A Day in the Desert

Today was another travel day—the drive from San Diego to Palm Springs to Las Vegas. We stopped at a viewing area but didn’t stay too long because it was cold and windy, as evidenced by Jeff’s hair.

It rained for most of the drive, which delighted Jeff (it’s dry here right now) but made me feel like I was back in Ohio. Definitely unlike Ohio, however, was the astounding number of enormous boulders. There were thousands of them as big as small cars scattered everywhere. The landscape for much of the drive looked like a giant child had dumped a toy box full of them all over the place. None of us could really figure out how they got there. Glacier retreat seems unlikely because they are so distinct from one another. Maybe tectonic activity? I’ll have to research that.

It was a bit of a challenge to take pics from the back of a moving Toyota FJ, but I did manage to get a few.

We stopped in Palm Springs for a quick tour and then lunch. Many of the homes were screened from the street by tall shrubs, but we did get to see a handful of mid-mod homes. It’s a nicer, homier city than I thought it would be, and I could see myself living there as long as I had friends there, too. I wouldn’t want to move there (well, anywhere, really) without a social network of some kind. Mark has always been much better at making friends than I, but we’re such homebodies now that it would be a challenge for both of us.

We had lunch at the Chicken Ranch, which was pleasant enough. The food was good. The staff was friendly and attentive. Despite the rainy drive, the weather in Palm Springs was perfect, so we ate on their patio. I decided to have gelato for dessert, and because it took longer to bring it than it should have, they gave me a double helping! There was more than I serve myself at home, and you know how large my bowls of ice cream are. The four of us ended up sharing it—a wonderful salted caramel.

The restaurant fronted a cute courtyard, so I took a couple photos of that, especially a really fun sculpture of Don Quixote. Mark also made a friend.

I have no idea how I managed to take this photo, but it’s kinda fun.

We did finally arrive in Vegas around 5:00 and got checked into our rooms.

After about a half hour, we went to dinner at Chin Chin in our hotel. Mark and I split a tasty dish of orange chicken, but after dinner, we decided not to explore tonight. We’ve got an early day tomorrow, so we called it a night. He’s already in bed, and I’m heading that way. I hope to have some fun things to report tomorrow. Until then, good night.