It’s that time again. Bennett is turning eleven - well almost. Even when we FaceTime on his actual birthday day - October 17, he tells us that there’s a couple of hours to go before he finally popped out, so actually he’s still only ten! 

But birthday day this year falls on a Monday, so we celebrate the weekend before, this time in Palm Springs. Actually in Cathedral City which is almost Palm Springs but happens to be where the desert home of our friend Ian is located. And Ian is letting us use his house for the weekend. The house comes with a swimming pool, hot tub and a magnificent view of the San Jacinto mountains which dominate the landscape in this part of the desert. 

Aside from all being together for Bennett’s birthday - parents and two sets of grandparents - as has become our tradition, the highlight of weekend (gift opening and singing Happy Birthday aside) is a two hour guided trail ride on Saturday morning through Indian Canyon courtesy of Smoke Tree Stables, arranged weeks in advance so we could get the time (and “private guide”) I wanted to make it the special occasion. Not to be of course! The day before I get a call from Stacey who asks if we could move our scheduled time up two hours because of the threat of a major storm forecast to roll through the area on Saturday. All forecasts I saw suggested the storm would hit late afternoon and evening, not mid-morning. But Stacey was not to be deterred which did make us somewhat suspicious that she had received a better booking for our reserved time! 

As it happened, we were likely both “winners”. The weather was perfect at our new start time of 8 am - cloudless blue sky and not too hot. When we arrive back at the end of our trail ride at the previously booked start time, there’s a bunch of horses waiting for the next group of happy riders who’ve snagged our reservation.

And the storm didn’t roll in until late afternoon…..