Yesterday we went over to the College of the Desert to their massive street fair that is held every weekend, both days, from 7 AM to 2 PM. It was a lovely clear hot day, and we didn't get there til about noon, it was nearly impossible to find a parking spot on the campus grounds, but finally we found one and made our way over via their shuttle service to the sale area.
It is rows and rows of stuff, all new, and quite interesting - though by now we are pretty familiar with most of it. We bought some circle of fifths mousepads for our friends, one of the ladies there runs a stand that is mostly music themed merchandise, as well as selling Udder Balm for hands and skin. She had very kindly ordered the mousepads for us, so we picked them up. Then we strolled around in the hot sunshine enjoying the busy atmosphere, I guess by now people are thinking of returning to their more northerly homes, so making their last minute purchases.
I also bought a bunch of white ankle socks, you can buy them in packs of 5 pairs, for a great price. $5 for 5 pairs, what is not to like about that!!! My feet were pretty sensitive in the new orthotics, and I was wearing a new pair of running shoes as well, double jeopardy.
We sat and listened to the Inkakings, a musical group of South American musicians who play there every weekend, near the food court, they add such a wonderful ambiance to the street fair. All dressed in black with their trademark black felt hats, it's pretty hard not to swing and sway to their evocative sounds. My favourite musician has a double guitar, that is his guitar has 2 necks with different strings on each one, and the sound is incredible, the second neck must give him a whole new range of sounds. Yesterday there were 2 guitarists, and another one doing percussion. They had a massive set of pan flutes there, though we didn't see them being played while we watched them.
As they are located under a tree right in the food court area, you sit under big umbrellas (with any luck) and listen while you eat. Of course there are tons and tons of booths offering all sorts of food, both snack and beverage food, and lunch delights from many different areas of the world. Healthy, or not, there's a big choice.
The musicians have a tip jar out, which we always donate to, and sell their CDs. At least now they have a person who sells their CDs for them while they play.
We also bought some squaw bread, their term, not ours, it's a dark bread with molasses in it, kind of slightly sweet, and we both love it. There is one long row that is mostly fruit, vegetable and candy vendors, it's right over against the fence on the Monterey Road side of the sales lot. During the week the lot is used as a parking lot, so it's free for the market on the weekends.
We got shuttled out to our car when we were finished, and went to Costco hoping to pick up some dessert type of bars that I had volunteered to take to Casino night, but there was nothing of the sort there, so Walmart across the road had what we wanted, rice crispie type bars, brownies, and sweets that are finger food to snack on.
We had supper and then went to Casino night, at 6 PM we were among the first to arrive, and we bought some poker chips to use to buy our Bingo cards. Bob and Jo Ann joined us, another nice couple called Irma and Wally, and then Donna and Ruth, and Sharon near us. Not sure how many people were playing bingo but quite a few, and the caller moved right along, you really had to pay attention to hear what he was calling out, as the poker players were chatting across the room, and we were all having liquid refreshment, so the chat and comments got louder and louder, and the tension built up. Each strip you bought had 3 separate bingo cards on it, I played easily with 2 strips, a bit more of a challenge with 3 strips, and my final move playing 4 strips of cards was impossible, I couldn't keep up at all.
Lary won a few games, startling his neighbours by shouting out excitedly, and we all had lots of fun, and munched away on bowls of popcorn, and of course kibbutzed about.
A lovely evening, at the end of it we had the famous bars that had been brought by a few people, and they had cash door prizes, and cash prizes for the tickets you won when the games were played.
It was run by George and his wife Jean, and they did a great job. Very well organized, everything well in hand and well prepared in advance. It was just a pity that more folks in the park didn't participate, there were 3 or 4 big huge poker tables, I think they played Texas Hold'em, and quite a few of us playing bingo, but our hall can hold a lot more people, and it was a ton of fun. Our hall holds about 150 people seated, I believe, and there were nowhere near that number present last night. Apparently George has been organizing these Casino nights for some years now.
We whizzed home on the golf cart, with our empty plates from the snacks we had taken, and decided that it was lots of fun and we'd definitely do it again next year.
The full moon was shining brightly low on the horizon, the stars twinkling in the black night sky - and all seemed well with the world.
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