Toucan2

I have been to Palm Springs before, but never for more than a few days at a time, and usually attached to a conference I have attended.

This time DH has accompanied me and we are here for two weeks. Because I never seem to find a lot about Palm Springs here when I research visits, I thought a trip report was in order. I'll post as I go.

Air, Car Rental, Lodging

We flew Southwest to Ontario, CA, about an hour away. Although I love the convenience of the PS airport, at this time of year I saved a significant amount of money by flying to Ontario making it worth the hour drive.

On the other hand, I also rented through the SW reservation process and had Fox car rental. I had heard good things about them in other trip reports so thought it would be fine. I'm not impressed and would not rent from them again if flying into Ontario.

They are not allowed on airport property at all. So you have to take a shuttle bus (and the Ontario airport needs to increase the size of those buses, we had to wait for two) then take another shuttle bus to the Fox off-site location. The surly front desk guy didn't improve my impression. At least we are driving a Prius which saves on gas.

We rented through VRBO and are pleased with our condo which is in a two unit small building. It's very private, and one of the pools is just outside the door. It is located in the Mesquite Country Club.

Day One

It was mostly a day of travel so not anything of note to relate. We arrived, we drove to Palm Springs, we settled into the condo, had lunch, drove around a little to introduce DH to the area, then went grocery shopping. Sticker shock. California grocery prices are quite a bit higher than Missouri!

We discovered a nice park. The Wellness Park is part of the larger Ruth Hardy Park. We took the chance to stretch our legs and walk after the day of travel. It has a healing herb garden with everything labeled, and a meditation center complete with labyrinth and balanced rocks. There were tons of people walking their dogs, and congregating to visit.

We liked it so much we returned the next morning for a walk.

MichelleY

Looking forward to more! Yeah, we live in the land of plenty but stores charge what they do because they can. Go figure.

jubilada

I am waiting to hear about the banana museum.

Toucan2

MichelleY. The prices to me were like Whole Food prices at home. It's fine, I just had not grocery shopped here before of course. I've always been in hotels before.

The Banana Museum is coming up! Day3.

Day2 - Moorten Botanical Garden, a thrift shop, and dinner at Las Casuelas Terraza

We enjoyed the Wellness Garden so much the day before that after lazily moving about on Sunday morning we went over for a morning walk and for DH to look at birds. If you go around the outer loop once it is a quarter mile, so I went two miles, looping around again and again. DH was looking at bluebirds (two types out here we don't get) Costas Hummingbirds (sp) among others.

On my 4th lap around an older gentleman started a slow clap for me. It was hilarious to then have every lap celebrated by him.

This was a low key day. We returned to the condo, had lunch, then went over to the Moorten Botanical Gardens. It was one of the places I had read about but just hadn't made it to before.

It is tiny, and entry is only $4.00. They have a really diverse collection of cacti and other succulents. Everything is well marked and there are many benches scattered about so that you can just sit and enjoy the gardens. They also have a nursery and just some spectacular specimens for sale.

There were a few birds in there as well, so we squeezed every dime out of that $4.00 and spent quite a lot of time in what is really a small area.


http://moortenbotanicalgarden.com

Angel View Thrift Store

We were meeting a friend later for dinner, and found ourselves with one of those awkward time gaps where there really wasn't enough time to do anything substantial so we headed for a thrift store DH had spotted while we were driving around the day before.

While he went inside I got out of the car to stretch my legs. There in the vacant field bordering the thrift store was a homeless encampment, and the reminder that while we are very lucky to be vacationing and enjoying this beautful spot, there are so many who are not so lucky.

No purchase at the thrift store, on to dinner.

Las Casuelas Terraza

I read yelp reviews where people talk about how touristy this place is. But, I have been here several times and like to visit at least once a visit because I like their chili rellenos. If I recall correctly there are three locations. The one we go to is the largest with a significant outdoor seating area as well as many inside dining areas.

It was chilly but indoor was going to be a long wait. We sat outside on one of the patios under a heater and I was wishing I wasn't wearing a sweater by the end of the meal! Still, service was good, food was good, margarita large and good.

Toucan2

http://www.lascasuelas.com

Toucan2

I've given up on trying to post to this trip report. With Fodors' intermittent problems posting long posts and posts with links, I have gotten frustrated and gone back to my blog.

I have the day at the Salton Sea up on my blog here www.merrirv.blogspot.com if you would like to follow along. Plus, pictures!

mlgb

Just got back from a quick birding trip. Big Morongo was great! My favorite sighting was a not-so-shy California Thrasher.

We also spent a few days near Blythe @ Cibola NWR, with a few thousand sand hill cranes, snow geese, and assorted ducks, blackbirds and the cute little burrowing owls. Not a part of California that I was familiar with, but it was good times.

Toucan2

That sounds great mlgb! Yes I really liked Big Morongo a lot Had you been there before?

Im missing our usual end of year trip to the Rio Grande Valley this year. Our next birding trip will be spring migration on the Upper Gulf Coast of Texas.