Chapter 18 - snow birds or not?

just back from a trip so this is a bit late - chapter 18 follows and the photos originally produced in it are at www.lesnpat.smugmug.com, scroll down to photos for blog chapter 18.

Chapter 18 - to snowbird or not to snowbird?

After the first exploratory driving visit to Southern California to find likely places to test out the potential for being snowbirds, the Dickasons headed south again the following year after returning from Spain. The second trip was more direct with a stop in Claremont to visit Janet and Roy before heading to Borrego Springs to spend two weeks staying in the Borrego Springs Resort. On the freeway down through Oregon and northern California, the Dickasons had a wonderful view of Mount Shasta which we had driven up many years ago.

The resort was a relatively new establishment in Borrego Springs, had an 18 hole golf course with clubhouse, restaurant and bar, tennis courts, swimming pools, rooms with some kitchen facilities in the two-storey hotel section, and the start of a housing development around the outer edge of the golf course. Despite being in a desert, the garden of the hotel and the fairways and greens of the golf course were lush and immaculate.

The fortnight here was spent enjoying the February warmth, driving into and around the massive Anza Borrego State Park, taking guided walks with Park Rangers, playing golf and tennis [Les for the former, both Dickasons for the latter], and investigating other accommodations for possible future trips. Janet and Roy came to Borrego Springs from Claremont, and their weekend visit coincided with a vintage and veteran motorcycle rally at the Resort with visitors from some twenty States proudly showing their restored machines in the parking lots and in parades on the streets of the small town.

It was a good time to explore the desert for the bloom of the wild-flowers but, because the fall rains had been minimal, there was a limited range of flowers blooming that February. However, the intrepid foursome did use the very good Park maps to find trailheads and see a variety of canyons and different palm trees on well-marked trails. The photo at right shows the trees in Palm Canyon on the edge of the trail.

During the second week in the resort, Les played golf with a couple who suggested the Dickasons should look at the Road Runner Resort for a possible rental for future years. We had driven past the gates on the main road leading into the little town on many occasions, but did not realize that rentals might be available. A visit to the resort proved very revealing.

The homes were permanent double-wide mobile homes on concrete pads. They were all two bedroom, two bathroom homes, and we learned from the rental agents there that many were second homes of people who came there each year for from one to six months to live in Borrego Springs. Some were owned by Californians who had homes or boats in San Diego or other coastal cities, and they and other owners offered their double-wides for rent by the month when they were not planning to visit themselves. The rental cost varied - the homes on cul de sacs the cheapest - the ones with views of the golf course or the lake were more expensive. When the Dickasons left Borrego Springs that February, we were armed with the map of Road Runner Resort, the dates for applying to be considered for a rental for the following year, and the phone numbers of the agents. We had been informed that returning renters were given first option, and new applicants were considered subsequently.

With a car loaded with citrus fruit - the Customs rules permitted citrus fruit across State and National borders - the Dickasons returned to Nanaimo ready to apply for a one month rental the following year. At the appropriate time, the forms were completed and mailed, and a phone call to the Road Runner rental agent confirmed that she had received them and that success was likely. This process was repeated for the next two years - the difference being that the first rental was for one month, the second for two, and the third for three months.

During those three visits as emerging snowbirds, the Dickasons had a different home each year, but there were remarkable similarities. Keeping in mind that the years involved were early in the 2000s, the decor was retro even then - shag carpets [orange, brown, lime green!], appliances in avocado green or chocolate brown, glass and brass chandeliers, and black velvet paintings on some bedroom walls. However, the homes were very well equipped with all cutlery, crockery and kitchenware, towels, linen, a barbecue, satellite TV, sound-system, outdoor furniture, air-conditioning - one even had a bicycle in the carport. Each of the three homes also had shelves lined with books, VHS tapes, and in one case cassette tapes [Country music though]. The names of the roads at Road Runner Resort were in keeping with the theme of the pre-dominant activity - Ben Hogan Drive, Babe Zaharias Drive, Putter Road, Dogleg, Eagle, Birdie, Niblick and more.

  Each home had a low maintenance garden with cacti and gravel as basic elements. Some raking of dry leaves or smoothing of gravel was all that was required of the renter Dickasons. The photo at left shows the back garden at one of the three homes rented.

    The Resort had a swimming pool complex with change rooms and sauna, and the clubhouse included a card room, a pool table, and a small 

gym with exercise equipment. The owner’s association organized some classes or get-togethers for water exercisers, rock hounds, quilters and knitters, bridge, poker, canasta and more. Other annual events were held in the large clubhouse hall which had a kitchen attached.

Over the three years of increasing rental time, the Dickasons thoroughly explored not only Borrego Springs and its attractions which included other golf courses, but all trails of the Anza Borrego State Park, many times with Ranger guides specializing in different aspects of the geology, flora or fauna and history of the region. Road Runner Resort had its own 18 hole par 3 golf course, and Les played many rounds there early in the morning, or drove over to the Borrego Springs Resort where the 18 hole course was a full-sized championship course, with a golf pro and where a temporary membership of a ‘winter’ club entitled golfers to enter weekly competitions. The photo below shows the golf course at the Borrego Springs Resort - if the reader looks closely at the mountains, above the tree line in the distance just to the right of centre, a white shape can be seen - locals swore it was of a golfer swinging a club.

There were tennis courts at Road Runner and a cadre of seniors played there three or four mornings a week with a variety of mixed doubles competitions at 9am, before the heat of the day. The Dickasons both played for some of the first year, but Pat’s returning shoulder and tennis elbow aches meant that Les went alone after that. Les was very popular with the ladies who were delighted when drawn to play with him - “he’s still got wheels!” was the common reaction. Being one of the only men under 60 years of age, Les was still very mobile.

During the second and third year, Les moved his tennis playing to the courts at Borrego Springs Resort. There was a professional there who ran a very interesting set of competitions, and the standard was much higher than at Road Runner. With two of the other higher calibre players from Road Runner, Les formed a car pool to visit the other courts regularly. There was a fee for playing, but the tennis was much better than at Road Runner.

On Les’ pre-breakfast walk around Road Runner, a newspaper was purchased from the boxes at the gate - either from San Diego or Los Angeles. Reading the Arts section of the papers produced information about events and concerts, some of which were within driving distance. In the first year, the Dickason logic was that we had paid for the rental home, so we took day trips but always returned to Road Runner at night. In the years when the rental was for 2 or 3 months, outside overnight stays were included and that allowed a wider reach for concerts.

Escondido had a wonderful concert hall, and the Dickasons drove up into the mountains to the west, through Ramona to the Interstate 15 and north to Escondido for an early dinner followed by concerts such as the Spanish National Orchestra conducted by de Burgos, a recital given by none other than Itzhak Perlman [forty years after the concert in Montreal]. Also along the I-15 was the Lawrence Welk Resort with its musical theatre producing performances linked to either a buffet lunch or dinner before the professional show on the stage.

San Diego was further south on the I-15 and required an overnight in a motel in the suburbs if we drove there from Borrego Springs. A symphony concert one year, and an opera, the Magic Flute the next, were the highlights of trips there with a leisurely drive back the next morning.

Each snowbird stay at Road Runner brought visitors and guests. Janet and Roy had an easy drive from Claremont, usually through Temecula where they stocked up on wine from some favourite wineries to bring when they visited the Dickasons each year. The two bedroom homes easily accommodated overnight guests, and other friends who were snowbirds in Indio or Palm Desert drove to visit, play golf, share a barbeque meal and spend a night or two. Two friends from Nanaimo who regularly spent three or four months in Indio reciprocated and invited the Dickasons to their winter home where they played golf with Les on the course attached to their condominium development while Pat went shopping for items not available in Borrego, or which were much cheaper in Indio.

Either on the drive down to Borrego, or on a day trip from the rental homes, the Dickasons stopped at Lake Elsinore just north of Temecula on the I-15 to spend time walking through a very large factory outlet with over 100 stores. Over the years of visiting, shoes, linen, electronics, and the still-in-use set of kitchen dishes were purchased at stores such as Mikasa, Levi’s, Bass, Sony, Gap and Kitchen Collection.

Back in Borrego, during the longer rentals, the Dickasons, began to find new ways to spend their leisure hours. Les became a volunteer at the Anza Desert Natural History Association and did shelf stocking and retail sales at the Nature Center shop on the main street. There was also an amateur theatrical group which produced a drama or a musical comedy each February. A meeting with the Director soon had Les in harness, painting and erecting sets, working in the sound and 

lighting booth - after turning down a part in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

Borrego Springs was also on a circuit for touring artists, and though for most concerts, the audience sat in the bleachers in the gymnasium of the local High School, the acoustics were excellent for an evening with the American String Quartet, a recital by solo pianist Alex Hock, and a very entertaining evening with five award-winning barbershop choirs singing their hearts out for a packed house.

Day trips to Palm Desert or Palm Springs usually included a visit to the Art Museum, a movie, shopping, and a stroll along El Paseo drive with its growing number of galleries and fine art stores.

     On the hotter days at Road Runner, a short stroll took us to the pool area after dinner, and the spa pool followed by a swim in the large pool was a refreshing way to relax. The resort had already adopted a ‘dark sky policy’ of turning off lights early so that observing the night sky was not tainted by street lights. It was possible to lie back in the hot tub and see thousands of stars, airplane lights and the occasional satellite crossing overhead. A gentle rattling of the leaves of the palm trees was the only sound at that time of night.... most residents of Road Runner went to bed very early.

     Each visit, the Dickasons regularly checked on the chalkboard at the Anza Borrego State Park headquarters and visitor center for the latest sightings of big-horn sheep, and for up-dates on the blooming of the famous wildflowers. The two month stay at Road Runner coincided with what was later called “the Mother of all Springs” and the desert floor was covered with a carpet of colour. By following the suggestions of other visiting flower watchers, trips into canyons produced sightings of some flowers seen only rarely. Janet and Roy were visiting at 

the height of this remarkable period, and to be able to accompany these two Botanists was a bonus. On Friday nights during this period, a string of headlights could be seen coming down the hills to the west of Borrego Springs as keen tourists were arriving for a weekend of flower spotting.

Events at Road Runner Resort ranged from a Valentine’s Day party, to a Chili Cook-off where a dozen residents made large quantities of their favourite recipe and for a fee, other residents came, tasted, judged, and waited for the prize ceremony and recipe distribution. The money raised by this was for local charities. The local Rotary Club had a stall on the side of the road at the Borrego Springs roundabout, and sold citrus fruit in large bags. The Dickasons bought their oranges and grapefruit there for two seasons, along with fresh vegetables at the Farmer’s Market each Friday morning, but in the third, were fortunate to be able to pick oranges in the yard of our rental house, and grapefruit from the tree in the garden of one of Les’ tennis partners who invited Les to pick as many as he could because he ‘did not like grapefruit!’

Dinners at Road Runner were prepared in the well-equipped kitchens or on the barbecue in the carport or on the back patio. However, for variety, the Dickasons, sometimes accompanied by guests, did dine out in local establishments. The restaurant at the golf club at Borrego Springs Resort had a weekly special of Hush Puppy suppers - with wine at Happy Hour prices. There was a very fine Mexican food restaurant on the main street of Borrego Springs, and a value restaurant east of the town situated at the Airport. The chef at Wings produced home cooking specials, at prices difficult to match given the limited shopping facilities in the stores of Borrego. Higher end dining rooms were at other resorts nearby, but knowing that they probably had no more fresh ingredients than the Dickason’s kitchen meant few outings to pay their top prices.

 One of the two favourite activities during the three stays at Road Runner Resort was strolling around the outside of the par 3 golf course, with the lake, the swans and the palm trees providing relaxing sights at any time of the day.

The other favourite activity was to drive to one of the off-road features of the Anza Borrego State Park to hike to the views of the badlands, of the Salton Sea, or to the various washes and canyons. For the major visits to Borrego Springs, the Dickasons were driving their Lexus SUV which had four wheel drive and off-road capability which allowed for driving a long distance into some of the gravel road canyons and washes which had beautiful trails after the off-road access parking lots.

On many occasions the Dickasons were the only visitors at view points and in early morning or late evening the light on the desert was amazing. In the photograph below, the Salton Sea is visible in the distance.

After driving down to the desert twice on the I-5, the Dickasons decided there must be other routes that could be used to provide variety and challenges. As a result, once across the border and in Seattle or just south, the Lexus was headed down through Yakima in Washington State to Highway 395 which passed through Pendleton in Oregon where the woolen mills and shop provided discounted bargains, and down through Reno in Nevada, Lake Tahoe and through California to San Bernardino. Another year, highway 197 was used to visit Bend and Crater Lake in Oregon, before heading east to link up with the 395 again. On the route home, there were some alternative routes too - with visits to Zion Canyon, and Salt Lake City in Utah, and Boise, Idaho, providing a great contrast to the other choices. After the years visiting Borrego Springs, the Dickasons had also seen a considerable proportion of the western States.  

      However, during March of the third year of renting at Road Runner Resort, the Dickasons decided that this would be the final year of the snowbird experience. There were several reasons; time away from activities and friends in Nanaimo, other travel interests that were demanding money from the travel budget, and the lack of fit with the other residents of Road Runner. 

      Without being too critical of the owners and other renters at this wonderful resort, the Dickasons found little in common with them. Many of them had been going to Road Runner every year for 15 or more years, and always travelled down the same route from their other homes in states such as Michigan or Idaho, staying at the same motels, buying gas [or olives or jam] at the same stores - and boasting about it. In walking back from the pool area at night, the Dickasons wondered why there were no lights on it the homes they passed. It happened that the owners all had satellite TV and could watch Letterman or the equivalent at 8.30pm, then go to bed. 

     Social life seemed restricted to 4pm cocktail parties, bridge games in the early afternoon, and most owners were surprised to learn from the Dickasons that they had ventured to San Diego for the opera or Escondido for a concert. That type of activity was considered a bit revolutionary for the regular snowbirds. 

      So, the decision was made to restrict future trips to ones shorter than a month, and to seriously make an effort to save for trips to places which had been on the top ten list from before retirement. And, the Dickasons intensified their volunteer activities back in Nanaimo to ensure that time would not drag when winter months were spent there. The snowbird question was resolved - being snowbirds would not feature in travel plans after the three trial years.

Chapter 17 - cruising but with a difference

Chapter 17 - a day or two early, but I am heading away for a week.
Once again, if you want to see the photos that were in the original, check out www.lesnpat.smugmug.com and find the chapter 17 album.

Chapter 17 - back on board at sea again, with a difference

After the disappointment of the Mexican Riviera cruise on Crown Princess, the Dickasons told their travel agent they did not want any more offers of deals on cruising, at least not on huge ships. But, when in New Orleans for the ASCD conference we had seen a stern-wheeler steamboat in the dock near the Conference Center, had noted the name of the ship and the company, and filed it for future reference. In the late ‘90s the computer and the internet made doing research easier, and with some surfing, a schedule was consulted and the Dickasons asked their travel agent to book a cruise on the Delta Queen Steamboat on a seven day round trip on the Mississippi leaving New Orleans on December 17th, 1999.

The flight to New Orleans and the transfer to a Latin Quarter hotel for the night before the cruise were uneventful, but surprises were in store when the Dickasons went aboard Delta Queen on the 17th. She was a completely wooden vessel - cruising the Mississippi under an exemption that allowed her to carry passengers despite legislation banning conveyance of people on wooden ships. She was old - built in 1927 - and already on the National Register of Historic Places - a true American treasure. Her capacity was 176 passengers but for our pre-Christmas sailing she carried around 150, and at just 285 feet long compared to the behemoth Crown Princess at over 800 feet she was tiny.

When the crew cast off, and she drifted out into the Mississippi to power upstream, a man, dressed in shorts despite the cool and windy evening, sat at a stool at the calliope on the aft deck and played sail-away music on this steam-powered musical instrument. The ‘professor,’ as he became known, sometimes joined the Riverside Five Jazz band in the evenings, and repeated the calliope playing as we left most ports on the cruise. The calliope was fitted with lights so that, at night, different colours lit the steam which emerged above the whistles. The crew jokingly informed us that various flavours of jello were fed into the boilers to create this effect.

It took little time to explore Delta Queen. There was a dining room on the lowest deck with a small stage for entertainment after dinner, two lounges forward, one of which doubled as a lecture room, midships was the Betty Blake library which was used by card players and jigsaw puzzlers, an open observation deck was forward with tables and chairs, and it was possible to walk around the decks with cabin doors which opened to the outside. The main 

deck gave access to the landing stage or gangway which was sometimes lowered into place when we tied up, though there was a more normal gangway forward on a lower deck which was used frequently for passengers to go ashore to see the various sights.

The pilothouse was enclosed by glass, and sat high above the other decks, with bridge wings to allow captain and officers a view for landing or docking maneuvers. The interior of the steamboat featured glass, brass and highly polished mahogany which was all decorated with Christmas ornaments, bells and streamers, and each lounge had a Christmas tree as a highlight.

Our cabin, though small, was perfectly comfortable. It had two single beds with quilts as bedspreads, a very well designed bathroom, one chair, a chest of drawers, no wardrobe but hanging space on a wall beside the door to the open deck. The window had an intriguing set of sliding shutters which allowed for adjustment so that we could see out but passengers passing on the open deck could not see into the cabin.

Seating in the dining room was open each night with two over-lapping sittings, and many of the passengers seemed determined to meet all of the other travellers and dine with different table-mates each night. Menu selections were limited, but regional dishes [with creole and cajun flavours] were featured. We found the regular dishes plain after the fine cuisine of the early cruises on Princess, but by experimenting with offerings such as gumbo, catfish and southern chicken, we were never disappointed, and desserts of bread pudding, Mississippi mud pie and the signature apple pie meant we never left the Orleans Room feeling hungry.

Riverboat cruising on the Mississippi was very different compared to previous DIckason cruising experiences. For much of the time steaming up-river, there was nothing scenic. The view was of the levee on each side of the expanse of river with a low line of trees on the top of the bank, and because Delta Queen was relatively small with so few decks, it was not possible, even from the top deck, to see over the levee and trees to the countryside beyond the levee.

Occasionally, there was other river traffic; mainly long barges being pushed by tugs, and a scattering of pleasure craft. 

Consequently, when our steamboat was under way, most passengers stayed inside where it was warm. Time passed playing cards, doing jigsaws, chatting to new friends, or eating cookies with coffee or tea. As we continued up-stream, the Dickasons wondered what we would see once over the levee and into the rural areas beyond. 

   The first stop on the itinerary was at Oak Alley plantation, and until we had disembarked and crossed the levee, we could not see anything of note. However, once across River Road, we saw the 400 yard alley of oak trees, reputed to be more than 270 years old, and the classic Greek-revival style antebellum home at the far end.

A greeter [see the photo on the next page], in period costume, met our group and we had a fascinating tour of the main house which was decorated for the Christmas season in a very colourful way. We heard the history of the plantation and of the renovation of the house in the 1920s, of the ghosts and their stories and of the movies which had been filmed there.

After walking back past the oaks with the ferns growing on the lower branches, we were soon all back on board, and warming inside the welcoming Delta Queen as we continued to our next stop, St. Francisville. 

    Ashore there, we were in a small town where along the Great River Road there were many historic structures originally built when St. Francisville was established in 1809. The Dickasons enjoyed a stroll past beautifully maintained ‘cottages’ as well as churches and more antebellum mansions. There had been a Christmas decoration contest the previous week, so there were wreaths, ribbons, and clever use of the Spanish moss which was very prolific on the oak trees in the streets of this charming town.

The Dickasons did not tour any of the homes or public buildings there in St. Francisville, but spent considerable time reading the historic monument descriptions of buildings such as Audubon Hall [1819], Barrow House [1809], and the Methodist and Episcopalean Churches from the mid 1800s with their interesting graveyards and gravestones.

Back on board, we were entertained after dinner by a shipboard version of a Mardi Gras parade. Staff and crew, dressed in a wide range of outlandish costumes [which included umbrellas], toured the dining room and threw beads while the Riverside Five played jazz for the “second line” as it passed by during dessert and coffee.

Natchez was our next stop, and again the Christmas decorations dominated the gardens and houses on our self-guided walking tour past mansions such as Rosalie [1820], and up Ellicot’s Hill where an American flag was raised in 1797. 

Some of the wreaths on display in Natchez showcased cotton - the staple crop of the plantations in this area for so many years.

Once Delta Queen left the dock at Natchez, she was heading downstream and the vibration was much less obvious, as our steamboat was literally drifting with the river.

    A final stop, a full day, was with our Queen docked in Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana. 

As we neared our berth there were sights to see - the bridges, the industrial area, the large port, and skyscrapers including the Capitol Building. The Dickasons purchased tickets for a guided walking tour of the historic parts of this city, and discovered that our guide was a storyteller and Cajun singer/fiddler, who spent much of the tour regaling us with her songs. In particular we were entertained and educated by her version of the scandals which swirled around Huey Long who managed to become a lawyer without ever earning a diploma, later became Governor, a Senator, a candidate for President, and was assassinated in the Capitol Building.

We took the elevator to the top of this building in the afternoon, and the views from there were quite a contrast to the usual lack of them from on board our Queen on the river. However, there were no hills in sight, the horizon was flat, and we realized how easily Louisiana could flood without the network of levees and dikes.

Our last night on Delta Queen was a memorable one. A special guest had come on board in Baton Rouge. He was a Cajun speaker who told many tales of the early settlers of the area, and after dinner gave a rendition of “The Night Before Christmas” with his own Cajun spin on the famous story. Later, he invited us on the decks to witness the lighting of the levee bonfires, a Christmas tradition on the nights before the 25th. As we stood, and shivered despite our coats, we could see a growing number of bonfires lit as we passed. Some fires had a chorus of carolers close by and they sang to us, and we sang to them as midnight approached - and packing for disembarkation in New Orleans was postponed for a short while.

The Dickasons had reserved a room in the same Le Richelieu Hotel on Chartres Street where the night was spent before the cruise. We returned there after leaving our steamboat to spend a few days over Christmas in New Orleans. A cold snap arrived as we began our sightseeing, and each morning as we walked from our neighbourhood, saw sheets covering roses and rhododendrons in the small front gardens of the houses. The TV weather people were warning residents to take special care of their pets, make sure their water bowls were not frozen, and to bring pots of poinsettias indoors. For the temperature to drop below 32F was quite a challenge to these ‘southerners.’

But, with warm jacket and gloves, we enjoyed the sunny days as we checked off

items on our list of sights to see. Naturally we went to Cafe Du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets [which are very messy to eat with their powdered sugar floating on to all exposed flesh and clothing too], and for people watching. There was a saxophonist busker outside and a crowd of tourists soon gathered to have their photograph taken at this famous landmark. 

A walk down Bourbon and Royal Streets followed, and we were amused at the small waist-high shelves which were attached to many of the posts which held up the overhanging balconies over the boardwalk below. These shelves were for temporarily parking the cocktails and beer from Happy Hour, which seemed to start early and lasted much longer than an hour. All buildings were decorated for the holiday season, and the residents of some streets seemed to have collaborated to produce a single colour scheme for a block or two. Even the Police Station had entered the spirit of the season.

Finding a place for dinner on Christmas Day was a challenge, but eventually, the Dickasons reserved a table for two at a larger hotel where the dining room was open and they were four consecutive sittings for a festive three course meal. After the usual toast to ‘absent friends and relatives’ we did a recap of the river cruise and decided that we would do some serious research into ‘small ship’ cruising when we were back in Nanaimo. This proved to be a very important discussion, and later chapters will reveal the result of it.

All big-name jazz clubs were closed on the 25th, but we discovered a special church service in the New Orleans Cathedral later that day and sat at the back of the impressive interior and were moved by the gospel choir singing spirituals and carols. It was a very colourful and lively musical finish to a very different Christmas Day.

     On our final full day, the Dickasons went to Canal Street, and      

spent a few minutes in Harrah’s Casino. While inside, a Mardi Gras parade passed through with scantily clad ladies tossing beads and party hats and favours to those who stopped gambling long enough at the slot machines to catch the tossed items. From there, we boarded the cable car and enjoyed the long ride along Canal Street, through different neighbourhoods until we reached a very large park which included a Botanical Garden, and a Museum of Art - the latter closed for the holidays unfortunately.

One jazz club was listed in the local paper as being open on the 26th, and we strolled east from our hotel into a seedier area of the city to find it [The Blue Nile?]. There was only a short line of people waiting to be admitted, so the Dickasons were soon inside, seated in a balcony, with a perfect view of the tiny stage. The crudely printed sheet on the table informed us that we would hear Ellis Marsalis and ‘friends’ that night, but gave no other details. By eavesdropping on conversations at tables nearby we discovered that Ellis was none other than the father of the famous trumpeter, Wynton [as well as the other three musician sons].

When Ellis came on stage, he made no introduction but sat at the piano and played his first choice, exquisitely. When he finished this first number, he spoke to the audience of his work on the music faculty at the University of New Orleans, and added that he had asked some of his students to come that night and play with him. For the next 90 minutes, we were in heaven as duets, trios and a final combo blew us away with musicianship, enthusiasm, and the students’ obvious high regard for Ellis, who played a supporting role and pushed them forward at every opportunity that night.

The Dickasons were still smiling when the plane touched down the next day in Vancouver, though the clouds and fog covering the Edgewood hill back in Nanaimo brought us back to reality after a fascinating southern vacation in December.

tales chapter 16

Once again, if you wish to see the photos that were with the original text, go to www.lesnpat.smugmug.com and find the album appropriate to chapter 16.

Chapter 16 - LD Services travel - start to retirement

L.D. Services was introduced in a previous chapter in connection with the writing of the restaurant review column “Fare Comment,” but its original and major purpose was to promote the availability of a facilitator, speaker and professional development leader of workshops - Les. The experiences from the time with the Ministry of Education, combined with being Professional Development Coordinator for the BC Principal’s and Vice-Principal’s Association and later the Superintendent’s Association, had given Les a profile and a wide range of contacts, so that when districts were seeking speakers for conferences, Les was a potential choice.

As Director of Programs and Professional Development with School District 68, Les arranged for trips to further his training, and to bring new skills back to the district. First was a three day workshop in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, where there was an intensive period of training based on the theory and practice of School Improvement models. 

One of the presenters at this workshop specialized in Co-operative or Group Learning, and Les engaged him to come and present workshops for teachers in SD 68 every two months over the next two years [Friday evenings and Saturday workshops], and this proved to be valuable when Les returned to teaching at Malaspina College in the Education program there.

 Les and two colleagues went to Tacoma in Washington State to be qualified as trainers in Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement [TESA], which resulted in SD 68 introducing this program in several schools each year. Pat came along on this trip and spent her days touring nearby botanical gardens and heading into Seattle for shopping and exploring the ‘market’ during Les’ workshops sessions.

The following year, there was an up-date on the TESA program held in San Francisco. Les was invited by the Tacoma trainer to assist in San Francisco, and the Dickasons booked into the Fisherman’s Wharf hotel where the training sessions were held. Pat had two delightful days playing tourist while Les presented at the workshop sessions, and the Dickasons ate fine seafood and drank lovely Californian white wine after working hours.

One of the offerings in the L.D. Services kitbag that Les developed was “Laughter in the Workplace” which was based on some of the life experiences of Norman Cousins, and some of the communication theory lectures from the M. Ed. program during the University of Victoria summers. It could be ‘bought’ as a keynote address or as a workshop with participation. In shopping this offering around, Les kept his eye on conferences in places the Dickasons wished to visit. As a result the workshop was accepted and included on the program at an annual conference of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - in Chicago.

Two of the play-going group, Roy and Janet, had married during the time when they were working at the University of British Columbia, and Roy subsequently had been hired as the Director of the Chicago Botanic Garden. They had a home then in Glencoe, a suburb of Chicago, and the Dickasons were able to combine a first visit to Chicago where the ASCD conference was in the downtown Palmer House Hotel, and a visit to Janet and Roy. Les had just the one session to deliver - Laughter in the Workplace - a hands-on workshop presentation - and it ended with the audience of some forty Superintendents and Assistants from across the US and Canada having a marshmallow fight, and then cleaning up the room afterwards. 

While at the hotel for the period of the conference, the Dickasons enjoyed their first visit to the downtown of the “windy city” and took a walking tour with a volunteer from the American Architect’s Association and learned the history of the skyscraper as it evolved in Chicago. Being early December, the buskers on the street corners played seasonal music, and one evening after sampling deep dish pizzas at Uno Grill, the Dickasons heard a dozen brass players from the Chicago Symphony giving an impromptu concert of carols just a block from Palmer House, with hundreds of spectators gleefully watching and singing along.

After the conference, the Nanaimo visitors moved to the Taylor house in Glencoe for a few days with Janet and Roy. Visiting the Botanic Garden was a highlight of course, but spending time with our friends was very relaxing as we went for dinner in restaurants, drove out into the rural areas, visited the Frank Lloyd Wright house and generally explored this area for the first time. 

On that trip, Les attended a session at the ASCD conference offered by a professor of Education and his four doctoral students, at which they introduced a prototype of a board game [not unlike Monopoly] entitled the “Change Game.” It was based on research and practice in ways educational institutions could effectively manage rapid change. Les told the team that, immediately the game was in published form, he wanted to buy two sets - each set was designed for 20 players - and left his contact details with the team.

British Columbia at the time had an education system undergoing very rapid change dictated by the Ministry. School districts generally and some schools in particular were resisting the changes, or attempting to introduce them and having difficulty. When Les received his two sets of the published Change Game, he advertised his availability to conduct a half-day workshop featuring the game for a selection of district personnel or for the staff of an individual school. Bookings for L.D. Services to facilitate the “Change Game” grew quickly as Les headed for sessions in Harrison Lake, Tofino, Quadra Island, the Superintendent’s Association conference in Victoria, Powell River, Duncan, Port Alberni, Kelowna, and more. 

On travelling to some of the Island locations, Les found the accommodation was in waterfront hotels or motels, and Pat, if not booked as a docent for Morrell Sanctuary, went too and some evening or early morning strolls were very relaxing and allowed time for photography and fine dining. The photograph below was taken one morning before Les’ workshop at a nearby conference centre.

One of the students in the Masters program at the University of Victoria was on the Executive of the B.C.P. & V.P. A. at the same time as Les and together they worked, while on Hank’s boat fishing, on an outline for a workshop entitled “Vice Principal - Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?” This occurred while the Dickasons were visiting Hank and his wife in Port Hardy, a five hour drive north of Nanaimo, and after polishing the script in Nanaimo, Hank and Les presented it at the annual BCP&VPA conference in Fort St. John where it drew an overflow of Vice Principal registrants. The word spread, and the pair were invited to present a version of the workshop at a variety of B.C. sites during the next two years.  

The L.D. Services contracts were not restricted to presentations in B.C. Les kept his eye on conferences and workshops which advertised for proposals from presenters. As a result the Dickasons made their first visit to New Orleans, where Les was on the program again of ASCD, this time speaking of School Improvement Programs in B.C., and though he was obliged to shuttle daily from a hotel to the huge Convention Centre to attend sessions or to speak in his time-slot, that allowed Pat time to explore the unique city - pre-Katrina - and the nearby everglades. In this city the Dickasons spent a day and a night post-conference strolling Basin Street 

listening to jazz, walking along the levy, and sampling creole cooking. 

On the final night the Dickasons went to a suburban high school [despite the efforts of an incompetent taxi driver who could not admit he did not know the way].... to hear a recital given by Flicka - Frederica von Stade - a long-time favourite mezzo. When she came on stage for the second half of the recital, in a very fetching red dress ready to sing excerpts from Carmen, a man in the audience gave a loud wolf whistle. She held up her hand, laughed and said “Damn, I’ve lost my starting note” and left the stage to compose herself. Her second attempt was without incident. The packed house gave several standing ovations through the evening.

This short stay down in Mississippi was sufficient to whet the appetite and move New Orleans up the top ten list of places to visit, and it would not be long before another visit occurred.

 With contacts made at this ASCD conference, Les received invitations to present one or two day workshops in Australia. Fortunately, the timing of the Australian conference coordinators was flexible, and they were able to wait until the next trip downunder by the Dickasons to see family and friends. One workshop, over two days, was in Brisbane, so while Pat was staying with her father on the coast just to the north, Les rented a motel room in Brisbane and made the presentations. A second, as luck would have it, was in a professional development centre just outside Geelong, so while the Dickasons were staying with Alan and Helen in the guest flat, Les took his leave during the day and gave the same workshop as in Brisbane to over 100 educators invited there.  A bottle of Grange was enjoyed with Alan and Helen.

One of the audience in Geelong invited Les to give a shorter version of the workshop on School Improvement Programs at a professional development centre in a suburb of Melbourne, and once the Dickasons had returned to Pat’s sister’s house in Surrey Hills, the largest audience of the Australian ‘speaking tour’ attended this presentation. The overhead transparencies for that workshop certainly logged many miles from Nanaimo to New Orleans and then around eastern Australia.

As well as ‘kitbag’ topics from the L.D.Services brochure being successful, there was a growing demand at the time for a facilitator who could spend a day with a group of people to lead them through an evaluation of the current situation of their organization, develop a Mission Statement, generate goals for the future and set an action plan for implementation of the goals with a time schedule attached.

Once Les had successfully led such a process with the Vancouver Island Regional Library Directors and senior staff coming together in Nanaimo one weekend, the word of mouth resulted in Les travelling to do similar facilitations with quasi-government groups, corporate groups, and school districts. Trips to Vancouver, Victoria, Parksville and Campbell River followed, and in some cases, a year later, there was an invitation to repeat the process with the latest Board or group of senior staff. At one stage, when Les was very busy with ‘real’ work at Malaspina University-College with the placement of student teachers demanding more time as the numbers of students in the program grew, L.D. Services attempted to slow the demand by increasing the fees for half-day or day-long workshops. Akin to the result when a company repackages say, a box of chocolates, and doubles the price, this attempt succeeded in producing greater demand, the opposite of the intended outcome. Placing the fee for a day 50% higher had the effect of attracting a wide range of new clients especially in the corporate realm.

Retirement - travel and?

 In 1996, the senior staff at Malaspina University-College were forced to cut the institution’s budget and offered retirement buy-outs to faculty with seniority so that less experienced, and less expensive, faculty could take their place. Les, in leaving the school district and joining the faculty only eight years previously, did not qualify with sufficient seniority for a package. However, the first cast of the net did not catch sufficient numbers of senior faculty willing to leave; consequently a second request for potential retirees was circulated. After discussing the prospect of early retirement over several dinners at Lenhart Ave. the Dickasons decided to go ahead with an application, not having much hope of being successful. However, later in 1996, Les was informed his request for retirement at the end of the semester, January 1997, had been accepted.

The birthday at the end of January would be the last day at Malaspina - and Les was gratified that during December, the BC College of Teachers had approved the application from the Malaspina University-College Education faculty to proceed with a new Teacher Education Program. Independence from the University of Victoria would become a reality after three years of development work and progress through the various stages of approval. It was the last major project Les had hoped to see concluded before leaving.

Planning for retirement began in late fall of 1996. The Dickasons, inveterate list makers, after reading all the books in the library offering advice on retirement, produced a tentative list of what activities would dominate the years of retirement. Travel topped the list, closely followed by promoting L.D. Services and accepting more contracts, gardening, physical fitness [especially more golf and tennis for Les], taking care of finances given the lower income especially as Les in leaving the work-

world early would have a reduced pension, and experimenting with volunteering was the final item.

 But, by the time January arrived, and the non-Panama cruise had come and gone, the Dickasons decided to spread the word that L.D. Services was going to take a one year break. Les told those who phoned with offers of contracts that he was going to take a year “to find himself in retirement” so the list of retirement activities was reduced from six to five before retirement started in 1997. 

On the 31st of January, the day after the reception to honour Les and his service to Malaspina and to the Education faculty, the Dickasons drove south to explore potential places should they decide to be snowbirds in future years. Once southern California was reached and after visiting Janet and Roy, who had moved to Claremont where Roy was now the Director of a research botanical garden, the Dickasons drove east to Palm Springs and Palm Desert. These were obvious choices to consider for possible snowbirds, and with golf courses and tennis courts at many of the resorts, the file of brochures grew quickly. 

Indio was next, further out the Coachella Valley, and the lower prices for rentals appealed there. Driving south to the Salton Sea followed, and instead of continuing south to check out Yuma which had been recommended by friends, on a whim the Dickasons turned west across the desert on highway 76 and stumbled on Borrego Springs. 

A tiny town, situated in the middle of the huge Anza Borrego State Park, it appealed because it had no ‘chain’ restaurants, motels, or stores .... everything was locally owned and operated. The Palm Canyon Resort, despite its hokey western theme with wagons and wheels and the old-fashioned decor of the dining room, was a comfortable hotel for the Dickason’s night in town. After one day touring in the huge State Park and driving to the Borrego Springs Resort with its lovely new golf course, clubhouse, tennis courts and hotel we extended our stay at the Palm Canyon for an extra night, and the next day, found the local farmer’s market at the roundabout [Christmas Circle] and visited the Tourist Office to collect information for future reference.

Armed with brochures from Borrego Springs, we crossed the mountains towards the coast and drove through the Lawrence Welk Resort villas just north of Escondido in an inland valley - a huge, attractive complex, but expensive. Once the Dickasons reached the coast to the west, there was a night in each of two resort cities, Oceanside and Carlsbad, but for some reason, the potential of the coast and the less reliable weather did not seem as appealing as the desert. One last recommended southern California destination, Lompoc, was the final alternative to check before the drive back to BC for the rest of the winter.

In the spring and summer of 1997, the Dickasons devoted hours to the garden at Lenhart Ave. Over the previous years they had done a major renovation of the 

front garden which now had a dozen rhododendrons and almost two dozen roses and other plantings, and in the back there were six fruit trees, raised vegetable beds, a large bed for strawberries and raspberries, a squash and pumpkin bed and a set of three compost heaps being rotated.

However, in the first full year of retirement, the garden felt more like an anchor than a pleasure. The Dickasons realized that the garden had been a welcome break from the working life over the years, but that the schedule required for preparation, maintenance, harvesting and shutting down for winter was going to reduce the opportunities for taking advantage of travel deals.

So, in the late spring of 1998, that house and garden was sold and the Dickasons moved to Edgewood Drive - a hilltop townhouse with a small area of garden to maintain, and a wrap-around deck on which some container gardening could be practised as needed. This shift removed a second item from the list of retirement activities - this list was now shorter still.

 

Two other events of the late 90’s had an influence on the retirement planning and travels. Pat’s father George died in 1996, and Les’ mother Grace in 1998. In both cases there were hastily planned solo trips to Australia, with some flights having stand-by status for some legs, but they eventually worked as hoped.

As a result, future trips to Australia were not necessarily of the ‘duty’ variety.... the Dickasons could add a tourism slant to itineraries, and we did. One other short trip to Australia was in 1998 when Pat’s nephew Phillip. who had visited Nanaimo one previous Christmas, was married. The short trip was very enjoyable, though Les limped through the wedding day and for a few days later. On stepping off a tram Les was knocked down by an elderly man who lost his footing and fell on Les’ foot - what was initially thought to be a badly swollen ankle which required ice, strapping and pain-killers was later diagnosed as a small broken bone on the side of the foot. To this day it alerts Les to any sudden drop in atmospheric pressure.

A flurry of travel activity in the early retirement years

While the first two Christmases after retirement were spent at home in Nanaimo, other trips at other times of the year brought some new destinations and some returns to other places. September of 1997 provided an opportunity to re-visit Stratford, Ontario for the Theatre Festival. Landing in Toronto and renting a car for five days, the Dickasons first drove out west from the airport into the setting sun and found the freeway traffic an incredible chore. But once in the rural areas, driving was easier. A lovely bed and breakfast, not far from the Festival Theatre and from downtown, meant we parked the rental car most of the time and walked to restaurants for meals and on to the various theatres. 

A very clever ‘cowboy’ version of “The Taming of the Shrew,” and a convincing “Richard III” were highlights on the main stage, and our driving trips out to local markets and the Mennonite farming area around St. Jacobs provided a contrast to sitting in the theatre. Of course the lovely homes and gardens, and the park areas of Stratford with the lakeside walks, the Shakespearean garden, and swans to feed, all combined to produce a September getaway we promised to repeat. The Dickasons also managed a picnic lunch with Chuck and Marcie met on the last Princess cruise.

January of 1998 featured a flight to London and connection to Malaga in the south of Spain. Mollie’s step-sister Eileen and her husband Ken had a condominium an hour’s drive to the west in Estepona, and they spent many months there leaving behind their other home in Kent to enjoy the weather, food and sports on the Costa del Sol. We had met them several times when they visited Mollie, and Les had arranged to play golf with them on Nanaimo golf courses. They kept insisting the Dickasons should join them in Spain, and after retirement, it became possible.

When Ken met us at the Malaga airport, and the Dickasons had collected suitcases but were waiting for the golf bag to arrive on the carousel, a Spanish official approached, tapped Les on the shoulder and asked if he was ‘Senor Dickason.’ He had a message, the golf clubs had missed the connection in London, and he wanted a forwarding address to send the clubs to the next day.

The drive west along the autovia from Malaga was a familiar one for Ken, who had a part-time job arranging golf tours for visiting British tourist/golfers and often went to the airport to meet the groups of golfers. But, the fast speeds and seemingly erratic drivers were an eye-opener for the Dickasons, who began to wonder about their plans to drive while in the area.

Visiting nearby towns with Eileen for a guide, walking on the beaches with Gibraltar in the distance [see photo at left], playing golf [the clubs did arrive as promised], and dining well occupied the first few days of this time on the Costa del Sol. In the evenings after dinner the Dickasons examined guidebooks, consulted the hosts, and planned a drive in Ken’s second car to tour the inland areas.

Based on the experiences of the earlier visit to Spain which included wonderful nights spent in paradors, some reservations were made in the southern versions of these national inns.

While in Estepona, we were amused by the enclave of British ‘residents’ who dominated the lawn bowling club, the tennis club, and the El Paraiso Golf Club where the posts of Men’s Captain, Ladies’ Captain and more were held by golfers from the UK who spent up to six months in the area. Competitions were identical to those ‘back home’ and the celebration afterwards included British beer and chips.

Many restaurants and pubs in the main strip of Estepona had English names and menus to match. Fortunately for the Dickasons, Ken had spent several years in Spain as a university student years ago, was fluent in Spanish, and loved to eat at 

local Spanish restaurants. We quickly found that Ken was recognized by restauranteurs and as we entered we were treated to the hand-shaking, the gratis copita of Jerez [Spanish sherry - dry for the men, medium for the ladies] and freshly carved slices of the cured ham which sat on a special table near the small barrels of sherry. At the table, a small platter of olives was placed along with the menu - another pre-dinner tradition. The local seafood was so tempting, that though Les and Ken looked for excuses to order Rioja reds, most nights we drank fresh Spanish whites - until we reached the condominium after dinner when a red was opened.

There were several short trips away from Estepona - the first along the coast to the east and included stays in paradors in Malaga and Nerja on the coast. Both inns were high on a cliff, and the views during the day and night were stunning. The ugliness of the suburbs of Malaga we had seen while driving west from the airport the first day was a great contrast to the well-preserved older sections of this city. We climbed to the Gibralfaro with its solid fortifications and view of 360 degrees. The new Malaga was clearly seen to one side with towers of modern apartment buildings, and the huge bullring. The port and older sections were seen from another side of the fortified walls.

     On the way down, we walked through archways with a moorish influence, arrived at the roman theatre which was still in use, and then strolled through leafy gardens which were dotted with the famous ceramic benches depicting the history and geography of the area.

      Between our parador in Malaga and the next one in Nerja along the coast to the east, we passed areas of agriculture, many of which included greenhouses, plastic-covered raised beds, as well as large market gardens. Nerja was a small port town with locals feeding the fish from the docks, and with colourful fishing boats pulled up on the stony beach just outside the town. 

cliffs, with the hills rising beyond.                            

       Further along the beach were some resort hotels, then the parador. The view from our room was along the beach towards the rocky

Our lunch at a Nerja beachside cafe featured the southern Spanish version of paella and some grilled fish from a barbecue in the open air. A longer walk on the beach led to the Balcon de Europe viewpoint built out into the Mediterranean with views east and west on this rocky stretch of coastline. 

 On the day back in Estepona Les and Ken played golf, Pat and Eileen toured the trendy stores on the waterfront of Puerto Banus where the marinas were

crowded with luxury yachts [of the rich and famous?], then the Dickasons packed and headed inland for the ‘white villages’ on the hills to the north.

They really were white! In the midst of lush green fields and with grey outcroppings of rock above them, villages such as Gaucin and Jimena de la Frontera were sparkling white with light terra cotta coloured roof tiles. From a distance, each village looked completely white in the sunshine. 

Our parador the first night inland was at Ronda, and it was situated on a ravine with clifftop views to the valley below. In the morning, the mist gave the plains a spooky look until it burned off in the warming sun - and the city of Ronda was a great place to explore.

 The oldest bullring in Spain was a highlight there - no fight scheduled, but we joined a guided tour of the bullring, and the under-the-stands Museum showed the hundreds of years of history of this bullring, and included photographs and memorabilia of famous matadors and featured some of the most famous bulls - heads of several had been stuffed and mounted. The old town of Ronda featured palaces and churches in very good condition despite their age.

Another parador, in Arcos de la Frontera, was right at the top of the steep hill, and the access was up a narrow road which went under the buttress of a church. The width was so restricted, that Les had to fold in the rearview mirrors of Ken’s car to be able to pass through and reach the parking lot at the top of the town. 

But, despite the clammy-hands-drive to reach the parador, the views were even more spectacular than those of Ronda. On our stroll around the village, we saw several churches, hundreds of years old, sitting right on the edge of the cliffs, with the river a long, long way below.

Our drive inland was not only planned for small villages and towns, and we eventually reached the outskirts of Seville. The advice we had been given was that accommodation and parking in Seville would be difficult to impossible, so the Dickasons had reserved a room for two nights in a downtown hotel which had underground parking available.

We were closely following our map, and still 2km from the centre of the city, when we began to realize how serious the parking situation was there. As we stopped for a traffic light, a young man tapped on our window, and asked if we wanted to park, offering to guide us. As we continued to the next block, we saw cars parked very close together, with three rows of cars starting from the kerb. Each section of the roadway had an overseer, two or three men acting as touts for would-be-parkers, and two or three pushers of cars..... all cars in the overseer’s section were locked but their emergency brakes were not applied. When a returning motorist wanted his or her car, the pushers went to work moving cars in the outer lanes forward and back, until there was room for the driver to leave. The gap left by that car was soon filled as the pushers closed the gap, and allowed another car to park at the front or back of the line.

After difficulty with one-way streets, we drove two or three times around a plaza, located the hotel, parked the car underground, and did not use it again until we drove out of Seville three days later. There was plenty to see on foot, and one day, at the suggestion of the concierge, we bought tickets on a hop-on-hop-off tour of Seville which took us to the sites further away.

Along one promenade running beside the river, in between Seville orange trees, were statues commemorating music and musicians; one was of Mozart with a violin, another was a tribute to Carmen. Nearby was the famous bullring where Carmen is dramatically stabbed in the opera. The Giralda tower beside the cathedral gave us wonderful views out across the suburbs to the wooded areas beyond, and the cathedral itself, built in the 15th century, included the tomb of Christopher Columbus and many priceless works of art including paintings by Goya.

Not far away was the Alcazar - a series of buildings some of which date back to the 9th century, and Moorish influences dominated here before the Christians reconquered Seville, renovated some of the buildings, and added patios and fountains. The Dickasons counted their blessings at being there in January - the small crowd of tourists out of season gave space and quiet to our visit. Some of the buildings featured gardens with pools, and we noticed the smell of jasmine as well as that of the citrus trees in bloom. Inside and outside buildings were mosaics of almost infinite designs and colours.... ‘come and look at this’ was the catch-phrase for our visit as we kept discovering more amazing art at every turn.

The Hall of the Embassadors [seen at left] included a stunning gilded dome in the ceiling inside, made of interlaced wooden pieces. Below the dome was a frieze with portraits of the Spanish kings.

When on our hop-on-hop-off tour we left the bus at the Plaza de Espana which was the site of the Latin American Expo in 1929. The plaza was dominated by the palace which is semi-circular and has towers, a canal, and a bench for each province of Spain depicted in beautiful ceramic mosaics. One of the benches is seen below at right.

In the evenings, after a day of sightseeing, and before we could find a restaurant willing to serve a meal before 9pm, the Dickasons joined the locals and cruised Sierpes and Tetuan, a pair of parallel streets with stores for just about everything - Spanish and imported. At the end we discovered El Corte Ingles, a huge department store. One night a visit to a tapas bar kept hunger at bay until the restaurants opened.

Dining in Seville was at big city prices, but the gazpacho [said to have originated here] was refreshing, and we did order heuvos a la flamenca which was a tradition there. Fried tomato, ham, vegetables are served on potato slices or chips, eggs are added before the dish is baked.  

On a travel day we crossed east to check-in to another parador which proved to be the most fascinating of the paradors so far. It was in Granada, inside the walls of the Alhambra, so when other tourists had to leave and the gates of the Alhambra were locked, the Dickasons, as guests of the parador, were able to wander the deserted gardens at will.

The fortifications at the Alhambra, the Generalife gardens and the sultan’s palace had us imagining fairy tales and mysteries. The fortress which protected the Alhambra was completed in the early 14th century, and has a red hue due to the clay from nearby quarries. Inside the fortress are palaces, a royal complex, and a unique canal system which supplied water for gardens and the inhabitants. It was tempting to spend all of our time inside the walls, slowly working our way through the palaces and the gardens with reflecting pools and large and small mosaics features. 

But, we did walk down the road to the downtown and discovered, on a poster in a shop window, that there would be a guitar recital that evening in a recital hall, not far outside the Alhambra walls. The poster advertised a concert by Eliot Fisk and students, and we found tickets on sale inside the store.

The concert was at 7pm, and the walk down the path outside the Alhambra was well marked. Eliot Fisk, though from the US, had established a series of classes for guitarists in Salzburg. He was touring with five of his top students, all young men [in their 20s?] and the concert featured them in solo pieces, in duets with Fisk or other students, and concluded with a group piece which had the audience immediately on their feet applauding and stamping their feet. It was a wonderful ‘birthday’ treat for Les, celebrating one year of retirement.

It was time to head back to Estepona, but some torrential rains slowed us as we drove south to the coast. Plans for a final round of golf had to be scrapped as the El Paraiso course was closed due to flooding [see the 6th hole above]. The Dickasons packed ready for the flight back to Canada - with plans to prepare the car in Nanaimo almost immediately and drive south again - to southern California and Borrego Springs.