On Saturday, 4/30 we flew to Palm Springs for our 40th wedding anniversary celebration. Is is a place I have always want to visit and once we arrived I knew why. It is absolutely beautiful and I just love the desert and mountain setting. We stayed at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas II, through our timeshare program. The grounds were beautiful, next to snow capped mountains and surrounding a golf course.
On Sunday we went to the Living Gardens and Zoo. Beautiful park with a nice tram that took you from place to place. The cactus gardens were beautiful. The animals were mostly typical animals but fun to see.
There was a giant train layout inside the zoo. The trains were "G" gauge which I have never heard of. It was quite impressive.
Monday we toured another Marriott timeshare property.
On Tuesday we drove to the Salton Sea. It is a huge salt lake set right in the middle of the desert. We flew along side it on the way in and I couldn't believe there could be something so big and beautiful in the middle of nothing.
Near the lake was a little town (don't know the name) that made you feel like you had stepped back in time to the 50's. It was about 6 blocks square and most likely inhabited by the migrant farm workers. Rich found quite a few treasures that he made me take pictures of. I imagine there a lot of similar towns in the area but I had to drag him away.
Wednesday we drove to Joshua Tree State Park. It is way up in the mountains with a 38 mile drive through the winding roads. It is one of the few places in the country where those trees grow. Lots of cactus, wild flowers and beautiful rock formations. In the middle of some giant rocks was a campground where each site was nestled into the rocks in private areas. Just beautiful!
On Thursday we drove to see (NOT RIDE ON) the Palm Springs Tram. We had to get to 3,000 feet just to get to where it started. It was beautiful and quite popular for those who do not share my fear of heights and Rich's sense of self preservation. Looking up made me dizzy - I can't imagine what it looked like from the top.
We had quite a few good meals while we were there, and with all my leftovers, luckily we had a refrigerator and microwave. On the same property as our timeshare was a J.W. Marriott Hotel. We ate there twice, taking a shuttle bus right from our patio. They had a beautiful lake with a boat ride that went into the hotel lobby.
We went to the little town of La Quinta and ate at a restaurant owned by Clint Eastwood - The Hog's Breath Inn. Unfortunately we didn't see him although he apparently is there on occasion.
Food Network fan that I am I am always on the lookout for places that the stars have broadcast from. In Palm Springs we found the Fisherman's Market and Grill visited by Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain.
We had a fabulous week. The weather was perfect, in the 90's every day. The pools were beautiful. Old fogey's that we are, we found the "quiet" pool and enjoyed meeting other people our age and enjoying a lot of R & R. We had quite a few visitors to our patio every day which we enjoyed. We took a lot of drives to see the area. The landscaping was just beautiful. Roads were named after famous stars.
Next trip - ARUBA!!!
