The Living Desert - Palm Desert, California

Roger here...  I am still missing Robyn and Atul, but the fun we had today helped to ease the withdrawal a bit.  Besides, we will get to see Robyn again in July, along with our other wonderful daughter, Amanda, and our beautiful granddaughter, Kaia.

Anyway, get a load of the great picture Dianne took of the Bighorn Sheep at the Living Desert in Palm Desert, CA.  We both love zoos and we both love landscaping.  This place had both.

The Living Desert was about 45 minutes from our campsite - actually our gourmet breakfast site (via the expensive car dealerships).  The overall theme of this working ecological park was life in the desert, particularly life in the deserts of North America and Africa.  

Prior to this visit, our favorite zoo was the Miami Zoo.  This place does not compare in scope, but it certainly compares in quality and excels in ecology.

Flora, fauna?  Let's start with the desert flora.   

Ok, this is obviously an oasis, but it is in the desert.  These groves of California Fan Palms only grow naturally in desert springs.  I have seen two of these now (Dianne has seen one).  It looks like another world.

Below is a view of another oasis with ocotillo (in bloom) and cactus in the foreground.

The blooms at the top of this saguaro were probably 30 feet above the ground.  We really like the quality of the zoom feature on our new camera. Notice the wasp?

Dianne really admired this arrangement of agave.  Maybe we could replicate it in south Texas?  Probably not, I think we have run out of room.  The picture below is of a Coral Fountain. We have two of these at our place in south Texas, but we call them Firecracker Plants.  While ours are beautiful, they are not this prolific, YET.  

The picture below is of a prickly pear cactus --- not necessarily an interesting subject, now that we have become accustomed to the desert.  However, we love the way light reflects off the green of the cactus.

Time for fauna --- the things that move.  Let's have a look at the animals of the African deserts; first, a couple of small mammals:

The fennec fox, below, is the world's smallest fox. It lives in the sand dunes of North Africa.  It has the largest ears of any fox.  The large ears aid in finding prey (insects and small reptiles) as well as dissipating heat.  Can you tell I used to be a science teacher? 

This little guy is called a Cape Rock Hyrax.  Never heard of it? He is about the size of a beaver, looks like a giant guinea pig, and is so unusual that he is in a scientific order of his own.  Can you tell I used to be a science teacher?  He and a couple of his friends spent their time hopping around their enclosure while we watched them.  Believe it or not, his closest relative, genealogically, is the elephant.  Yep, definitely used to be a science teacher.

Can't leave out the birdies.  Look at the outrageous colors of this parrot; and that creepy reptilian eye.

Ok.... On to the larger African desert animals.  Gee, I wonder what this is?  Well, the guy below is definitely a Greater Kudu.

The Kudu's large ears are extremely sensitive to sound, making them difficult to approach as they commonly sneak away when detecting a predator. If they are attacked, they can leap as high as eight feet!  More science teacher info.  What a magnificent creature.

The kudus and the giraffes lived in the same large space.  The kudu seemed to be longingly gazing at the giraffe during the entire time that we watched.  I wonder what that was all about?

We can't leave Africa without seeing a couple of predators.  Check out the Cheetah --- the fastest mammal on our planet.

This is a Madagascar Boa, nonpoisonous, a constrictor.  Dianne and I both touched it --- not slimy.  Felt like leather.  Always the science teacher.

Bandido and Tequila were disappointed that we did not get any pictures of the wild African Dogs or the Hyenas.  They were hiding behind the rocks in the shade.

Time to look at the desert animals of North America: 

This coyote is taking an afternoon nap.  It was warm on this day --- in the 100s.  

The bobcat also thought it was a good day to stay in the shade and lounge around, and the huge mountain lion had no desire to even move on this hot day.

The birds seem a little more active.  

We seem to find snowy egrets everywhere we travel in the southern climes.  They are still unique to us.  We definitely did not see them in Indiana, but we did see their relatives, the big blues.

These are night herons.  Striking large birds, that were breathing heavily, probably due to the heat.




The most active of all the desert animals on this day was a reptile --- no, not a snake.  This desert tortoise was on his way to lunch!

The docent said that these turtles can feel touches, much like we feel through our fingernails.  Dianne and I both were able to pet the tortoise.  We kind of liked him.   

Yum!  Is this a mixed green salad or a garden tossed salad?

It is almost time to leave The Living Desert, but before we do, it is important to note the good that the people at this fascinating place do for the desert animals of the California deserts.  

The Tennity Wildlife Hospital and Conservation Center rescues and rehabilitates the desert friends that live with us in our world.  This is a photo of one of their surgery rooms.  We saw several animals in the park who had suffered injuries that would have been fatal without these facilities.  The hospital is run by professionals and by volunteers.  A good place.

I could not leave Palm Springs without a few pictures from our site at the The Happy Traveler RV Park.  

View from couch

 This park is very close to the ritzy area of Palm Springs, walking distance actually (in cooler weather). 

View from door

 The sites are narrow;  however, due to the tall oleander hedges, they are extremely private.  We did not meet our friendly neighbors until the last day we were here.  The view from our front windshield is below.

This is the view from the back.  If we return to Palm Springs, we would, without a doubt, stay here again.

The pet picture of the day shows the ever-vigilant Tequila on guard at the campsite.  Even though we did not see any, there could be lizards.

Our next post will be from Twenty Nine Palms CA, at the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

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