham where Homeland Security announced that the threat level was now at orange and we were all to keep a special eye out for unattended baggage. We finally struggled across the tarmac in freezing wind and rain to pack ourselves in the plane. Just as we settled the captain announced that the current temperature in Palm Springs was 82 degrees. You can imagine the response.
After two hours of flying, the clouds cleared to reveal brown mountains, hills and valleys spotted with cities and towns. A rainbow of pollution hung on the horizon – a thick, rose-tinged band of smoke topped by smaller layers of pink, orange and yellow blended into a bright turquoise sky. We walked across a tarmac again – this time the blowing wind was warm and dry and silhouettes of palm trees could be seen behind the building.
We found the Palm Desert Resort and made our way through security to Shirley’s place – easily identified by the pink, light-filled outline of a rabbit on the side of her turquoise double-wide... She took us across to our two-bedroom place with enough rooms that we’ll have to plan in order to use them all. There are grapefruit trees outside the back door and we’ve already had one – sweet with juice running down our arms.
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