Editor's note: Gilles Samson and his wife, Suzette, always wanted to travel around the United States. So after retiring from their jobs late last year, the two Canadians decided to combine their wanderlust with their love of golf. The Samsons will be driving their RV across the country and attending every PGA TOUR event in 2006. While on that journey, they'll be writing a diary for PGATOUR.com. This is their fourth installment.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- A full week under the sun while discovering the Coachella Valley, and San Diego’s Mexican heritage through its architecture, museums and galleries. Windmills, farms, water conservation and supply and the Model Railroad Museum are some of the other topics that attracted our attention this week – and of course, the Buick Invitational.

The Coachella Valley covers approximately 2,000 square miles and is located about 120 miles from Los Angeles in the austere Colorado Desert. Development of this area started in the 1920s when Hollywood actors, under contract with movie studios, were looking for places to relax in between movie shoots or wanted to retreat for privacy. They had to travel by plane or train. Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Indio, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells and La Quinta are names familiar to most golfers since it has become a paradise for golf fans. There are no less than 150 golf courses in the area, the highest density of golf courses per inhabitant in the world. There are more than 100 different kinds of palm trees, all imported but one and the Valley produces most of the dates consumed in the country. In some places, we were able to see the starkness of the desert landscape on one side of the highway, and on the other side, beautiful green fairways, palm trees and a profusion of flowers. Water is the primary resource enabling these achievements and water management and conservation have become top priority. The influence of the Spanish/Mexican architecture is obvious. The numerous theatres, museums and galleries are a testimony of the intense cultural and artistic life in the valley. We also had the opportunity to tour some of the celebrities’ homes in Las Palmas - Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Kirk Douglas, Elvis Presley, Gene Autrey, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (our moms’ favourite actor), Tony Curtis, Greta Garbo, Kurt Russell, Sonny Bono, Robert Goulet, Liberace, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis and many others.

From North Palm Springs to White Water on our way to San Diego, we counted hundreds of windmills. They are actually regrouped in several farms, which is very impressive when you see this for the first time. We don’t know if it is a successful venture but we can attest that it has a significant impact on the scenery of the areas where they are located.

Thursday morning, we woke up in San Diego and went to Balboa Park for the day. The park appeals to many different publics and houses 18 museums, gardens and plazas connected by the El Prado promenade. We paid special attention to the colorful Spanish Village where each artist studio reveals fine arts and handcrafted work of high quality - paintings, glass, ceramics, jewelry, clothing, wood carving and sculptures. Many of the Spanish Colonial buildings of the Park are replicas of those constructed for the Expositions of 1915 and 1935 as illustrated in some of the attached pictures. We really enjoyed visiting the Model Railroad Museum which depicts the different stages of the presence of the train in the South West. It is as much a return in the past as a reminiscence of the fun we had when we were kids building and maintaining these magnificent displays and model trains. Most of all, we were delighted to see superb Russian icons, paintings by Rembrandt, Cézanne, Rubens, Goya, Matisse, Dali, as well as paintings from two well-known American artists Georgia O’Keefe and John Sloan. The Mexican painter, Diego Rivera has only one painting at the San Diego Museum of Art, but it was enough to evoke Frida Kahlo's life and art and their romance. Back to the motor home, we listened to the beautiful music from the motion picture Frida by Goldenthal several times. Our first day in San Diego was a real treat!

Friday was dedicated to visiting downtown San Diego where we toured the Gaslamp Quarter and admired the many buildings that have been renovated as per their original Victorian design. We were privileged to be invited for lunch on Fifth Avenue. We had a great time with our friends strolling the streets, shops and historical buildings of this bustling playground. We particularly enjoyed spending time at the San Diego Hardware established in 1892, with over 5,000 knobs and pulls in stock.

The Buick Invitational

Saturday, I walked the entire course to familiarize myself with the layout and have a look at all the players in the field. I immediately noticed that the crowd was significantly larger than at previous tournaments. As the day progressed you could feel that the top of the leaderboard was becoming loaded with big names and that Sunday should offer a very tight race for the win. By mid-afternoon, I saw the birdies of Sergio Garcia and Rod Pampling at the 18th hole to put them in the lead. Jesper Parnevik, who seems to be a favorite of the crowd, holed his bunker shot from 45 feet for an eagle to the delight of the fans. He was back in the race.

Sunday, we elected to spend the whole day in the bleachers of the par-5 18th hole. We got there early and were able to secure a very good place near the green and close to the hole. We were following results on the scoreboard. In the early goings, almost all players were coming in with their third shot and yet there were many birdies as they were really targeting the flag. As the day went on, we started to see more and more players going for the green in two and hoping to putt for eagle or have an easy birdie. The balls were landing further away from the hole, in the rough, in the bunkers and on the green and yet, we saw many very good third shots that led to birdies. By mid-day, the crowd had grown, the stands were full and the leaderboard was showing a tight race. From hole to hole, the leaders were going up and down the leaderboard and it became difficult to figure out who would win outright or would be part of a playoff. The ambiance couldn’t have been better. Despite his difficult day, Sergio Garcia putted for eagle on the 18th hole and a share of the lead. He missed but had fought until the end. Arjun Atwal missed a short putt that eliminated him from the playoff. With the leader at 10 under, Tiger Woods, who had stayed mostly at 9 under during the day, needed a birdie to join the playoff. He had a 6- to 8-foot putt to tie the leaders. He executed himself as the No. 1 player in the world and holed his putt. Quite a finish and quite a day! He went on to win the tournament to the delight of the fans, his supporters and, as I would imagine, the sponsors.

It was a superb weekend of golf!

Suzette and Gilles Samson