Monday 9th April

Touched down at Los Angeles airport at 09.30 after an 8 hour flight, unfortunately we arrived at a different terminal and on a different airline from what we had told Andy and Jan, consequently they were not at the arrival gate to meet us.Using some logical thinking we headed over to terminal 2 where we should have originally landed, and found them there wondering if we would be on the next Air New Zealand flight later on that day. We then had an hour and a half drive out of L.A. to their home in La Quinta where we soon found ourselves relaxing by the pool and we caught up on old times. Andy and Jan then cooked us a great meal and at last we could go to bed!!

Tuesday 10th April

Bit of a lay in whilst Andy and Jan went to work, although they had taken the time off to be with us they had a trade exhibition to set up for later on, the exhibition was being held at the Hyatt Hotel in Indian Wells a 15 minute drive from their home. We just spent the day lazing about and enjoying the sunshine, Ron spent some time trying to take pictures of humming birds that frequented their garden. Later that afternoon Andy came and collected us and took us to the Hyatt hotel as we were invited to the meal at the end of the show.

Wednesday 11th April

Today, Jim and his son Kyle were arriving from Seattle and we arranged to meet them for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Palm Desert. As the temperature gets so hot in the Coachella Valley most restaurants have cool mist sprays on the outside terraces to keep you cool, we certainly needed them today. Later on in the afternoon a desert wind started picking up and we were forced to sit inside as the sun umbrellas would not stay upright.

Thursday 12th April

Early start today as Andy had arranged a San Andreas Fault line Eco Tour for all of us, we started the day with breakfast at Coco's restaurant. Our guide Gordy was waiting outside for us in a 4 wheel drive open back jeep and we hit the highway and set off towards the desert. Our first stop was at an oasis where the palm trees were growing in abundance, Gordy then took us on a small jaunt through the vegetation to explain about all the different plants and how the Indians had used them to survive the harsh territory, he was also on the lookout for coyotes, scorpions, sidewinders and rattlesnakes (Linda is thinking oh no not again). We then went on the San Andreas Fault where the earth had been pushed up into massive rock formations, the guide explained that most of the earthquakes do not happen on the San Andreas fault and that we must be due for another one soon! Down in the valley between the rocks the wind was not a problem but once we walked up onto a ridge Jan and Linda had to hold onto each other as the wind was gusting, it was so strong that it blew Andy's sunglasses off his face and they had to be retrieved by Gordy as they had gone over the edge. On the ride back to base Gordy was actually wearing ski goggles to keep the wind and sand out of his eyes as by now we felt that we were coming into a sand storm. Back at the house Ron turned on the TV and much to his glee he saw that they were showing the Spurs game (live), we all settled down to watch the TV whilst the rain came down outside (we are convinced that the rain cloud and wind have followed us). Later on the sun came back out and we headed over to Jims place to have a barbecue, he had brought lobster tails with him from Seattle and we bought New York steaks as our contribution.

Friday 13th April

Big day for Ron today he is going to play golf on an 18 hole course at a place 1½ hours drive SW from La Quinta. Team Eydmann (consisting of Ron and Andy) won the game by playing best ball which enabled Ron's wild tee shots to be overlooked whilst he concentrated on his putting which was much better. Meanwhile Linda and Jan headed over to the Trilogy Spa where several hours were spent being pampered, it was thoroughly relaxing.

Saturday 14th April

Andy had volunteered us all to man the Rotary Club stall to sell tickets for the wine and food festival at Old Town La Quinta, every ticket sold would give $10 for charity. We had to be there for 11 a.m. and the event started at 2 p.m. lasting through till 6 p.m. The tickets cost $45 each which entitled you to 4 meal tickets and an unlimited amount of wine tasting, by the time we got to 6 pm many people were dancing in the street. The day started off really hot and we found it difficult to cope with the sun beating down on our heads but later on the good old desert wind found us again and soon whipped through everything.

Sunday 15th April

Can you believe it, Ron is a glutton for punishment and is off playing another 18 hole round of golf, this time though at a golf course less than 5 minutes away (there are over 120 golf courses in the valley), this time though Team Eydmann had a bad golfing day and were well and truly beaten by Jim and Kyle. Linda and Jan just had a quiet day back a the Brakebill Residence just lazing by the pool and reading. We arranged to meet some more of Andy and Jan's friends on the terrace at Arnold Palmers Restaurant, the terrace overlooks a replica of the 18th hole at Augusta, the whole area in Coachella Valley lives around golf.

Monday 16th April

Headed up to Big Bear today in the jeep, it was pretty uncomfortable sitting in the back for a 90 mile journey. Big Bear is situated at 8000 feet above sea level in the San Bernardino National Park and most desert dwellers escape there to cool down in the summer months, in the winter it is a very popular ski resort. We left La Quinta at the usual 80 degrees plus to arrive into Big Bear at just above freezing point and snowing!! Andy and Jan own a cabin there but the gas was turned off so we stayed at the local time share resort instead. Later on in the day we met up with a couple of their friends Ed and Heidrun who have retired to live in Big Bear, the most amazing couple we have met for some time. One of Ed's many claims to fame was that he was a judge in the Miss Nude California Beauty Competition, so he decided to do the judging in the nude.

Tuesday 17th April

After a leisurely cooked breakfast in our apartment we headed into downtown Big Bear to look at the local tourist shops, many of which were closed as we were out of season. Fortunately it had stopped snowing not long after we arrived yesterday and the sun was blazing, still only about 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) though. As Andy is keen to buy a small boat we went to the marina to have a look around (Big Bear Lake is about 8 miles long). We then drove to Lake Arrowhead, which was about 25 miles away following a twisty, winding road (we had thought we had left those sort of roads behind in New Zealand). Back at the apartment Jan and Linda decided to have a dip in the outdoor pool and spa whilst Andy and Ron had a UK versus the US table tennis tournament (Ron won).

Wednesday 18th April

We arrived back into La Quinta just after lunchtime and as the temperature was back to what we were used to we soon relaxed by the pool and chilled out for the rest of the day.

Thursday 19th April

Andy and Jan were back to work today so we had the house to ourselves and the use of one of their cars. Ron decided to take the wheel and off we went to the local supermarket, he was soon being tooted for not driving fast enough by the snowbirds, these are the Winter residents of La Quinta who only live in the area during the cooler Winter months as it gets far too hot for normal people during the Summertime.

Friday 20th April

Andy is currently president of the La Quinta Rotary Club and we were invited to their Lunch so we had to drive a bit further on than the local shops in order to meet up with them, as usual we drove past the restaurant before we saw it and as we were in 5 lanes of traffic we couldn't do a quick "U" turn. Eventually we arrived at our destination and was made very welcome by everybody there and embarrassed when we had to stand up whilst Andy told them about our adventure.

Saturday 21st April

Linda's birthday and a busy morning ahead to prepare for the cocktail party later on in the day, the sun came out again with a glorious day being forecasted for the day ahead. Andy and Jan had arranged for caterers to come and serve drinks and hors d'oeuvres between 4 and 7, and sure enough at 3 o'clock we had a chef, waitress and bar person arrive on the doorstep who then shooed us out of the kitchen. There was about 30 guests altogether with us two being the guests of honour and unknown to Linda a big birthday cake arrived (no candles - not enough room) and everybody sang happy birthday. Thanks to everybody who sent cards, e.cards and text messages.

Sunday 22nd April

We were scheduled to drive into Anaheim today to watch a baseball game between Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners, unfortunately Linda was suffering from a lost voice and the others from being "hung over" so we opted to stay at home instead.

Monday 23rd April

Quiet day again, Andy and Jan were up at 5.00 for a scheduled sales meeting in Los Angeles.Had a little drive around the neighbourhood and got ready for our trip to Las Vegas the next day.

Tuesday 24th April

Andy decided that we would drive to Las Vegas via a more scenic route than the freeway. We headed East on Interstate 10 to Blythe and then North running parallel with the Colorado River. Our first stop took us to Lake Havasu City which is the home of The London Bridge, the bridge was transported from London in 1968 and is in use over the Colorado River. Continuing our drive North we then stopped at Laughlin in Nevada, this was like a mini Las Vegas, the whole place was swarming with Harley Davison's as there was a bikers rally there this coming weekend. Another 1.5 hour drive and we finally reached Las Vegas, it seemed even bigger and brighter than our last visit 6 years ago. After settling into our apartment (about 2 miles away from the main strip) we headed to the Downtown area off Fremont Street. By now the sun had set and the skyline dazzled us with lights and moving images as Andy drove down Las Vegas Boulevard giving us the opportunity to take as many photos as we could. We had not been Downtown Las Vegas before and was amazed that it was just as busy and dazzling as the main area, definitely a must see for any future visitors.

Wednesday 25th April

We had a leisurely brunch before we relaxed by the Lazy River pool, the temperature here was in the upper 80's before we headed to the bright lights again. A taxi dropped us off at Bellagio's where we had booked a table at a restaurant overlooking the lake with the musical fountains - it wasn't cheap. After dinner we walked to Caesars Palace, which was the hotel & casino next door, it is the biggest complex we have been in so far with 110 retail outlets inside plus restaurants, bars etc. As usual we tried our $5 in the fruit machines and doubled our money, well that paid for half of the taxi fare back to the apartment.

Thursday 26th April

Headed back to La Quinta via the main freeway this time, just one long straight road from Las Vegas to San Bernardino before we turned left to the Coachella Valley. We had left Las Vegas with a temperature of 85 degrees and hit La Quinta at 96 degrees, the weather forecast is for even hotter temperatures and is likely to make triple figures by the weekend, as the humidity is only 10% it is like having all the moisture sucked out of your body.

Friday 27th April

On our own again today so its time to catch up on all our chores. Later on we took the car to Old Town LA Quinta and went to the local coffee shop for iced coffees (even Ron had a coffee drink - a white chocolate latte). Whilst we were there we watched a lady parking her Porsche in the street, she actually bumped into the car in front of her, got out, locked the car and went into the shop as if nothing had happened. The temperature reached 102 degrees today and we hadn't parked in a shaded spot, wow, the car seats were burning hot when you are wearing shorts! The obvious place to be was back in our own private pool to cool down.

Saturday 28th April

We went along to the party in the park this morning where La Quinta was celebrating her 25th birthday, all the local traders and organisations serve free treats to everybody, Andy and the Rotary club were there cooking and serving 1000 hot dogs, they all went in just over 1 hour. There was also a music festival on in Indio (about 2 miles away) where the guest artists were Bjork and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, can you imagine how hot it got there as the temperature peaked today at 105 degrees. As it was our last evening here we went to the Fantasy Island Casino where we played 10 pin bowling and risked our usual $5 dollars on the fruit machines. We are boarding our train tomorrow at Los Angeles and will arrive into New Orleans after a 47½ hour journey.