This is Bob and I’s second trip for the year. A major for him since his shoulder surgery last year after we came back from our trip in Wyoming. And also to get away for some time to celebrate our 248th monthsarry (yes up to this day we still celebrate monthsaries) We are trying to do it slowly.
We left for Orlando before 8AM. Our flight was originally set for 11am but got an alert that it was delayed for another 50 minutes. I did appreciate that we were lagging behind schedule as it gave us more wiggle room from parking the car, having us transferred to the airport and all the TSA and getting into the gate for boarding.
Overlooking Palm Springs
While we were waiting at the gate, our ground crew announced that the plane arrived earlier than anticipated. So we boarded and able to leave MCO a little earlier than the delay time. Our transfer from Phoenix gate to Palm Springs went smooth as well. The plane was on time; and an hour later- welcome to Palm Springs. The airport here has a different vibe; it has an outdoor access- reminded me of being in Singapore but at a different level. When we picked our car rental and started driving, the scenery was mesmerizing. We were surrounded by mountains; bare ones but beautiful.
It was a fifteen-minute drive from airport to our hotel in Rancho Mirage. After checking in we went for an early dinner at Las Casuelas, the Mexican Restaurant that our concierge recommended- it was a superb dinner, except for my glass of pineapple Jalapeño Margarita which I found too caliente. When we got to our hotel, we called it a night.
Hiking the Tahquitz Canyon Trail
Tahquitz Canyon Trail. Time, when traveling is always been a challenge. We woke up early the following day since our body clock was still on Eastern Standard Time. But this age us advantage for an early start. By 815AM we were already on our first hike of the day. Tahquitz Canyon Trail is a two-mile loop easy to moderate trail with the waterfalls in the middle and about 450 ft elevation- this didn’t deter Bob. We did it slowly so we don’t strain ourselves. We have plenty of time; so we enjoyed our hike and the scenery too- the hills of rocks, the falls, the blue sky… When we reached some elevation it gave us a panoramic view of Palm Springs valley- breath taking.
It was half past ten when we finally finished and arrived at the visitor’s center where we started. At this point we decided to have brunch at Elmer’s Restaurant that has the best brunch in town they said😉. To be honest, it didn’t disappoint. My eggs benedict was actually cooked into perfection- along with bowl of fruits I savored my breakfast. Bob’s veggie burger was also great.
We headed back to our hotel and rest after our brunch.
Bob reserved a 3PM Palm Springs aerial tram ride with the thought of we will have a nice dinner up the mountain while we listen to the Cathedral City HS choir doing Christmas Carols. Sounds romantic and perfect; But as we turned to the road going to the parking lot, a lot of cars were at stop and not moving. The park was not allowing patrons at this time and we learned that there was a scheduled electrical maintenance at the park, and the next available ride is tentatively at 4PM. It was then we decided that we will take the ride the following day. Such a missed adventure and so much for our romantic date 😂✌️.
Just not to waste time, we went downtown and walk around for a bit. Then we headed to the grocery to pick up some food and dinner that we decided we will do at our hotel/villa.
That night after our dinner, we decided to just rest.
sunset at Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park
Bob and I on our ride up to Mt San Jacinto via aerial tram.
Aerial Tramway and Joshua Tree National Park. Since we didn’t make it the previous night to the aerial tram, we decided tp get there for the first ride at 10AM to avoid the lines and overbooking. The staff accommodated us right away and one of the firsts to take the tram.
I wasn’t sure if I have ridden a tram before; I did cable cars in Vermont, Singapore and Malaysia, but those were different from the tram. This one is revolving- which makes you see the valley and the mountain views equally. Up the mountain was equally beautiful- sunny and clear blue sky, snow on the ground, crisp weather with some breeze- such a perfect day to be up here! Such a wonderful panoramic view of Palm Springs, and I’m loving every moment of it. It was approaching 1130AM and so Bob and I decided to have sandwich from the bistro for lunch. When we were done, we headed down and got our car and headed to Joshua Tree National Park.
Bob and I always love exploring new places. We’ve been doing this ever since. I have been in Joshua Tree National Park three years ago with my former colleague and as far as I remember, we took a different entrance of the park. The Cottonwood Visitor Center Entrance that Bob and I took was a lot closer to places we wanted to go. We drove (and stopped) by Cholla Cactus Garden, Heart Rock and Arch Rock, Skull Rock (where Bob had his photo taken), and Ryan Mountain. These made me feel somehow, it was my first time visiting since I couldn’t recall passing all the sceneries we just did. Eventually we made it to the familiar Keys View; It was chilly at 49 degrees and with wind combined outside. We waited in the car for more than an hour before we went out to see the sunset and the moonrise (that was a bonus!). This was kind of special, this is the first time I experienced watching the sun set on the west and the moon rise on the east. And it wasn’t an ordinary moon, it was full moon- and the last for the year- here at Joshua Tree National Park. But most importantly, I have this pleasure watching both with the love of my life. Rarely happens. 😉❤️
Top L-R: obligatory photo of the park sign; Cholla Cactus Garden
Bottom: L-R: watching the year’s last full moon rise; Skull Rock; and one of the many Joshua Trees
After that, we journeyed the drive back to Palm Springs for over an hour and had dinner at Tonya’s Kitchen until we called the night.
reflection of palm trees at Simone Pond
Shields Dates Garden and Andreas Canyon- The following day we went to Shields Dates Garden as recommended by our concierge. Not too much expectations, but this place has large to life size religious artifacts and garden that Bob and I enjoyed walking. It was good for some sort of meditation. As we exited, we bought some goodies to bring home and enjoyed some Dates milkshake while sitting on their diner-type bar enjoying music from the 60s (or maybe 70s). When we were done, we headed to Indian Canyons.
Indian Canyons have three different hiking trails; we chose the easy and quick mile hike of Andreas Canyon. It started with shady steady up-hill. I had to post multiple times to take photos of the British guard like palm trees 😂. I just simply admired them as they are so pretty- it reminded me of how I admired the Spanish moss wrap around the oak trees the first few months we arrived in Florida. When we got to the elevation, Bob and I even appreciated the beauty of the trail more. It was nice to see lush of greens surrounding the area and yet the mountains are bare. Such a contrasting oasis. The hike took a little over an hour; we enjoyed the sun in a cool weather. After the hike we headed to the visitor center and rested for a bit while enjoying the other scenic site of the Canyon; then we headed back to our villa.
Coachella Valley Preserve and Simone Pond. When we woke up on our fifth day at Palm Springs, we didn’t really have a specific agenda. We pretty much checked off all the places we planned to visit according to our spreadsheet. While browsing Trip Advisor, we came across Coachella Valley Preserve which was not far from our villa. We ended up getting there around 1045 only to be told by the park ranger that the valley is not open for public due to ongoing repairs from a severe weather damage from a couple of years back. However, he suggested that we can walk around Simone Pond for about 15 minutes as it will close at 1130. I was glad Bob and I did- the pond was quite nice to see- covered of my favorite palm trees. Crushed with time, we circled around the pond briefly enjoying its natural beauty and started our way back to the entrance. Short hike and sweet.
The Holiday decorations at downtown Palm Springs
Bob being goofy during our dinner at Riccio’s.
We decided to go downtown for lunch at Hideout Kitchen then went back to the hotel to rest. In the afternoon we debated whether we would see the Christmas parade we planned to do earlier in the week; but the logistics of parking and anticipated long walk and thousands of people dawned on us and so we decided to stay at our villa and just relax. At dinner time, we head out opposite downtown and tried some Thai Food at Desert Thai.
Our last day was spent mostly in our villa. WE woke up late, watch some football games until the afternoon while packing our bags at the same time. Then during early evening, we headed out to downtown one last time as I want to take photos of the Christmas Tree and street decors. Once I was done, we had an Italian dinner at Riccio’s. Best way to end this trip!
Happy Holidays to all! 🎄🎄🎄