Desert Oasis

My dad and step mom live part time in La Quinta.  It's not Palm Springs to the locals, but to us foreigners, it is.  This place is amazing. Lush, green, warm, well planned.  Lots of money here.  Of course there are places without money and a Walmart (Someone has to be the valet, and they have to shop somewhere).  Driving around pockets of golf courses and shopping centers and fancy restaurants.  Beautiful place to hang out.  We ate a wonderful breakfast, and Nancy was so cool with all of her gluten free details.  She even put the gluten free raisin toast in the oven on it's own rack to avoid toaster cross contamination!

Dad took us for a drive to see the "sight".  He is a perfect desert docent.  I now know where Merv Griffin lived and that the airport was named after the first female pilot to break the sound barrier.  The goal of our journey was the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. 

Before we get there, Dad tells us anecdotes of the feint of heart that will not go up the tram and that it got stuck one day.  Undeterred, Emily and I forged on.

We got very good parking in the uppermost lot, but still I was huffing and puffing by the time we got to the base station.  Base station was at 2500 feet. And in the tram we went.

The rise was steep and the view was beautiful.  The tram had a rotating floor, so you stood still and you got a 360 view all the way up.  The tram swayed a bit as it passed each of the 5 towers.

We got up to the top, at about 10,000 feet.   It was 32 degrees and there was snow on the ground.  We had a cup of coffee and watched a movie about how they made the thing.

There was an engineer guy who dreamed of this tram in the 30's and worked with people to get the money.  Construction didn't start till the late 50's and they had to build most of the towers using helicopters to get the equipment, materials and people up the mountain.  Early 60's saw the first ride up the hill, and in 2000 they changed the tram to the rotating one, adding height to the towers.

Pretty amazing.

We drove back to the house by way hwy 111 which passes through the heart of all the communities around here.  The highlight was The El Paseo.   Yes, the locals refer to the street as The El Paseo.  It's like Rodeo Drive.  Super upscale.

Back home for cleanup, rest and laundry, then off to Arnold Palmer's restaurant for a petite fillet.  YUMMMMMMMMM and some fantastic wine.  I made mental note of what I drank, and promptly forgot.  Oh well....

We were in bed by 9:30.  Emily and I are not party animals, I guess.