Palmabella's Passions

We went for a ride up Highway 74 to see the desert flowers in bloom. It was loveliest about 3 weeks ago, but still a pretty drive.

Desert plants are in bloom.

Even the rocks look like they are blooming.

AMAZING STORY

Then we met Ubaldo and Denee for brunch in Palm Springs. I LOVE the story of this couple! We met Ubaldo in Pienza when we stayed at L'Olmo in 2003. He did everything there to make guests comfortable: help with bags, breakfast room, coffee, concierge, pool, grounds, etc.

Ubaldo, an Italian originally from Torino, met Denee, a lovely California guest, who was traveling alone. He helped her with dinner reservations for Easter Sunday. They talked in the lounge afterwards, and, well, they fell in love! A year and a half later, on New Year's Eve, we had a phone call at our home in Palm Desert, saying they were in town. They came over, we met the lovely Denee, Ubaldo was on a vacation while L'Olmo was closed for winter, and of course I wrote about it on Slow Travel.

Fast forward: The couple's relationship grew and they could no longer live on two continents. Ubaldo began the LONG task of getting a "green card" to come permanently to the U.S.. We have gotten together with Denee and Ubaldo each year since then, either in Italy, Palm Desert or Los Angeles.

I just love happy endings! Ubaldo is "legal", he and Denee were married last summer, and are coming up on their first wedding anniversary. They live in Los Angeles. I invited them to the October Desert GTG.

Here is the corker: In order to prove their "story" with Immigration, they used all of my posts and photos on Slow Travel! This verified the dates on Ubaldo's passport stamps, and "proved" that their love story/relationship was legit!

Moral of the story:Keep blogging and posting! You just NEVER KNOW!