Palm Springs – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Ships Passing in the Night…errr….Evening

If some of these photos look a bit familiar to you, it might be because Mo and I decided to end our Desert Hot Springs trip with a visit to the Palm Springs Thursday Night Street Fair. Today while catching up on blogs as we drove north on I-5, I saw Rick’s post about attending the same street fair. In fact, he even took a photo of the restaurant where we were having dinner! Unlike Rick, I was too overwhelmed with the crowds and the shops and the booths and the smells to remember to take many photos. I can’t believe we didn’t run into each other there, but then again, there were a LOT of people, and lots of doggies as well.

Our trip was a whirlwind, spent mostly driving back desert roads, and we didn’t decide until yesterday that it might be a good idea to eat Mexican one more time before packing up the rig for our early morning departure today. I also wanted to see the Marilyn Monroe statue that has been highlighted on more than a few blogs lately. We parked and walked and finally found it, right downtown in the very middle of the street fair.

In the past, we have had great meals at two Mexican Restaurants on this main drag, so decided to try Macarena’s for something new. Even though we were told it would be a half hour wait, within minutes my phone rang and our outside table was ready. It was great having good food, a happy hour marguerita, and a good people watching spot in the middle of all the action.

In addition to all our desert drives, we managed a bit of relaxation while in the desert, and I swam and soaked in the pools every single day but one. Love those pools. We also walked the park, walked the surrounding desert a bit, and drove to La Quinta so that I could spend some time in a great quilt store, Monica’s Quilt. Of course, I came out with a bag of gorgeous fabric and some new patterns. I also got directions to the Quilter’s Faire in Palm Desert, hidden in an industrial area behind Wal-Mart and came away with another bag of fabric and a couple of good looking patterns. Ah, Stash! gotta love it.

We decided to just make a beeline for home with only a one night stay in Lodi at the Flag City RV Resort. This meant leaving this morning at 6:30 so that we could travel the lovely sunrise route north on Highway 247 to Barstow before turning east to cross the Tehachapis on Highway 58 to Bakersfield.

I was a bit bummed about not having time to stay one more night at the Orange Grove RV Park because I finished the last of my tree ripened oranges a few days ago. I decided to take a chance and call the park, and sure enough the owners were friendly and wonderful and said, “Sure, just come on in and get a picker and pick yourself a bag. No Charge”. How is that for good advertising! We pulled into the park and spent just half an hour picking another big bag of the incredibly sweet juicy oranges to take home with us. Ahhhh.

Driving into Bakersfield was dramatic as usual. Looking down on the smog line from the elevation of the pass was intense, and once down in the valley the smog didn’t let up, ever. We drove a good 250 miles through dingy smoggy air, all the way from Bakersfield to Lodi. I had to go digging for eye drops. I drove the first half of the trip through gorgeous, empty, clear desert, and Mo got the second half up the Five. I think I got the better end of that deal! We covered 496 miles today and settled into our spot here in Lodi just after five pm, in plenty of time to warm up the leftovers from last night’s great dinner at Macarena’s.

Tomorrow just under 400 miles and we will spend the night back in the Grants Pass Cottage. Both of us are excited to see the new roof that was completed while we were gone, but neither of us is particularly excited about returning to cold weather. It has been a great reprieve, and a wonderful two weeks of mostly warmth and sunshine. Lucky Us!

Sunny day in the desert

Finally! When the sun does come out, it is as though I can breathe the light. I am a light addict, I know. Mo says often, “Quit worrying about it, you can’t change it”. I want blue skies, maybe a few puffy whites around, and 75 to 80 degrees or so. Isn’t that why we have an RV?? I am certainly not complaining about our gorgeous day today, however, not one bit. We started out with a swim around 4:30 am in the 24/7 hot spring pool. If you can’t sleep in this park, just go swimming. Funny thing, by 5:30 there were some other folks showing up. Crazy, I know, but it sure felt good on the bones that are tired of all the rain.

Today instead of hiking, we decided to try out the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. Knowing how quickly after a rain the skies can get hazy, I was glad that we left early in the morning and beat the crowds. We heard many languages spoken on the tram and in the visitor’s centers, and even had a great conversation with a local Palm Springs resident who was sharing the great tourist attraction with visiting relatives. I think I’ll just link to the tram information since the hour is late and I am a bit worn. Lazy? Maybe, but why rewrite it all? Sometimes people tend to avoid touristy attractions, but often they are attractions for a good reason. The quick, slick, smooth ride from the desert to the snowy mountaintop was breathtaking, and worth every single penny. Maybe it isn’t something you have to do more than once, but I wouldn’t have missed it.

We capped off the tram ride with a great long walk through some wide open desert along the flooding wash north of Palm Springs. Sadly, almost all of the nice hiking trails in this area are not dog friendly, with even leashed dogs prohibited from the trails. We wandered off into the desert toward the huge windmills that fill the valley, unencumbered by rules, people, or anything else to bother us except the ever present desert garbage. I just don’t get the garbage thing, but it seems to be strewn everywhere, huge piles of household trash, shoes, books, hangars. Abby didn’t care, and we didn’t either as long as we just kept looking up to the gorgeous skies and brilliantly shadowed mountains capped with fresh snow. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful walk. The garbage of humankind can be ignored I guess, if you try hard enough. Is it somewhat strange that all this garbage and all this opulence are just a few hundred yards apart?

After our walk, we wandered around the back streets of north Palm Springs, checking out Elvis Presley’s honeymoon house and other idyllic homes on soft quiet streets. In spite of all the road closures, we managed to find a route west of the valley that took us through open countryside and avoided another tiresome stop and go run down busy highway 111 through the palm towns. I took a ton of photos today, tried to delete as many as possible, but just couldn’t resist the magnificent vistas of desert sky and mountains. If you want to look, the rest of the photos, including shots of some of the flooding, are here.

Desert Modernism in Palm Springs

I suppose that our foray to the local Wal-Mart in Palm Springs shouldn’t quality as a step into Desert Modernism, a new phrase that I just found to describe all the flat, square buildings around here. I kept saying to Mo, “This reminds me so much of my ugly, cement childhood in the suburbs of LA. Lots of flagstone, flat roofs, square facades, dull colors. The worst of Frank Lloyd Wright on steroids, surrounded by graceful palms. As we drove down Gene Autry Trail I kept wondering why everything looked this way, why it all looked like we had stepped back into the 50’s. The more we drove, the more I realized that all this squareness was actually on purpose. Even new buildings, new apartments, had that “look”. Hmmm. Later, hunting desperately for a dog-friendly hiking trail in Palm Springs I happened on the phrase: “Desert Modernism”. It’s real, and Palm Springs and the surrounding towns are very proud of it. Palm Springs has the largest concentration of mid-century modern architecture in the country. I guess that explains it. Maybe my escape from mid-century LA basin life many years ago to the rich northwest world of Craftsman and cabins ruined me for appreciating this particular style.

But back to Wal-Mart. All I can say is “Ugh”!! The store here is so huge I couldn’t find the exits and the bathrooms were horrendous. It’s sometimes really easy to catch the mixed up lists of needs at a superstore, but maybe not quite worth it. Somehow I expected better in this upscale area. The Wal-Mart we visited in Minnesota was pretty darn nice, and almost as big. We won’t go to this one again, that is for sure. After adding to our supplies at this scary place, we continued driving along HWY 111, the main route through the desert towns here in the Coachella Valley. Upscale is definitely an understatement here, and the El Paseo shopping area was not exactly the place I wanted to be in my denim shorts and Keen sandals. As we sat in traffic among the Mercedes, Jaguars, BMW’s, Mo suddenly said, “What in the world is THAT car?”. Turns out it was a Maseratti. I don’t think I saw one in real life before. We were glad we had at least washed the Tracker before coming to town. The rain held off all day but the skies were threatening, and our plan for the day was to explore the area, check things out, get our bearings.

Home at Catalina RV Park and Spa looked tremendously welcoming when we finally arrived, still frustrated with no internet connections, but at least Mo had the news and I decided to try out the swimming pool. Our park has a truly wonderful pool, large and crystal clear, with a hot spa adjacent that is probably close to 104 degrees. The night was chilly, with wild white clouds obscuring the moon and revealing it in turn, but I thought maybe the pool would be warm enough to swim, since it appeared that steam was rising from the water. Ahhh!! I was enveloped by a balmy 93 degrees of pure mineral spring water that is pumped from the parks own well at 130 degrees and cooled with fresh water to a safe level. The large swimming pool has no chemicals, and neither does the spa. All the water is naturally changed several times a day by the influx of fresh water. Unlike many hot springs, this water is full of minerals but has no sulphur, another great thing since there is no bad smell at all. I floated on my back and watched the moon and stars come and go amidst the clouds and let all the frustrations of the last couple of days slip away.

This morning we woke to more heavy clouds, and threatening rain. Reading about the Street Fair at the College of the Desert was interesting, so we took off to try out the local fairs. By the time we got there, the rain was a bit heavier, but not so much that we couldn’t walk without umbrellas. However, many of the vendors were giving up. It wasn’t such a bad thing since the fair turned out to be just a tacky as many flea markets, and our only purchase was some great lettuce for tonight’s salad and some dates. By the time we got back home the rain was coming down hard in Palm Springs, but once again it was dry where we are camped.

The park here is quite nice except for the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. We paid the fee to supposedly connect, but the only time I have been able to actually get to the internet was before 6am this morning. After six, all came to a screeching halt. You all know how frustrating that can be! Instead, as darkness falls, Mo and I are sitting here at the Starbucks in Desert Hot Springs, listening to Christmas music and trying to catch up on all things internet. I am still searching for dog friendly hikes and Christmas lights. Tomorrow evening is a real treat, when we will meet Laurie and Odel for dinner at the Fisherman’s Market in La Quinta. The sun will come out eventually, I am sure, eventually. In the mean time, all I can say is that I am glad I am not camping in a tent.