Last but not least

 

 

The traditional picture-- John bids goodbye to his old friend at the airport.

Give me the simple life

 

Believe it or not, that mess is a gussied up fish taco plate from the upscale Palm Springs restaurant Clandestino. Calling it a Mexican restaurant is a bit of an understatement. We also had cheese-stuffed fried squash blossoms, which disappeared before I could take a picture.

All good things come to an end, and a person (at least this person) can't eat like that every day. 

But the good life goes on in southern California, and we often notice how much happier people are, especially those working in stores and restaurants. At least compared to Seattle, where the food service workers radiate depression over their jobs and life in general. It must be the climate.

The Palm Springs Art Museum has free admission on Thursday evenings during Village Fest, so we waddled over after dinner.

They had a wonderful special exhibit called "Particles and Waves." From 1945-1990, Los Angeles was the center of advanced scientific research, and artists (many of them born at the turn of the last century) produced these amazing abstract art works using the new materials, processes and machines-- such as the first "computer art."

So we had an enjoyable last evening in Palm Springs...

One more desert sunrise, then was time to head to the airport for an easy flight home. At least, everything seems easy compared to our recent Delta experience. It was a smooth flight up the coast, with all the familiar Northwest volcano mountains "out."

But not for long-- now it's going to rain into the foreseeable future. We're happy to get back to normal routines of eating and exercise-- time to hunker down and let the Northwest winter (and everything else) run its course. 

A seismic shift

 

The three hour "San Andreas Fault Movers and Shakers Jeep Tour" begins in the open desert outside of Indio, about a 45 minute drive from Palm Springs. There were 6 of us on the jeep, and we really didn't know what to expect.

The tour takes place on 850 acres of private land, and winds through the fantastical landscape with plenty of educational stops and short hikes into the slot canyons. Truly a geology paradise.

 

We had a good time...and nothing like geology to put current events into perspective.

And our tour guide Bonnie was excellent.

The final stop at a palm oasis and a recreated Cahuilla village. 

Other than that, we've just been doing our usual Palm Springs things. We have a quiet room at a small inn, with a view of the mountains. We've been spoiled by the hot mineral water, and the pool here feels too chilly for swimming. But it's a nice place to sit and soak in the winter sun and breath the clean air. No smoking.

Even in southern California, the sun sets early these days.

We made a pilgrimage to the Desert Memorial Park, where Frank Sinatra's grave recently made a mysterious change. (Click the link.)  Hummm.

 

Frank rests in good company with other local celebrities.

The cemetery was still decorated with flowers from Day of the Dead celebrations-- a poignant sight.

 

And last but not least, a must stop at the Moorten Botanical Garden. Village Fest tonight, then we head back to the land of rain and clouds in the morning.

The mixed bag

 

Palm Springs is pretty much a known commodity, but we never know what to expect when we come to Desert Hot Springs. Suffice to say, there are usually surprises. 

The weather has been sunny and warm, but unpleasantly windy for the past 24 hours. On the bright side, we have the nicest, biggest room at the Lido Palms--a quiet corner unit with a view of the San Jacinto Mountains (and a vacant lot) from the kitchen window. Desert Hot Springs is NOT a fancy spa town, like it sounds.

We're sharing the motel with a large group of elderly Armenians who arrived by van from Los Angeles. They all speak (very loud) Russian. Apparently, this same group comes several times a month, so you can hardly blame the owners for welcoming their business. Not so great if you just happen to be here for a quiet visit. 

Ack! They set up a smoking area in the courtyard adjacent to the indoor hot tub. Who smokes at a mineral water spa in the clean desert air? (Now you know.)

I pointed to the sign and complained, but the tough old lady just gave me the evil eye. I know what fights to pick. 

Fortunately they are late risers, so John and I had a beautiful solo swim in the pool this morning, watching the sun come up. As we shall do tomorrow, our last day here.

After our New York trip on Delta Airlines, I kept expecting something to go wrong but everything was perfect yesterday. Not a single apology from a single Alaska employee. How refreshing. We had the rental car in 5 minutes flat, and decided to have a quiet lunch in downtown Palm Springs. There was a huge pride festival and parade going on, so no parking places available for many blocks.

We gave up and had lunch in Desert Hot Springs instead. I had authentic pozole soup for the first time.

 

We eat lots of Mexican food down here, and it's almost always good. Today we went to the Windmill Market for a date shake and lunch on their patio--John had a single taco. I had a whole delicious pastrami sandwich and ashamed to take a picture of it.  

Headed down to Palm Springs tomorrow.

Blue skies, smiling at me

 

The Palm Springs weather forecast looks great next week. Yea! On our last few trips, we've had "unseasonable" weather. We're spending two nights in Desert Hot Springs, then three nights in Palm Springs. 

We've done this trip many times and don't seem to get tired of doing the same things. The big attraction in DHS (other than Cabot's Pueblo Museum) is some of the best hot mineral water in the world. 

In Palm Springs, we'll be at a quiet old inn where we stayed once before. It had pretty rooms and a warm pool; hopefully it still does. Our favorite place for many years (The Andalusian, now called The Lucille) changed ownership and just isn't our cup of tea anymore. But downtown Palm Springs stays the same, with good restaurants, shopping and crazy Village Fest on Thursday night, the legacy of Mayor Sonny Bono.

There are beautiful hikes in the Coachella Valley to different palm oases and waterfalls. We've done most of them over the years, also a celebrity house tour which was a blast.

But something more adventuresome planned this time-- a three hour jeep tour featuring an up-close and personal look at the San Andreas fault. That will be on Wednesday, the day after the election. Geology surely helps to put things into perspective. 

Here's a video of the jeep tour highlights from a few years back.

Halloween soup

 

I bought a big Kombucha at Lone Pine and made a labor-intensive roasted squash soup yesterday. I forgot to take a picture of John chopping it up with a cleaver and hammer, a dangerous task if you aren't being mindful. Or as he would say, "have the right tools."

Most soup recipes start with raw cubes (peeling is a pain) but this roasts the squash chunks in a hot oven until tender and caramelized. Then you just scoop it out into a broth already seasoned with lots of garlic, onion and spices.

Finally, I used my handy immersive blender to puree everything into a super creamy and healthy soup. That little tool is a dream come true, after years of slopping hot mess in and out of a blender.

It turned out restaurant quality delicious. Let me know if you want the recipe.

As promised, here's Maya and pals ready to hit the town last night. She is dressed as a "1960's Corpse Bride." That decade when their grandparents came of age is ancient history.

We had about 75 trick-or-treaters, all of them very cute and polite. And soaking wet along with their poor parents-- it poured rain. For future reference, the treat of choice seemed to be York Peppermint Patties.