It's winter and we're bouncing around southern California waiting for the weather to improve before heading north toward Vancouver.
​Outdoor Resort Palm Springs is an impressive RV park in Cathedral City five miles from downtown Palm Springs. It has 1,800 RV spots, 2 Golf Courses, two large club houses, 8 swimming pools, jacuzzi's, restaurant and many other services and amenities. We are here for the Month of February.

Our Niece, Dr. Anna Larson was in town for a Transgender Conference at the UCLA campus. She was invited to lecture at the conference. Pretty impressive. We met up with the Doc and Her Partner, Meg, at the iconic Gay complex 'The Abbey' in West Hollywood.

We are enjoying all there is to do in Palm Springs. The Vintage Market, Bongo Johnny's on (gay) Arenas Street and Sherman's Deli have been highlights, so far. Thanks to Billy Perlstein for his local restaurant suggestions. Our friends Larry & Bob are here for Modernism Week and we are looking forward to attending many events with them.

 "The mission of Modernism Week is to celebrate and foster appreciation of midcentury architecture and design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields, by encouraging education, preservation and sustainable modern living as represented in Palm Springs."
Palm Springs and surrounding communities Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Desert Springs, etc. are all things midcentury and reflect that modernism vibe.  The week was full of exhibits, sale and display of items at the Convention Center, lectures, seminars, walking tours of neighborhoods, driving tours, and of course home tours.  We started at the Convention Center:

Next we toured The West Elm House, an idea house where visitors can experience the 'Midcentury to Next Century Transformation' of an iconic 1950s home.  Mike was ready to move in to this 3 bdrm, 2 bath, relatively small home that blends the indoors with the outdoors.

We took driving tours of the neighborhoods including The Movie Colony to see the iconic examples of midcentury architecture.

The last weekend we went to the Vintage Trailer & RV Show to see some examples of those who love these vintage travel homes!  The Orient Express was an exceptionally nice. An over the top trailer renovation. The owners were also dressed in keeping with their 'theme'.

Then there were the shiny ones from the 50's and 60's

A few more rustic!

Some with motors aka motorhomes!

Of course some great vintage pull vehicles!

We stopped here for 2 days before Palm Springs.  The RV park was built in the past year so, of course, everything is top notch.  FMCA gave it their Gold award for Best Casino RV Park. The Casino property was beautiful, the food was good, but alas, Lady Luck didn't allow us to upgrade our 'rig'. On to Palm Springs.

After our 'magical' stay in Malibu, we traveled back to our December home Orangeland RV Park and met up with our favorite RV pals Jason & Amy.  Of course we imbibed a few and had many laughs as we ate at Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen in Old Town Orange.  Before we left we stocked up on oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes to take with us to Palm Springs.

​While staying at Orangeland RV Park we were told by our new friends and neighbors, Amy and Jason, of a great RV park in Malibu. We took a day to visit the park and instantly knew we had to stay there.
Malibu Beach RV Park is located 15 miles north of Santa Monica Pier on the Pacific Coast Highway. We were able to secure one of the best spots on a point lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean with spectacular million dollar panoramic views. This visit was incredible and we thoroughly enjoyed our perch on the Malibu Cliffs. The ever changing weather and beautiful scenery along with the constant sound of the waves provided a constant magical setting.

We had a wonderful evening with Ron's friends from High School, Mike and Arlene Ross, who live nearby in Thousand Oaks. We started with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the RV then went to dinner at the locally famous "Duke's Malibu," which is located on the ocean near Malibu Point.
​The restaurant is dedicated to Duke Kahanamoku, the father of surfing and Hawaii's ambassador of Aloha. He also appeared in over 28 Hollywood movies. We had a fun evening visiting and Ron specially enjoyed reminiscing with Mike & Arlene. 

The next day we drove up the Malibu Canyon over the Santa Monica Mountains to Simi Valley to tour the Reagan Library.  Mike and Arlene, who recommended we spend some time there, are annual Members and provided us complimentary entry.

The Reagan Library is an impressive facility sitting on hilltop in Simi Valley with great views of the surrounding area.  The exhibits range from his early days in the movies, his work in the unions, time hosting the GE Theater and his continued work for GE leading up to becoming Governor of California and eventually The President of the US.  The Library also spotlighted his time on the Ranch, his love affair with Nancy, and his withdrawal from the public as he suffered from Alzheimer's.

History of AIR FORCE ONE Tail Number 27000, a Boeing 707: Flew seven US Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush) between 1973 and 2001 when it was decommissioned and received by the Reagan Library. Its replacement was ordered by Reagan, a Boeing 747 with Tail Number 28000, received by the W. Bush administration in 1990 and continues in service today.  MARINE ONE Tail Number 150611, a Sikorsky VH-3A, has been in service since 1962 and served Presidential duty from 1967 - 1968 and again from 1974 to 1976.  In 1975 it was replaced with VH-3D models, which are still in service today.  Marine One arrived at the Reagan Library in March of 2004.
​​We were able to board and tour Air Force One and Marine One.