Saltan Sea

Tom all dressed up for his Elk's initiation

This week has been a busy one for the Claphams. On Wednesday, we went to the Saltan Sea with our friend Barb Murphy. Our final goal was to go to the "Fountain of Youth" RV Park in Niland, CA. We started out after water aerobics and made our way leisurely toward our destination. We didn't even make it out of Hemet before we stopped for coffee. We took the scenic route on 74 and drove through some pretty country. We arrived at Palm Desert about lunch time and decided to stop at the Elephant Bar for lunch. It was fun and reasonably priced. We took our time and visited through our lunch. Palm Desert is a beautiful town with lots of flowers and green grass. As we left the city, we were suddenly in the desert again. When we were in Palm Desert, we were truly in an oasis. By the time we were back on the road, it was almost 3:00 PM so we began to revise our original plan. We definitely wanted to see the Saltan Sea, but it was still quite a long drive to Niland. When we reached the Saltan Sea State Park, we pulled in to check it out. We spent 30 or 40 minutes walking around the visitor's center and going down to the water. We took pictures of the birds - I'm not sure what they all were. There were people fishing and it was a gorgeous day. By then it was after 4:30 PM and we were still 60 miles from Niland, so we conferred and decided to head back home. It was a fun day for all of us.

The other news is that Tom is now officially an Elk. He was initiated last evening. He looked very dashing all dressed up in his suit. We took lots of pictures because it's such a rarity for him to get that dressed up. Now it's time to put the suit back in the corner again. I think he's walking a little differently now (probably to keep his antlers straight!). Seriously, the Elks is a good organization that helps a lot of people in need and we're proud to be associated with them.

Water aerobics is calling us so we're off to work at those waistlines again!

Another great week in Hemet

Glider overhead of our site heading toward nearby airport

We have had another great week here in Golden Village. It rained a few days, but it just makes everything greener. Although we haven't had any exciting trips like the "Ellen Show", we're keeping very busy. Our "Dr. Phil" show trip for Feb. 24 has been postponed to March 17, so we'll be going two days in a row! How fun will that be? We were disappointed but it's going to work out well as the 24th is Tom's indoctrination at the Elks and it was going to be a close call whether we'd be back in time for it. Just think, one more week and there will be an Elk in the family! Our daughter, Beth, and granddaughter, Julia, are back from a month in Hawaii. We've missed them so much but they'll be down to visit us next month for a few days. They had a wonderful time and are spending a few days in Portland, OR, with our other daughter, Sarah. Thank goodness, the snow is all gone there. That's the news so we'll be checking in again in a week or so. Have a great week!

The Ellen Show

Ellen sign on side of Warner Bros. studios

Donna, Sandy, Tom and Joei waiting to see the "Ellen" show in Burbank

Today we went to see the "Ellen" show. It is going to be aired tomorrow, Thursday, February 12. We did not dance with Ellen. They had a dance contest, but we weren't chosen to participate. It was great fun and she had Steve Harvey on as one of her guests. He has written a book, "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man" and we all got free copies. He also said the mystery word (Cupid) and we all got $100 in Starbucks gift cards. I thought that was awesome. We had quite a long wait before the show (about 2 hours) but they had benches for us to sit on, food and drink to buy and bathrooms. The time went quickly as we people watched and also watched some of the "Ellen" show from yesterday. During the show, there is so much energy with people clapping, shouting and dancing. The hour passed all too quickly. She also had on the quarterback for the Arizona football team, Kurt Warner and a veterinarian who donates his care when people can't afford treatment for their pets. All in all it was a great experience - one we thought we'd never have. It was a long day - we left Hemet at 9:00 am and arrived home a little after 9:00 pm. I'm still excited so decided to write and tell you all about it yet tonight. I have no idea if we'll be in any audience shots, but I'm sure going to watch tomorrow and tape it for posterity. Only 12 more days until we go to the "Dr. Phil" show. I don't know if I can take the excitement!!

More from Hemet!

Daily Water Aeorbics

Nothing of great excitement has been happening since our last post, except Tom is under investigation! Yes, folks, he's decided to join a great organization - The Elks! Of course, they don't just let a person join without being investigated, indoctrinated and initiated. He's in the investigation phase right now. Only men of good character are admitted. Do you think he'll pass the test? They'll be lucky to have him. We're still enjoying the sun and wonderful weather, activities and friends. The friends are the best. We've met many Canadians from British Columbia. For Donna, having some girlfriends to do fun things with has been great. Tom has met so many people at the hot tub, he can't remember them all. He says when he rides his bike through the park, people will say, "Hi, Tom" and he says hi back but doesn't always know their names. Happy hours are getting to be regular events. There are always lots of laughs and fun people there. Next week will be our trip to the "Ellen" show and we're looking forward to that. Hope you are all in good health and enjoying the days.