Yesterday was our first full day at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido, CA.  We went no where and did nothing – well nothing scenic or historical or artsy.  John read and napped. I finished up the incomplete blog from Ridgecrest and did another blog for our drive from there to the resort.  I also started my new project – writing a blog about the World Cruise we took in 2009.This morning was a repeat of yesterday.  It was supposed to rain today but by mid-afternoon the clouds were still high in the sky and the rain had not arrived, so we decided to go for a walk and try find  the three geo-caches that are hidden near-by.  The first was across the road – appropriately called Champagne Boulevard –  and was an easy find.  The second was supposed to be right at the fountain at the resort entrance.  We looked and looked and looked and couldn’t find it.  Yet, someone had found it in October.  We will try again on another one of our walks.

While John searched through the bushes and trees I took a few photos as a distraction to all the traffic going by.

The third cache was hidden not far away from the life-size statue of Lawrence Welk that sat in the middle of the fountain in the square of the ‘village’ shops.  We confidently walked over there only to have our GPSs say we had to go forward another 20-24 meters.  Since we were here last they moved the statue to the other side of the gift shop and positioned it in front of a nice flowered lattice.  I guess people wanted to photograph the statue and photograph themselves beside it and it wasn’t possible to do so with it in the fountain.Lawrence Welk, as any Baby Boomer will recall, was an entertainer.  He played the accordian and was a big band conductor.  The Lawrence Welk  musical variety show was aired on TV for 27 years.  He retired in 1982 at the age of 79.  We used to watch his show.  It always began with the sound of a champagne cork popping out of a bottle and the TV screen showing the bubbles flowing by.

Welk purchased the property where the resort now sits for a 9-unit mobile home park.  It is now 600 acres with 4-5 sections of condo  units for vacationers; each with its own swimming pool and activity center, two golf courses, a theater, restaurant, and a gift/clothing shop.  There are 5 Lawrence Welk Resorts – Escondido (San Diego), Lake Tahoe, Branson, Cabo San Lucas and Palm Springs. We will be going to see My Fair Lady on Thursday evening.

After we found the cache hidden near ‘Mr. Welk’ we walked the hill back to the condo to make dinner and relax for the evening.  A tough day in the California sun – even without the sun.

I love this bush that is growing right out of the crack in this big boulder.

This is our unit complex.