Last night our hotel of choice was the Holiday Inn Express in Santa Nella, about an hour southeast of San Francisco. This hotel was by far the best one we've been in of the five different ones we've stayed at in the past two weeks. The rooms were large, the king-size beds incredibly comfortable with great pillows, we had thick, thirsty towels (and more than one each) and we slept like babies.

This morning we enjoyed a really good continental breakfast complete with hardboiled eggs, hot cereal, fresh fruit and yogurt all included in the price which was cheaper than the Best Western the night before. We were on the road before 8:00 with nothing but sunshine and plenty of miles between us and Desert Hot Springs.

We arrived in the Coachella Valley before 2:00 and made a stop in Palm Springs at our favourite grocery store, Trader Joes, for some supplies before heading to Catalina Spa. After one more stop at Pet Luvs for cat food we made our way home and Sam, the cat welcomed us at the door.

Yes, we had one very happy kitty greeting us at the door and plenty of warm hello’s from our friends and neighbours, all glad to see us back. It sure is nice to be home; back to our house and our cat and back to warm, dry weather!