Monday, March 25, 2013

A Ride, a Show & a Jigs Dinner

Saturday proved to be a great day for a ride so, Lucky and I did just that.  We rode south on Highway 74 - up and over the San Jacinto Mountain range - to Temecula, CA.
Lucky arrives at our site.
Jeanette had plans to do some laundry; Trena was busy readying their rig for departure; so Lucky and I were given the freedom to go on a ride.
Hector was hanging back to manage some small RV tasks.
After fueling up, we rode through El Paseo drive and continued south on Highway 74.  Soon, we were rolling around the numerous twists and tight turns, leading up and over the mountain range.  Fun ride, this is!
I left the camera at home and Jeanette proved that she was busy with laundry.
Once in Old Town Temecula, Lucky and I enjoyed a lovely lunch before riding south, into Hemet, then Beaumont, and on to I-10 and back to our respective sites in Desert Hot Springs.
 We had to be back by about 3:30 pm to ready for our evening out at the Spotlight 29 Casino.  We were planning an early dinner before taking in the Gordon Lightfoot performance there.
The Spotlight 29 casino in Coachella.
The attendees  L-R   Lucky, Hector, Trena, Diane and Jeanette.
A photo to prove that I too was there.
This was our first visit to this casino and the first thing I attended to was to visit 'will call' to collect our show tickets.  The others found a great eating spot and we made good on that.


Trena is toasting us with her glass of red.
We took advantage to pull off a little 60th birthday surprise in honour of Diane's soon to be special birthday.
The Gordon Lightfoot concert appeared to be sold out.  The well known Canadian singer and songwriter played many of his well known tunes (Beautiful, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, etc.) and the attendees seemed thrilled to see him.  There were many hoots and shouts between songs. 

Although it was a treat to see him live, I would have preferred to simply remember him from earlier recordings and at a time when he could truly sing.  He is 76 or 77 years old and he simply cannot carry a tune well anymore.  Why these recording artists continue to perform - when they really should not - seems illogical.  However, it was our choice to attend.  Although glad I did attend, I think our days of buying show tickets to see aging artists is  waning.  I prefer to listen to original recordings over seeing and listening to a struggling voice.  I felt the very same way after seeing Willie Nelson perform last year.
The last supper!
Hector and Diane were hosting last evening's RV dinner at their site.  With Lucky and Trena leaving for the trek back to the BC coast today, dinner was a special Newfoundland Jigs meal.. What is that you ask?    Jiggs dinner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diane and Hector's special meal - A Newfoundland Jigs Dinner.
 A Newfie tradition, this meal is fit for anyone who enjoys simple fare.  It is a combination of boiled cabbage, carrots and potatoes,  pease pudding and, the 'pièce de résistence', corned beef.   

It was HMMMMMM, HMMMMMM, GOOD!  Thanks for  invite to this awesome meal guys!
 We dug into the Jigs dinner with gusto.  It is a lovely tradition!
Hector and Diane enjoyed sharing this Newfie tradition and we enjoyed it to the fullest.
Dinner was topped off with this outstanding desert.
 In keeping with the Jigs Dinner tradition, our serviettes displayed the Newfoundland map, major cities, tartan, Provincial flower and more.
Even Chico enjoyed a tiny bit of Jigs dinner and thanked his handler by sitting on his lap.  Although he weighs about 80 lbs, he seems to think he is a lap dog.

With our great Jigs dinner ingested, we sat outdoors till after 9:00 pm when we said our good byes and wished Lucky and Trena a pleasant drive back to British Columbia.  Our days down here in Palm Springs country are waning and soon, we'll be on the road back for home.

Hector and I will be joining Fred round three in our golf plans, playing the JW Marriott Resort course this morning.

Thanks for dropping by.


6 comments:

  1. I do agree somewhat about aging performers, and while I was thrilled to see Clapton recently I read that he wants to retire from doing concert tours in 3 years when he turns 70. It will be interesting to see if he holds himself to that. We also saw Albert Lee and Peter Frampton last year, and some of these guys can still really play well.
    The Jigs dinner looks good!

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  2. Nice bike ride you and Lucky took, and a beautiful scenic route to boot! Lunch in Old Town Temecula is always nice to. Miss those Jigs dinners my Mom would fix as they were New Brunswicker's. One old artist I still enjoy is Peter Noone, Herman's Hermits. Hope you have a great day on the links.

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  3. Wow, sounds like a great day overall. I really enjoy that ride into Old Town Temecula, I bet it was a perfect day to it.

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  4. Love the Jig's dinner have had a couple time prepared by friends from Newfoundland, so tasty.
    Too bad about the concert.

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  5. I'd never heard about a Jigs dinner before but it sure looked good.

    I've always wondered if these old entertainers do it for the money or just because they like to perform before a live audience.

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