Day Six - Palm Desert

Mom & I at the entrance to Palm Desert

Palm Desert - Oasis in the middle of NOWHERE!

Agave plant - used to make a natural sweetener & Tequila!

Cactus

Valentina getting her kicks on Route 79 (It was a good year, no?)

Whoo hoo! Mom, Laura & I rented a car & headed out on the highway. We managed to find one of the only car rental places open on a Sunday. Things have changed a lot in the States with this whole recession. We couldn’t drop the car off at any other location & they don’t do one way rentals anymore. Crazy for a big chain like Budget rental car, eh? But hey, for $39 for the day, we were on our way!

Mom was behind the wheel, expertly maneuvering in 6 lanes of traffic. Laura rode shotgun & Valentina & I kept things busy in the back seat. It was piping hot by 0930 when we left & things certainly heated up the further away from the coast we got. We were told it would take us 4 hours to get to Palm Desert, but we were there in 2 1/2, including a few stops!

We ventured off the busy freeway & headed out on a secondary road. Wow. It was really interesting. The landscape definitely dried up as we drove east. Pretty soon it was nothing but rocks & very little vegetation. We drove past homes that had been completely wiped out by fire. All that was left standing was the rock fireplace. It was very sad to see, but easy to understand how it could happen. It was so dry!

There were massive boulders, rounded from millions of years of weathering the elements. They reminded me of the rocks we saw at Spitzkoppe, Namibia. Shortly after the boulders starting popping up, we came to a look out point. We stopped to have a quick peek around. There were interesting cactus plants & scrub brush, cedars & even agave plants. Agave (ah-gaw-vay) is the plant they make tequila from. They also make agave nectar which is a healthy sweetner. We took some photos & managed to meet 2 couples from the UK, one couple from Wales & one couple from Shrewsbury. They were well shocked when I told them I’d been to Shrewsbury! Ha!

We carried on to Palm Desert. It really is an oasis in the desert. It was pretty wild that so many people can live in the middle of nowhere & that it can look so lush & tropical! We wandered down El Paseo, which is apparently the equivalent to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, although, come to think of it, it looked like a lot of places were permanently closed! They had a golf cart parade earlier in the day. Palm Desert has signage posted for golf cart traffic on the roads! Crazy!

We then headed to Palm Springs afterwards for dinner. We ended up eating at a little French-Belgian restaurant. It was absolutely gorgeous weather. It was 2030 & we were sitting on the patio in our tank tops & shorts & it was nowhere near cold. Not even cool. It was perfect!

Our drive home was fun. Laura drove & Mom helped navigate. I worked on the blog & kept Valentina company, who, by the way, has been a superstar the entire time. She hasn’t minded being in her carrier, she’s been friendly with all her admirers & she’s been extremely quiet. What a good girl!

For those of you who have been to Palm Desert & Palm Springs, I’m sure you’ll agree. It’s very beautiful & well worth a visit. The weather was stunning & the scenery spectacular. Palm trees & mountains, olive groves along the way, apparently great shopping, although I’ll have to save that for next time! (Omgosh, Ugg boots were $170 here… they are $400 in Canada!)

Tomorrow a.m. we are back to the clinic & Mom is leaving right after her treatment. I will be sad to see her go. We have had a great time in Mexico & California & I will miss her terribly once she is gone. My Mom has been my biggest supporter so far & I am so grateful to have someone like her as my Mom. I love you Mom.

xxxx Jill & Valentina