Tuesday March 20th, 2018

It was a Pickle Ball kind of morning for JP so we got a late start on the day. Patsy and Peter were up for a spontaneous adventure so we headed out around 1:00. The destination – Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve.

Yep! Its an actual oasis. The 17,000 acres preserve is only a 15 minute drive from downtown Palm Springs. Its was about 2 miles round trip, and an easy walk on nice trails. We had blue skies and warm weather so it was a perfect day for a trip into a little pocket of beauty.

Its pretty and lush and a whole different world than the desert around it. Parts of the trail were formed by the San Andreas Fault. The McCallum Pond there is fed by and underground spring. 

The pond has Pup fish. Lots of them schooling around. JP was happy to see some finned creatures even if they were small and protected. 

After our not so grueling  short hike, we were parched so our next stop was South of the Border Mexican Restaurant for lunch (and of course a thirst quenching margarita). Yes it does seem that margaritas and mimosas have become an essential part of my day since we have been in Palm Springs. When in Rome (or Palm Springs). . . .

Monday March 19th, 2018

We’re still fitting things in Lucky because the there is enough variation in the floor plan that not everything is fitting quite right. we did some searching for just the right sizes storage boxes and shopped for a pickle ball racket for JP. No luck yet!

After another lovely Happy Hour with Patsy and Peter we had a date night. We couldn’t help ourselves – we just had to have another D Box Experience at the movies. We saw Tomb Raiders at the Mary Pickford Theater. Now there are 2 good reasons to go to the movies – D Box and 3D. The Mary Pickford Theater grounds are really lovely at night. The building has colorful lighting that fades from one color scheme to another. There is a great fountain on the grounds too.

It is actually called the “DPlace Entertainment – Mary Pickford”.  Mary is a bit out of our time period. She was the most famous female star of silent movies. Her legend lives on . . .

Sunday March 18th, 2018
We took the day off today so we could catch up on a few things back at camp. We made good use of the pool and hot tub and spent the day relaxing. It does seem odd doesn’t it? That we need to take a “day off” from being out and about! At the end of the day we crossed a bunch of stuff off of our “to do” list – so it was a good day.

Saturday March 17th, 2018 

There were still mimosa flavors Ann and I hadn’t sampled so we had another fine breakfast at the Broken Yolk this morning. We thought we might try that downtown stroll again before they had to head home to Clovis. We’re hoping we can meet up again for more fun field trips and sightseeing.  It was a short but awesome visit!

After breakfast we’d only walked a block before we found a little museum I’d read about that intrigued me. Why? Because I’d never heard of a General Store Museum and because they charge $1.00 entry fee (up from the .95 cents it cost when the brochure was printed). It was so cool! A man named James Ruddy was a collector and wanted to share the past with the present. He is pictured in the photo below on the right. “Open our door and step 70 years back in time.” Inside you step back into the ’30 and 40’s (though there are some items from the late 1800’s) and are standing in a general store from another time.

The thing is – every package, can, container, and box – holds its original contents. Every item is in pristine condition. The clothing has never been worn. The cigarette packages, pop bottles, candy and medicine bottles all contain the original contents, (with the exception of opiods – but that isn’t surprising). One man’s collection so impeccable its hard to imagine. The popped corn in the popcorn popper is 50 years old, the pickles in the pickle jar are 80 years old. The owner passed away last year but the museum lives on. Such an intriguing little place. I was so glad we came across it!

Friday March 16th, 2018 

Today we’re downtown Palm Springs bound. I still had that mimosa flight on my mind (and a complementary breakfast card) so first thing – breakfast at The Broken Yolk. Ann and I split a flight so we could give them all a taste test. Fun and yummy. After a hearty breakfast the plan was to stroll around downtown Palm Springs.

We only browsed one shop before we decided to walk the few blocks to the Palm Springs Art Museum. How awesome! Two very different types of art museums in two days. My head was swimming! I have no idea what I will do with the hundred of pictures we couldn’t help but take between us but here is a sampling. I’m sure you’ll recognize Andy Warhol, but there was so much more.

Then there was this Chihuly glass sculpture – Wow!

We came across this couple in the upper floor of the museum. They look like average folks but looked a little worn out from the art experience. . . .

Turns out they are the art experience – they are a couple sitting on a bench apparently a bit bored. It actually took us a  couple of passes to realize they WERE the art. It was amazingly realistic. Such ordinary looking humans making an extraordinary art piece! 

After our day at the museim we took a breather at the Agua Soliel where Mike and Ann had moved to since the park model at our park was only available for 2 nights. Then off for a genuinely gigantic meal at Kam Lun Chinese. 

Thursday March 15th, 2018
JP cooked breakfast for us at the Park Model so we could get an early start on our trip towards LA to visit the J Paul Getty Museum . It was amazing! I hadn’t been in forever and JP had only been to the grounds which are gorgeous.

We were lucky because it rained the night before and the views were rare and pretty impressive!

It was amazing! There was so much to take in!  It’s 15.00 to park and the museum itself is free. You take a tram (also free) to the actual Getty complex.

I could post SO many pictures but none would be close to seeing them in person and it would take days and days to give you the info on each piece and artist. I’ll just post a sampling to give you an idea of what the Getty holds.

We headed out at 10:30 AM and headed home at 3:15 which got us back around 7:30 with traffic. We were pretty beat and hungry by the time we got back to Desert Hot Springs. Luckily we found the perfect margarita and a solid Mexican dinner at the South of the Border Restaurant. It was an art-full day! 

Wednesday March 14th, 2018
Anne and Mike our friends from Bandon (and Clovis this time of year) came in today.

They’re staying in a park model here in our KOA.

We spent some time catching up over cocktails and snacks and headed out to see Black Panther at the Mary Pickford Theater.

We tried out the “D Box” seats – so fun! They’re like lounge chairs (feet up) and all super comfy. The lounge chairs have motion that matches what’s happening in the movie, so an earthquake you see on screen you’d feel as well! Pretty cool!
We had a heart healthy dinner at McDonald’s and planned our day for tomorrow.

Monday March 11th and Tuesday March 12th, 2018
JP seems to be having fun learning more about pickle ball in the mornings and what’s better than following that with a sauna? Good way to start the day!

Thumbs up with blue sky background and space for text.

We had a to-do list and decided to get busy with it. JP somehow got lucky and found a dermatologist that had a work in appointment for him and he also squeezed In an optometrist appointment and ordered new glasses. So two big things out of the way. We shopped for more odds and ends for Lucky and JP inventoried his fishing equipment for April’s trip back to Alamo Lake next month. It felt good to knock some chores off our list.

Sunday March 11th, 2018
Pat and Peter took us to the Street Fair COD (College of the Desert) where they have a street fair with everything from art to produce.

We picked up a few things on our shopping list and then headed out to a huge consignment store called Victoria’s Attic. OH MY! So much cool gently used contemporary modern stuff I was beside myself!

Later we noodled in the pool and warmed up in the hot tub.
We finished the day at Peter and Pat’s with Happy Hour and a great dinner before we called it a day!

Saturday March 10th, 2018  

Patsy and Peter came out our way today, our destination was the Cabot’s Pueblo Museum. It was fascinating! The tour was an hour long and the story of this man’s life is phenomenal.  His full name is Cabot Yerxa and its worth the time to look him up online. A guide takes your little group on the hour long tour and covers Cabot’s life and accomplishments while you move from space to space. There’s an authentic gift gallery and the grounds around the museum are lovely. 

(http://dezert.us/cabots-pueblo/)

Cabot was an adventurer, an artist, and a humanitarian according to the brochure. He was also a “community visionary, leader, a man of tolerance, kindness and a lover of people and the desert.” He was THE MAN when it came to recycling and repurposing, which is how he built his 35 room, 5,000 sq ft pueblo. 

And  . . . Cabot discovered the mineral hot springs of Desert Hot Springs. The springs feed the 3 hot tubs in our KOA park. Each with their own temperature. 104, 99, and 98 degrees.

If cats have nine lives,  this man had at dozens of lives and though they weren’t simple or by any means easy –  it seems he lived them all to the max! What he accomplished during his extraordinary life (1883 – 1965) is so impressive!

At one point he decided that art was calling to him so he attended the Students Art League in LA (an incubator of modernist artists), and the Académie Julian in Paris. An interesting fork in the road for his life.

In an interim period after Cabot’s death the pueblo was inhabited by a hippie commune. I’m thinking the ROCK was probably created at that point. Someone had a good sense of humor!

Ancient Weather Rock
When Rock is wet it’s raining
When rock is white it’s snowing
When rock is hard to see it’s foggy
When rock is moving it’s windy or there’s an earthquake
Rock is NEVER WRONG

Viva Cabot Yerxa! A man I never knew about and will never forget!