my jaunt to the desert
Current conundrum = how many pictures of palm trees is too many? What if they all are of different palm trees... but that palm trees all look the same? Does it help that one of them is at night with the moon in the back? I think so.
Regardless, I'm not going to stop taking them except for when I get on a plane to go back to Boston tomorrow. Then, I'll stop taking pictures of palm trees and instead start snapping shots from Row 28 of America. God Bless America - even all those states in the middle.
I got to LA on Saturday mid-morning and practically raced to the desert. That was my plan and I achieved it ... the thing is, the desert was empty and I didn't need to race a soul. I spent about 3 hrs in Joshua Tree National Park ... and saw about a dozen cars. After that, I proceeded to kick it in the Palm Springs vicinity for the night before doing some Sunday adventuring.
Joshua Tree National Park
I don't want to tell you to not go here but I will tell you that it is literally just a lot of rocks. I love national parks as much, if not more, than the next person... but this was just rocks in different shapes. Big ones. Little ones. Sharp ones. Round ones. That being said, it was quite pretty at times. I got to see a coyote and get swarmed by angry bees more than once. If you ever go, bring the following: a tripod so you can take better pictures of yourself, a beekeeping suit and a satellite phone because there is not a spec of cell service for about 3 hours.
Don't miss Key's View if you ever go. The variety of plants is actually pretty neat but confusing why they are all bunched together and nowhere else in the park. It's like someone was doing crop planting. And if you expect something called "Jumbo Rocks" to be anything more than that ... lower the bar because it is literally just a lot of really big round rocks with people that are willing to camp near them for 2 weeks.
About an hour into the park, this paranoia came over me that my rental car could break down here and I'd have to pick between being death by bees or death by hot rental car. I had small flashbacks to running through the Louve with my sister just to see the Mona Lisa and then running out. I saw the Key's view and was ready to get the hell out of this park.
That being said, nature is pretty great. Except angry bees.
Palm Springs, etc.
I chose to stay a bit outside Palm Springs because I'm not trendy enough to hack it there. My hotel was pretty beautiful and nestled into the mountains (aka more rocks). The property had 50+ pools and gorgeous gardens for as long as you wanted to walk. I completely fell in-love with the lime trees and their white trunks. It didn't hurt that my room had a fireplace. For dinner, I ate guacamole and had a margarita that required two hands to hold. Happy vacation to me.
If I ever have to not live on the East Coast amongst all my coastal charms, I am going to wish for my house and backyard to look like this place. I want the trees filled with fruit and fountains with ceramic tiles. When my dad read this, he will probably tell me how hard it is to maintain a fountain but I don't care. There will also be palm trees and no lizards.
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