California day 9

August 9

Another lovely day in California! Bev and Denise thought I'd enjoy seeing the Living Desert Zoo and Natural Garden in Palm Desert. This time of year, when it is so very hot outside, the facility is only open until 1:30 PM, so it's a good idea to get there early. Before leaving, I had a cup of coffee on the patio with Denise and Bev while it was still relatively cool. We saw a roadrunner wandering through the backyards of the surrounding condominiums, and hummingbirds flitting among the pink-purple trumpet-shaped flowers on the neighbor's hedges. Dew still glistened on the short-cropped grass at the edge of the patio and the cicadas that had been so shrill yesterday afternoon were still silent at this placid hour.

Denise drove me out to the Living Desert and dropped me off, since the van was in the shop, waiting for authorization by Chris of Adventures on Wheels to have the necessary repairs carried out. I hoped Chris would authorize all the repairs needed to make the driving of the van less of an "adventure," but, since it was not up to me, I focused on appreciating the zoo and garden. The first staff member I met was a woman with a tarantula in a glass terrarium. She was there to show this desert creature close up to visitors of the zoo. I noticed the sparseness of its back bristles. This woman and I talked shop for a while. I saw how she dealt with the questions small curious children asked and I told her of my similar background in Israel as a guide with the Nature Protection Society. I related my black-widow story and my scorpion story to her (I won't go into detail here) and she appreciated having someone to exchange professional anecdotes with. The next staff member I encountered was a woman with an Australian Bearded Lizard in her hands for children to pet and feel the texture of its hide. I told her that you can hypnotize lizards by flipping them belly up and then stroking their tummies. This works for all lizards, from 'gators to geckoes. She tried it and was impressed to see it works! This was my contribution to their educational program.

I found my way to the botanical gardens and read the signs as I went along. The Living Desert is organized in a very logical way and "landscaped" to give visitors a sense of what it would be like to visit the various other deserts of the region first, and then elsewhere on the planet as they progressed further into the garden. There was a section on ethno-botany, with explanations on how the native people used the plants on display for food, medicine, household implements and weapons. I particularly appreciated seeing and handling living arrow-weed stems. These grow very straight (straight as an arrow) and rigid and their exploitation for that purpose, along with other uses of the plant, is so very intuitive that I couldn't help but marvel at the minds of the people who first encountered this plant and saw how it could serve their needs.

There is a veterinary station on the premises and when I went in I found a group of people appreciating the air conditioning while they watched the veterinarian and his staff through a large plate glass window as they examined a large bird of prey on the operating table – impeccable timing on my part, as this demonstration is not a regularly scheduled event.

A meteorological station I passed when I first arrived showed 92°F (33°C) and 35% relative humidity. I was dry and comfortable, but I saw visitors who were perspiring into their eyes and complaining about it. As the sun climbed higher during the day, so did the temperature (obviously). Only when I went for a walk beyond the garden's boundaries at around 1:00 PM to view the San Andreas Fault from a vantage point set up for this purpose did I feel overheated by direct exposure to the sun. That was my cue to end my visit here. From this vantage point I learned to recognize the fault line from a distance by the presence of a line of oases growing on perched aquifers trapped by the shifting of the tectonic plates. Bev came to collect me and drove me back to her place.

I had received a call from Tony at the Dodge repair garage while I was at the Living Desert. He told me that Chris of Adventures on Wheels had approved repairs that would solve the air-conditioning and engine overheating issues, but not the loose-steering issue. I called Chris about the steering, but Chris only planned to deal with that in New Jersey when the van was returned there. So it looks like part of my adventure on wheels will include the adventure of steering this van between the lines for the remaining thousands of miles ahead of us until we get to New Jersey.

Bev took Razelle to have a pedicure while I was at the Living Desert. It was Razelle's first professional pedicure and she was rejuvenated by the pampering and treatment.

We have gotten to know these ladies during our stay here. Sue is a font of knowledge on so many topics; she ought to try to get onto the Jeopardy game show. She told us about Koko, the Gorilla that communicates through sign language. Her sister-in-law is the trainer who has been working with Koko all these years, so Koko is practically a "family member" of hers, considering the closeness of the relationship between Koko and her trainer. Sue would be a formidable opponent in a game of "Trivial Pursuit", but then I think the combined experiences of all five of us in this home would make the game very challenging. Bev remembers so much from our past family history. Denise has a lot of worldly knowledge too. Razelle has been talking with them all like long-separated girlfriends getting back together. I'm the only male in the house (this includes the dog – Bella, and the cat – Dusty.

This evening Denise and Sue threw together a large tossed salad. We had a selection of left-over salmon, sliced fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, minced herbs and homemade salad dressings to put on our salads, as we chose. This meal of fresh greens was a very refreshing way to end a hot day, full of new experiences mixed with delightful company.