Day 11 - The extra day!

Fire on the Mountain!
(Run boys run!)

Started the day with a trip to Urgent Care…both of us have come down with an “itis” or two.  This is the third time in our travels we’ve shared a doctor visit, both of us in the examination room at the same time.  All three times we had the same symptoms. The first time was also during a visit to the valley, and the second time was in Paris where we were treated by an elderly French doctor in his tiny office at the Sorbonne.  At least yesterday’s doctor spoke English!

We picked up our medications at a local CVS, then geocached our way home to rest and recuperate.  Pic on the left shows a fire we saw from our doorway.

Our favorite plate so far!

While we’re resting, perhaps it’s time for an update on our exciting license plate game!  On the way here, we spotted plates for 44 states and four Canadian provinces.  Of those, the score is: Mona 26, Marvin 22.  We have continued to look at plates since we’ve been here, but those six states don’t appear to be driving this way.  The missing states are: Delaware, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts.  Surprisingly, we haven’t seen a single plate from a Mexican state.

Geo Flash Mobbers

On 2/29, at 2:29 we attended a 29 minute Geo Flash Mob. This was a gathering of geocachers celebrating Leap Day.  There were about 50 attendees, mostly locals, but several out-of-staters like us.  It was fun to meet the people behind the code names, to share stories and to swap trackables. This was our first geo-event and it was fun to do some caching with fellow attendees after the event.

Dinner was at Spencer’s in Palm Springs.  This small restaurant is nestled at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains and has romantic outside dining under trees lit with twinkling globes of moonlight.  The cuisine is a creative blend of American, French and Pacific Rim and provides surprising new taste elements in every dish.  Both of the dishes we had were superb and Mona ended the meal with her own little Key Lime Pie.  Yum!

As said before, we’ve been coming to the Coachella Valley for 14 years.  In all those years, we’ve never gone to the world-famous Palm Springs Follies.  Tonight, we remedied that omission, and to the Follies we went! 

The Follies are in a small theater (1000 seats?) in downtown Palm Springs.  The interior is lit with neon signs with names and places from Palm Springs’ glory days in the 60s.  The theater is filled to capacity.  Before the show begins they play clips from cartoons and movies that reference Coachella Valley/Palm Springs.  Even Bugs Bunny had clips where he talking about the Coa-Chella Valley.  Also, Troy Donahue, whom Mona has met, was featured in a movie about a spring break in Palm Springs.

At last the show begins.  It’s a typical Vegas-style show with the emphasis on leggy showgirls with elaborate costumes.  Lots of glitz, glam and tap-dancing!  They have skits and songs featuring about 15 fast-paced popular songs from the 60s.  After about 45 minutes, the director of the show is announced and he comes out and does a stand-up routine featuring jokes about the valley. 

Palm Springs Plaza Theater

Then, it’s time to showcase the talent.  A showgirl comes out to the top of the stage in an elaborate Vegas outfit that is seemingly impossible to walk in.  Two gentlemen escort her down the steps to the stage proper.  She does a bit of a dance, and then walks to the side of the stage.  A huge picture of a little girl is shown on the big screen.  The showgirl begins to talk:  “I fell in love with dancing when I was only two.”  (The pictures on the screen change as she talks.) “I started dancing lessons at 7.  I got my first real job at 17 on Broadway, in the troupe for Bye Bye Birdie.  I did six seasons on The Carole Burnett Show.”  Etc. etc. etc.  Finally, she says, “I’m Annette, and I’m sixty years old!”

Every showgirl gets to tell her story.  They’ve been on the Rockets, they’ve modeled in Paris, they’ve sang with Dino, they’ve danced in Vegas…they all have a story based upon dancing and modeling….and all are at least 60 years old.  The oldest was 80…still out there dancing and strutting her stuff and looking good! 

 The men in the show also get introduced, but in a less glamorous fashion with the director telling their stories.  As with the women, they’ve been in dancing and showbiz all their lives, dancing and singing with all the greats in all the great shows.  The men range in age between 58 and 82 and still dancing and singing their hearts away!

Speaking of dancing and singing…we’d done danced our last dance and sung our last song for the day.  The octogenarians were still out there hoofing the light fantastic; but, we were beat, tired, sore and somewhat humbled by the oldies frolicking on the stage. Trying to be as inconspicous as possible, we stumbled and creaked (us, not the steps) down the 18 steps from the balcony and headed back to Mission Hills.

Drizzle drazzle, drizzle drone.  Time for these two, to go home!