Goodbye Palm Springs - Hello Redlands

It was sad to say goodbye this morning to Barbara Roberts, my host for the last few days in Palm Springs. Barbara is Director of the Palm Springs Public Library and she organised a couple of great vocational visits for me - to College of the Desert and California State University - San Bernardino - Palm Desert Campus. It was interesting to see these smaller, and in the case of CSU Palm Desert, mainly virtual libraries. Thanks Barbara for sharing your home with me and for looking after me so well.

After brunch at the District Conference and saying goodbye to a number of firends we have made during our time on the trip, I met my new hosts, John and Cheryl. This afternoon we went on a hike in the San Bernardino National Forest with their two very friendly dogs - Cha Cha (Rottweiler) and Max (Great Dane/Mastiff ). John refers to Max as the "chick magnet" :-).

The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I saw my second snake for the tour. The first one was while walking in Palm Springs a few days ago (I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive but I didn't wait around to find out).

After our walk we visited the Moving Wall - a half-size replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial that has been touring the country for more than twenty years. It was a very sombre experience to reflect on the War and the lives lost in Vietnam.

In the evening I cooled off in the pool - and enjoyed some time in the jacuzzi with my hosts.

Cheryl looks to have organised a great programme and I'm sure the team will make the most of our last week here in Redlands.