We did a little”housekeeping before setting off for breakfast  – at one of the oldest cafes in Valletta -Cafe Cordina. We had a breakfast smoothie then we shared a kind of bacon and egg roll – called a rather fancy Maltese name.
We got to the Palace for the 9am opening but it didn’t open till 10. So down the road to Casa Rocco -a lovely Palazzo still lived in by the family who have had it in the family for 100 years. We even saw the old owner returning from an outing. It’s a great way to see how people lived all those years ago
We had a good nights sleep – our bedroom faces the harbour and the lights outside make it quite light even at night – but we managed to sleep. The weather is very warm – around 30 at the moment, so we’ve been thrown into summer again. It’s rather humid and is like our summer.

Casa Rocca

In the entry hall

Entrance staircase at Casa Rocco

View from the gardens

The boys racing in Vittorosa

One of the three ancient towns

Italy here we come!

Sent from my iPad

A little climbing

Getting ready for a climb

Lynn and Tom enjoy a rest ……

Magnificent rock formations

The beautiful flowering Joshua tree

Arriving at Joshua Tree National Park. It’s about an hour and half from La Quinta. Such a desert landscape. We left home at around 10am and we scrabbling over the rocks by midday in a completely different landscape

Thank you Tom  for  driving us to the National park.  What a great day. It was such a terrific experience .

Tonight we went to the home of another school friend of Tom and Jim. David is a doctor and now has Parkinson’s. his wife Madeline is a lovely lady who had prepared an Indian feast.
They own a house at Lake Mirage in Rancho Mirage about 1/2 hr drive away. It’s set around a lake and has a pool out the front of the house. All very swish .
There were other people there – all very friendly though a certain gentleman nearly bored the socks off me! Lynne was very naughty and kept asking questions to change the direction of the conversation but that just set him off on another long story.
 The Calgarians head to the Palm Valley area like we head to the coast. They play tennis, golf , shop , ride bikes and generally hang out like we do at the coast- though probably a little more active and energetic.
So home and to bed! 

Last night friends of Tom and Lynne’s arrived for a couple of days. We had a lovely dinner with lots of chat and got to bed around 11pm. We needed some energy for the next day trip to Cabazon the outlet centre.
We had a good breakfast and armed with water bottles and credit cards headed off to the center about 1/2 hr away. It was the biggest center I have seen …. All painted desert colours. And wow the selection of shops was amazing.
We in Australia just don’t know what outlet shopping is like. It’s set up so well. It’s cheap, it’s clean and it’s not full of rubbish . I could have done even more damage than I did.
Just a few shoes- but medical ones for my poor feet! That’s what I call Ecco shoes and some lovely Cole Hann loafer type and some pewter wedges. I found a new linen jacket for Steve! Glasses for Rob and Brendan, two pants ( Anne Taylor)  red jeans and linen  ones from DKNY. A 

Another lovely day in the desert area.
Went to the gym at the golf club before heading of to meet Lynne’s friend Trisha .

Then visited a few galleries and lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s new restaurant. Delicious Kale salad. we then hit the shops again Macy’s and lucky me  found a dress to wear to my niece’s  wedding. A Calvin Klein black and yellow number. I tried on about 8 dresses and finally the last one was a winner. It’s straight through with black panels on the side and black yellow and white.
Big success.
We got home and met Lynne and Toms friends Audrey and Jim.  Jim Tom and Audrey were all at Primary school together. Jim is even taller than Tom!
Went to bed and tried to sleep the whole night through!