Just returned from Palm Springs
Feb 25th, 2011, 11:33 AM
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Just returned from Palm Springs
We had a wonderful time in Palm Springs. This was a first time visit. We were attending a destination wedding of our good friends' daughter. We watched her grow up, went on vacation with this family and our families spent a lot of fun times together through the years.
We arrived at the Ontario airport on Saturday, Feb. 12th--sunny and 80 degrees. We drove to Palm Desert and spent 3 nights with our friends in Indian Hills.
The men enjoyed golfing. We attended the Sunday Street Fair and shopped El Paseo. We had happy hour on the patio, enjoyed the hot tub, relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful views out to the mountains.
We had lunch at Tommy Bahamas rooftop deck. Ate a great Italian dinner at Mama Gina's and had a romantic Valentines Day dinner at the Chop House.
We hiked Eisenhower Mountain at the Living Desert. Packed our lunch and enjoyed a picnic at the table at the viewpoint. We had wonderful weather and once again enjoyed the great mountain and desert views.
We left Palm Desert and headed up tp Joshua Tree National Park. We had sandwiches at the Joshua Tree Visitors Center and then drove through the park, stopping for a walk to the Barker Dam, loop around the Hidden Valley, Keys View, Skull Rock and then out to Twenty Nine Palms. There are some pretty impressive rock formations in this park. In a few weeks the desert will be in bloom----photos show this to be a really wonderful sight. Too bad we were too early.
We checked into Roughley Manor, enjoyed some cookies and tea in the manor house, checked out the webcam of the owl sitting on her eggs that were laid Feb. 1st and then the owner showed us to our room. There were only 2 rooms available when I booked and we ended up in the Oasis Room. This is a beautiful room. We relaxed outside in one of the outside sitting areas and them ate dinner at 29Palms Bistro. 29Palms is very arid looking but Roughly Manor is really an oasis in the desert---I can't imagine ever choosing to live here though---and before air conditioning??? What were those early settlers thinking?
The next morning we had a wonderful potato quiche and fruit for breakfast and enjoyed talking with some of the other guests. We headed to the Fortynine Palms Oasis hike which we really enjoyed---it was a beautiful morning. We highly recommend this hike. We actually did it a second time when we brought our friends back.
We drove into Palm Springs and met the owner of the home we had rented for the week. VRBO #165000. We had 4 couples split the cost. We had agreed to draw numbers for the bedrooms because they are all not equal. This was a great house in the Movie Colony area of Palm Springs. 4BR 4bath with a great outdoor firepit, pool/hottub with lighting and waterfalls, lounge chairs---way nicer than the photos online. The owners Matt and Bill have done a great job remodeling this home and are great hosts--huge snack basket, fresh flowers. There was a refrigerator filled with condiments, salad dressing, beer, wine, water, liquor cabinet, paper products. We just restocked the beer and water that we drank. Bikes in the garage, floats for the pool. We all totally loved this house and had a great time being together there.
We started and ended each day around the firepit which extended our outdoor time because although it "never rains in Southern California", we got a lot of rain on Friday night and Saturday---unfortunately while most of the wedding guests were in town---and many of us were attending from Chicago and Ohio--escaping the horrible weather we are still experiencing. The temps were in the low 60s
It was too cool to use the pool but we were able to sit out most days and enjoy the sunshine. We used the hottub everyday. It was a great place to spend time with friends.
When we got up on Saturday morning there was a lot of snow on the nearby mountains which I guess is rare. There was a 1 1/2 hour wait to take the tram because all the locals were taking their sleds up to enjoy the snow. We had no intention of taking the tram on this visit--we have had enough snow right here in Akron.
The men all golfed on Friday morning and we had a luncheon that day at the Colony Hotel by the pool. The wedding was held on Saturday afternoon at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the reception was at the Viceroy where all the other guests stayed. It was only about a mile and a half from where we were staying. The wedding venues were altered because of the weather but fortunately the bride and the groom totally enjoyed the weekend with their friends and family and didn't pout about the weather. I have never had such wonderful food at a wedding reception. The Viceroy had fabulous food.
We enjoyed walking around downtown at the VillageFest on Thursday night. We bought dates and raisins---they have the most delicious raisins that you can buy by the pound. We drove around the Movie Colony and found the "stars' " houses listed on Bill and Matt's list. What an amazing place to be when the Hollywood "famous" all had homes here. The area has a fun and interesting history.
We drove over to Palm Canyon on Sunday morning to hike but every hike except for the strenuous hikes were flooded and had stream crossings. We then drove over to Tahquitz Canyon and were just in time to do the ranger hike. Nice easy hike to the waterfall. We then headed back home to enjoy the pool--seemed we were always doing this.
We took our friends up to Joshua Tree and did the 49Palms hike and then sent them through the park. My husband and I and another golfer headed back so they could hit golf balls and get a tee time for the morning. I sat by the pool.
Great time with great friends
We arrived at the Ontario airport on Saturday, Feb. 12th--sunny and 80 degrees. We drove to Palm Desert and spent 3 nights with our friends in Indian Hills.
The men enjoyed golfing. We attended the Sunday Street Fair and shopped El Paseo. We had happy hour on the patio, enjoyed the hot tub, relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful views out to the mountains.
We had lunch at Tommy Bahamas rooftop deck. Ate a great Italian dinner at Mama Gina's and had a romantic Valentines Day dinner at the Chop House.
We hiked Eisenhower Mountain at the Living Desert. Packed our lunch and enjoyed a picnic at the table at the viewpoint. We had wonderful weather and once again enjoyed the great mountain and desert views.
We left Palm Desert and headed up tp Joshua Tree National Park. We had sandwiches at the Joshua Tree Visitors Center and then drove through the park, stopping for a walk to the Barker Dam, loop around the Hidden Valley, Keys View, Skull Rock and then out to Twenty Nine Palms. There are some pretty impressive rock formations in this park. In a few weeks the desert will be in bloom----photos show this to be a really wonderful sight. Too bad we were too early.
We checked into Roughley Manor, enjoyed some cookies and tea in the manor house, checked out the webcam of the owl sitting on her eggs that were laid Feb. 1st and then the owner showed us to our room. There were only 2 rooms available when I booked and we ended up in the Oasis Room. This is a beautiful room. We relaxed outside in one of the outside sitting areas and them ate dinner at 29Palms Bistro. 29Palms is very arid looking but Roughly Manor is really an oasis in the desert---I can't imagine ever choosing to live here though---and before air conditioning??? What were those early settlers thinking?
The next morning we had a wonderful potato quiche and fruit for breakfast and enjoyed talking with some of the other guests. We headed to the Fortynine Palms Oasis hike which we really enjoyed---it was a beautiful morning. We highly recommend this hike. We actually did it a second time when we brought our friends back.
We drove into Palm Springs and met the owner of the home we had rented for the week. VRBO #165000. We had 4 couples split the cost. We had agreed to draw numbers for the bedrooms because they are all not equal. This was a great house in the Movie Colony area of Palm Springs. 4BR 4bath with a great outdoor firepit, pool/hottub with lighting and waterfalls, lounge chairs---way nicer than the photos online. The owners Matt and Bill have done a great job remodeling this home and are great hosts--huge snack basket, fresh flowers. There was a refrigerator filled with condiments, salad dressing, beer, wine, water, liquor cabinet, paper products. We just restocked the beer and water that we drank. Bikes in the garage, floats for the pool. We all totally loved this house and had a great time being together there.
We started and ended each day around the firepit which extended our outdoor time because although it "never rains in Southern California", we got a lot of rain on Friday night and Saturday---unfortunately while most of the wedding guests were in town---and many of us were attending from Chicago and Ohio--escaping the horrible weather we are still experiencing. The temps were in the low 60s
It was too cool to use the pool but we were able to sit out most days and enjoy the sunshine. We used the hottub everyday. It was a great place to spend time with friends.
When we got up on Saturday morning there was a lot of snow on the nearby mountains which I guess is rare. There was a 1 1/2 hour wait to take the tram because all the locals were taking their sleds up to enjoy the snow. We had no intention of taking the tram on this visit--we have had enough snow right here in Akron.
The men all golfed on Friday morning and we had a luncheon that day at the Colony Hotel by the pool. The wedding was held on Saturday afternoon at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the reception was at the Viceroy where all the other guests stayed. It was only about a mile and a half from where we were staying. The wedding venues were altered because of the weather but fortunately the bride and the groom totally enjoyed the weekend with their friends and family and didn't pout about the weather. I have never had such wonderful food at a wedding reception. The Viceroy had fabulous food.
We enjoyed walking around downtown at the VillageFest on Thursday night. We bought dates and raisins---they have the most delicious raisins that you can buy by the pound. We drove around the Movie Colony and found the "stars' " houses listed on Bill and Matt's list. What an amazing place to be when the Hollywood "famous" all had homes here. The area has a fun and interesting history.
We drove over to Palm Canyon on Sunday morning to hike but every hike except for the strenuous hikes were flooded and had stream crossings. We then drove over to Tahquitz Canyon and were just in time to do the ranger hike. Nice easy hike to the waterfall. We then headed back home to enjoy the pool--seemed we were always doing this.
We took our friends up to Joshua Tree and did the 49Palms hike and then sent them through the park. My husband and I and another golfer headed back so they could hit golf balls and get a tee time for the morning. I sat by the pool.
Great time with great friends
Mar 2nd, 2011, 01:21 PM
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Joshua Tree has a wildflower update on a few websites. Looks like March and April are peak. We had a lot of rain over President's Weekend so that should bring out some flowers around the first of March
