Palm Springs, California - Land of Gourmet Breakfasts & Fancy Cars!

Hi all, Dianne here.  The two attractive young people peeking from under Marilyn Monroe's skirt are our daughter Robyn and her boyfriend, Atul.  They drove over from Los Angeles to meet us for the weekend in Palm Springs.  What a great time we had!

We started out with our first of many gourmet breakfasts at "Farm," a small restaurant Robyn found using Yelp, tucked away in a secret garden.  
No photos of this food, for we had just met Atul and I didn't want him to discover our weirdness just yet....

It was forecast to reach 104 that first day, so we decided a tram ride up Mt. San Jacinto would be just the ticket.  Good choice!   It was 40 degrees cooler at Mt. San Jacinto State Park at the top of the mountain.  

There were impressive views at the top...

   Here's a zoomed-in shot showing Palm Springs at the foot of the mountain.  More shots...

A Windswept Tree...

The "mom" in me kept creeping out, so I took a few shots on the sly of my baby girl and her guy...

And some not on the sly... (no apologies here, 'cause this blog is used as our virtual scrapbook).

We all got to meet Smoky the Bear...

And a smaller critter, too...

We stopped for a drink and a little shopping in the state park gift store before our return trip down the mountain.

Originally we thought we'd have a happy hour at our camp site, but even though Roger made provisions for the hot sun...

...we were in very cramped quarters at the Happy Traveler RV Park and it was just too darned hot!  No problem, though; we loaded up and took happy hour to Robyn and Atul's hotel, the Riviera Palm Springs Resort and Spa.  We sat on the patio by the pool and had snacks, wine and beer before dinner.   Lots of laughter; we really got to know Atul better.  What an intelligent, funny, awesome, thoughtful young man.  To say we were impressed with him would be an understatement.

To give you an idea of what the hotel is like, get a load of the pool table...

A little bling, anyone?

I've never seen a bed on a pool deck before...  

Here's a shot of the pool...

...and some humorous signs we spotted as we took a walking tour of the grounds:

Perhaps related to the above sign, someone had surreptitiously removed a certain letter from all of the directional signs in the vicinity...

Anyway, after a couple of drinks it gave us a chuckle.

On Sunday morning we met for Sunday brunch at another trendy, gourmet restaurant, "Jake's."  Wow, what great food!  I had crab cakes benedict (the crab cakes are underneath the perfectly-cooked sunny-side-up eggs)...

Do you think I liked it??

And Roger had chilaquiles, a delicious Mexican choice...

They tasted even better than they looked!   We walked around Palm Springs after brunch, and thankfully the city has installed misters up and down the streets to help keep shoppers cool in the searing hot sun.  It was 104 degrees while we shopped on Sunday!  Here's a photo of Robyn walking in front of me toward some cooling mist...

And some random people, giving a better shot of the misters.  I've never seen these before on a city street, but if ever they were needed, it is in Palm Springs.

All too soon it was time for Robyn and Atul to head back to LA for rehearsals.  It was wonderful getting to meet Atul and seeing our city girl!

Monday morning Roger and I stopped at yet another spot for yet another gourmet breakfast, Cheeky's.  We actually had tried the prior two days in a row to eat there, but the crowds waiting outside were just too long both days.  On Monday morning the crowds were gone.  We still had to wait outside for a while, but not long.  Here's Roger's choice, eggs benedict...

And mine, scrambled eggs with organic goat cheese, mushrooms, and thyme, with homemade jam on the toast...

The bacon (extra) was $1 per slice, but there were four varieties to choose from.  In my opinion, the bacon was worth twice the cost!   

No more food photos, I promise, for a while.  These were so exceptional that we just wanted to remember them.  

After breakfast we drove to Palm Desert to visit the desert living museum, which Roger will blog about next time.  On the way, after passing the vintage auto dealership in Palm Springs that had bright, shiny vintage autos of every description, closer to Palm Desert we passed, one next to another, the following dealerships:  Porche, Land Rover, Bentley, Maserati, and one designated for nothing but electric cars.  There were plenty of them driving around the swanky boulevards, too.  

I'm not sure why, if you could afford to live anywhere, you'd pick this area of California.  The weather was in the mid-100s the entire time we were there, and it's only April.  I think the only comfortable time of year would have to be January-March.  A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

The pet picture of the day was taken just a moment too late.  Bandido and Tequila are sleepyheads in the mornings.  This morning, Tequila was still in bed and Bandido was in the living room, but had fallen asleep with his head resting in his toy box.  I couldn't get to the camera fast enough to keep him from waking up, but it's a cute photo of him anyway!

Sleepy Head with His Toys

Borrego Springs & Pie, Oh, My!

Hi all, Dianne here.  What’s wrong with this picture??  (And I don’t mean the bad hair).
Well, if you know me, you’ll notice that my smile looks pretty fake.  In fact, the title of this picture on my computer is “Dianne not amused.”  Part of the reason the smile looks fake is that my lips were parched and dry.  When does a three-mile “nature trail” feel like an eight-mile “death march”?  Let me explain….

Roger is a planner extreme.  We have folders of magazine articles we’ve saved over the years for referencing different areas we want to visit.  One article we saved described a short, 1 1/2 mile out-and-back hike (3 miles total) to native fan palms at Borrego Springs State Park.  Sounds easy, yes?  That’s what we thought.  All I can say is the folks who wrote the magazine article must have done the hike in the dead of winter. 

Our first clue was on the drive over.  Aguanga, where our camp site is, is at about 2000 feet elevation.  The weather has been cool (evenings and mornings have been downright cold) while we’ve been here.  From Aguanga, we drove up and over a mountain range, then down, down, down to about 500 feet elevation at Borrego Springs.  As we went down the mountain to the parched valley below, we both remarked how much it reminded us of the approach to Death Valley. They were similar in more ways than one….

We did stop for a quick lunch in town, then drove to the state park visitor’s center.  The rangers were busy with other customers, so we took a brochure and headed for the trailhead, which was described to begin on the other side of the campground.  Once we got to the fee station, we saw that the fee was $8 for day use until April 30.  $8 just for a short nature hike?  I don’t think so.  We decided to drive back to the visitor’s center and hike to the trail head.
Notice how bright the sun is?  Ever heard the expression white-hot heat?  We walked, and walked, and walked.    This photo was taken on the .7 mile paved trail from the visitor’s center to an asphalt road we walked on (forever) to reach the trailhead.  See how far ahead Roger is?  Normally I walk much faster than he does.  On this day, he was worried about fitting all of our day’s activities in and so he was practically sprinting down the trail, checking his watch now and then, as my irritation level grew with each step.  My pedometer clocked 3.3 miles before we even reached the trailhead to begin the trail.

I did note the first safety sign stated “People have died on this trail for lack of water.”  Not an auspicious start for a 1 1/2 mile out-and-back.  I’m sure it wasn’t 124 degrees as indicated on the warning sign, but it was in the 90s for sure.  (Our car thermometer registered 95 when we returned to the car).

This is what I remember of this trail.  No dogs allowed, so we couldn’t depend on them to sniff out rattlesnakes for us. There were also areas where the trail was not very well marked.  We made a few false turns, but managed to pick our way along.
  This is the last photo I took along the trail.  The indentations in the rock were made by early Indians who ground Agave seeds in the rock to make flour.

At around this point I reached my limit and threw a hissy-fit.  (R: Yes, she did.)  I told Roger to go on to the end of the trail and I’d wait for him.  In my defense, my foot was starting to hurt from hiking on the rocky, uneven trail, and I was starting to feel a little faint.  I only had half a bottle of water left at that point.  As you’ll see from the following pictures and narrative from Roger, I should have continued on just a little longer!


I waited near a low, rocky outcropping with about a 2-square-foot area of shade underneath.  While I waited for Roger to come back, I crouched in there a few times, but kept imagining all the snakes and rats lurking in the crevices, so I pretty much just stood in the sun.  I thought a few times about going back without him, or going on to find him, but I knew I’d probably get lost if I did and they’d find my bleached, white bones a few weeks later.  Oh, yeah, and our cell phones were out of range at that point, too, so I would have had to scribble a note to him in the sand and hope that he’d see it.

Roger here....  My high school friend, Adele, explained to me that girls are different than boys in these situations.  She told me that they cannot take the heat.  At the time she halted her part of the hike, there certainly was a lot of heat, and not all of it was coming from the sun.  I did not know she was feeling faint, but I did know that she was not happy with me, and I thought it was best to get away :-).

Soon after I scampered across a dry creek bed on a couple of logs, things got very green.

After climbing over a boulder, the copse of California Palms came into view.  Amidst this arid landscape, it was truly an amazing sight.

In a short time, I was surrounded by trees and I could hear running water.

It might have been a nice place to get my feet wet, but I needed to move on.

I walked through a narrow (very short) slot canyon and emerged into an oasis in the desert.

OK.  I am here.  I must not linger.  Now, I must go.  I literally sprinted back down the trail, worrying that Dianne might have left her semi-shady spot.

My only stop was to take a picture of this waterfall.  Too bad I could not take it back to Dianne.  It might have cooled things down (in more ways than one).

A couple of good things then occurred.  One, Dianne was safe and sound where I expected her to be, and she had plenty of water, and she was rested.  Two, we did not waste any precious energy talking on the long, hot trek back to the car.


Dianne again…we plan to do a separate blog showing the unique and very cool desert sculptures we drove to see after the death march hike, so check back tomorrow for that.  After viewing the sculptures, it was getting late (it did, after all, take us about two hours longer to hike than we expected) and Roger innocently asked if I still wanted to go to Julian, CA for pie.  I demurely said “sure,” but what went through my mind was By God, after that hike you’d better believe I’m getting some pie!!”

We took some twisty-curvy roads to the small town of Julian, California, whose main claim to fame in these parts is the famous Julian Pie Company.  Julian is at a high altitude, and my sunburned, parched skin got goosebumps from the cold as soon as we got out of the car. 
But all I can say is all’s well that ends well, and this day certainly ended well with tart, homemade apple pie with a large slab of cinnamon ice cream on top. 
I was once again a happy camper!

Touring Hearst Castle, San Simeon, CA with Friends

Hi all, Dianne here.   We've talked about our dear friends, Jay and Nancy, before.   For years, Jay has talked about visiting San Simeon (Hearst Castle).   Last summer in Indiana, when we told them our plans to visit the central coast of California, including San Simeon, the idea was hatched for them to fly out to meet us and visit together.  Great idea!  Roger and I arrived in Morro Bay a few days ahead, then they joined us for four days of good friends and good fun.


We signed up for two tours of Hearst Castle:  Tour #1 is an overview showing most of the first floor of Casa Grande (the main house), the famous neptune swimming pool, and the underground Roman pool.  (Note the diving platform in the top center of the photo below.)  I wonder how many movie stars dove from that?  

After lunch at the visitor's center we took Tour #2, which included the upstairs of Casa Grande, the industrial kitchen, the tennis courts, and ended back at the Roman pool. 

 I especially liked the original tiles and faucets in the kitchen, designed by the architect, Julia Morgan.


It's truly a historic and beautiful place.  For those of you who are not familiar with it, it was built by William Randolph Hearst.  He entertained many famous people there, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, even President Calvin Coolidge.

Amelia Earhardt and Charles Lindbergh used the private air strip to fly in as guests.  Hearst was known for his lavish parties and priceless art collections.


It is now part of the California State Park system.  Pictures add more than any of my words, so here are some highlights:

The beautiful Neptune pool.  Can't you just imagine the pool parties?  Wow.  They do rent this out in the summer for folks who want to use it.  My active imagination pictured me on a warm, tranquil day floating in this pool all by myself....  Back to reality now.

This statuary is from Ancient Egypt:

This is the outside of Casa Grande, the main house.  The beautiful photo at the top of the blog is of one of three "guest cottages."

I took Jay and Nancy's photo in front of the door at Casa Grande.  Jay can now cross Hearst Castle off his "bucket list."


No flash photography is allowed inside the house, but I was able to get a few interior photos, like the one below of the dining room:  (This photo shows our tour group and the guide.  As you can see, they have already begun decorating the house for Christmas).

Some of the most spectacular items were the ceilings imported from ancient and medieval houses in Europe, like this one in the dining room.  The colorful flags were imported from Siena, Italy, just to "add color" to the room.  

They recently discovered that one of the imported ceilings from medieval Spain was not black at all, but when cleaned had a colorful pattern.  Above is a shot of a restorer cleaning part of the ceiling.  It will take years for it all to be finished.


Here is a photo of Jay attentively listening to the guide describe the features of the upstairs library from Tour #2:

The landscaping was gorgeous, and the castle is built on top of a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The indoor "Roman Pool" has 23-carat gold-leaf tiles covered with protective glass in the design.  The gold tiles are even incorporated into the pool surround, so that we all were able to "walk on gold" as we passed through, back to the tour bus.


At this time the tour costs $24 per person for each tour selected.  It was money well spent!

Wrote this one quickly and came back to add a very cool whippet photo of the day.  We are now in Morro Bay.  While walking the dogs along the bay, Roger saw a man walking two dogs in the distance coming toward him.  They were both astonished when they came close to see that both were walking identical whippets!  What are the chances of that?  Roger didn't have the camera, but the kind man e-mailed us a few photos.  Check this out: