Day 3 – Boomers and family time
It’s 5:30 pm and the kids and Sandy are swimming in the pool. I’ve been working on doing a load of laundry. Does that sound backwards? Actually, it’s my choice, as it gave me an excuse to pull out the laptop here by the pool and catch up on e-mail and sermon downloads. It’s about 95 in the shade (according to the thermometer on the wall), but it really doesn’t feel that bad. I guess a dry heat is more tolerable. The kids are loving the pool, and I’m loving getting on the Internet somewhere besides the Trinidad Lounge. I may have to go back there tonight to finish this blog, but it was nice while it lasted.
The kids are always up by 7:00 am, and today was no exception. Sandy and I took turns going on a morning walk . . . beautifully maintained yards and homes all around us. I did find out there are several things you WON’T see when walking around the neighborhood . . . or much of Palm Springs. No screens on the windows, no kids toys out in the yard, no chain link fences (painted concrete block walls instead). It’s definitely a place for people with money to stay. Except for the trailer park just off Palm Canyon Drive, which houses many Mexicans. That looks far worse than the two trailer parks on my street in Moberly. Many workers here seem to be Mexican, but not all. There are a surprisingly high number of teenagers.
Some of you have wondered about the heat. I expected it to be worse, but it has been hot. Here’s a story I already shared with someone in an e-mail, but I wanted to reproduce and update it here:
Yesterday, we were driving around a lot, and Sandy and I were noticing the thermometer in the van getting hotter and hotter. I think it was something like 107 degrees, when one of us said, "I sure hope it doesn't get any hotter." All of a sudden, Alex starts praying . . . "Dear God, please help it not get any hotter today. Amen."
So we start giggling and explain to him that it might get hotter, and God might not answer that prayer. But as we're driving towards the national park, we notice that the thermometer in the van starts getting lower and lower: 103, 101, 99, 98, 97. We're telling this to everyone in the van and Alex is getting really excited. Finally it gets down to something like 95 or 93 and he is just so thrilled about it. He thought God had answered his prayer.
Of course, we didn't have the heart to tell him that we were going up in the mountains and it always gets cooler as you head to a higher elevation. He wouldn't have understood anyway.
So today when we left Boomers, we noticed that the thermometer said 97 in the parking lot, but got to 105 just 3 miles down the road back in Palm Springs. Alex’s response, “It’s probably because of my prayer.” Not sure he understands how numbers work, but he’s really interested in prayer, at least.
Speaking of Boomers, it was a neat place. Sort of like Big Shot in Lake of the Ozarks, this was the day to get unlimited bumper boats, go-karts, arcade games, and mini-golf for one price. We arrived shortly after it opened at 11:00 am and stayed until 4:30. We had to take a break about 2:00 because it was so hot, so we walked over to Trader Joe’s. If you’ve never been there, it’s like a cross between Aldi and a Health Food / Organic Food Store. Some of the stuff seemed a little high in prices, but it was interesting food. We bought a quart Strawberry Smoothie, three yogurts, and some new herbal sweetener called Stevia.
When I got my receipt, I noticed an 8 cent charge for CRV (California Redemption Value). This is a complicated system used to encourage recycling in California. It seems to work. The consumer pays a certain rate for different sizes of bottles, cans, and jars. If you want to recycle, you take them back to recycling centers and they pay you pretty handsomely for the jugs you return (sort of like Columbia’s former 5 cent program, only for more than just cans). But here’s the neat part. A lot of unemployed or retired people go to work every morning sorting through public trash and dumpsters to grab these bottles and cans. You see them walking down the sidewalks pushing shopping carts filled with empty containers. They take them to the collection place and redeem them for cash. It isn’t considered income, so it’s tax-free money. The lady at the counter told me these workers make good money and the streets stay extremely clean. Sounds like a complicated bureaucratic mess to me, but whatever works for them.
So we got energized with some healthy food and then went back for a couple more hours. Here are some pictures that let you see what we were up to.
Video Games:
Adam getting in touch with his feminine side.
Anna doing a little Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. Not bad for a six year old.
Alex is trying to put out fires.
The bumper boats were pretty cool. Dad and Alex shared one and got soaked.
Adam and Anna are dueling it out.
Sandy and Alex were soaked after their ride.
Watch this video and you’ll understand why.
The evening was relaxing. After I finished the laundry, we ate hamburger helper and salad. The kids played games and Alex and I wrestled on the bed. That boy is like a wild animal wrestling with me. But it did get him worn out and he went right to sleep.
Sandy and I are getting ready to watch a movie together. That will probably put me right to sleep.
One more thing . . . did someone pray that I wouldn’t go back to the Trinidad lounge to get on the Internet? The last two days, I have received wireless Internet on my sofa, with my leg crossed a certain way. Honest . . . no other room, no other chair, no other sitting position. One bar is all the strength I get, but it’s all I need. Don’t know where it’s coming from, but I’m thankful. God is good. But we already knew that.
Tomorrow: Day 4 – The Living Desert
The kids are always up by 7:00 am, and today was no exception. Sandy and I took turns going on a morning walk . . . beautifully maintained yards and homes all around us. I did find out there are several things you WON’T see when walking around the neighborhood . . . or much of Palm Springs. No screens on the windows, no kids toys out in the yard, no chain link fences (painted concrete block walls instead). It’s definitely a place for people with money to stay. Except for the trailer park just off Palm Canyon Drive, which houses many Mexicans. That looks far worse than the two trailer parks on my street in Moberly. Many workers here seem to be Mexican, but not all. There are a surprisingly high number of teenagers.
Some of you have wondered about the heat. I expected it to be worse, but it has been hot. Here’s a story I already shared with someone in an e-mail, but I wanted to reproduce and update it here:
Yesterday, we were driving around a lot, and Sandy and I were noticing the thermometer in the van getting hotter and hotter. I think it was something like 107 degrees, when one of us said, "I sure hope it doesn't get any hotter." All of a sudden, Alex starts praying . . . "Dear God, please help it not get any hotter today. Amen."
So we start giggling and explain to him that it might get hotter, and God might not answer that prayer. But as we're driving towards the national park, we notice that the thermometer in the van starts getting lower and lower: 103, 101, 99, 98, 97. We're telling this to everyone in the van and Alex is getting really excited. Finally it gets down to something like 95 or 93 and he is just so thrilled about it. He thought God had answered his prayer.
Of course, we didn't have the heart to tell him that we were going up in the mountains and it always gets cooler as you head to a higher elevation. He wouldn't have understood anyway.
So today when we left Boomers, we noticed that the thermometer said 97 in the parking lot, but got to 105 just 3 miles down the road back in Palm Springs. Alex’s response, “It’s probably because of my prayer.” Not sure he understands how numbers work, but he’s really interested in prayer, at least.
Speaking of Boomers, it was a neat place. Sort of like Big Shot in Lake of the Ozarks, this was the day to get unlimited bumper boats, go-karts, arcade games, and mini-golf for one price. We arrived shortly after it opened at 11:00 am and stayed until 4:30. We had to take a break about 2:00 because it was so hot, so we walked over to Trader Joe’s. If you’ve never been there, it’s like a cross between Aldi and a Health Food / Organic Food Store. Some of the stuff seemed a little high in prices, but it was interesting food. We bought a quart Strawberry Smoothie, three yogurts, and some new herbal sweetener called Stevia.
When I got my receipt, I noticed an 8 cent charge for CRV (California Redemption Value). This is a complicated system used to encourage recycling in California. It seems to work. The consumer pays a certain rate for different sizes of bottles, cans, and jars. If you want to recycle, you take them back to recycling centers and they pay you pretty handsomely for the jugs you return (sort of like Columbia’s former 5 cent program, only for more than just cans). But here’s the neat part. A lot of unemployed or retired people go to work every morning sorting through public trash and dumpsters to grab these bottles and cans. You see them walking down the sidewalks pushing shopping carts filled with empty containers. They take them to the collection place and redeem them for cash. It isn’t considered income, so it’s tax-free money. The lady at the counter told me these workers make good money and the streets stay extremely clean. Sounds like a complicated bureaucratic mess to me, but whatever works for them.
So we got energized with some healthy food and then went back for a couple more hours. Here are some pictures that let you see what we were up to.
Video Games:
Adam getting in touch with his feminine side.
Anna doing a little Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. Not bad for a six year old.
Alex is trying to put out fires.
The bumper boats were pretty cool. Dad and Alex shared one and got soaked.
Adam and Anna are dueling it out.
Sandy and Alex were soaked after their ride.
Watch this video and you’ll understand why.
The evening was relaxing. After I finished the laundry, we ate hamburger helper and salad. The kids played games and Alex and I wrestled on the bed. That boy is like a wild animal wrestling with me. But it did get him worn out and he went right to sleep.
Sandy and I are getting ready to watch a movie together. That will probably put me right to sleep.
One more thing . . . did someone pray that I wouldn’t go back to the Trinidad lounge to get on the Internet? The last two days, I have received wireless Internet on my sofa, with my leg crossed a certain way. Honest . . . no other room, no other chair, no other sitting position. One bar is all the strength I get, but it’s all I need. Don’t know where it’s coming from, but I’m thankful. God is good. But we already knew that.
Tomorrow: Day 4 – The Living Desert
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
11:14 PM
