23-27 February 2024. Palm Springs

Next destination was Palm Springs - site of 3 separate and wonderful reunions!

On Friday I headed west towards Palm Springs and stopped about a half hour short in Palm Desert. I got my daily mile in at a park that is probably the most beautiful public park I have ever seen-it had a pond, sport courts, amphitheater, YMCA .... so much! And after having been in the desert environment for several weeks it was so nice to see blooming bushes and flowers and lots of colors – I was getting pretty used to desert mauve.

First stop was to see Scarborough friends Traci and Scott Giles who have a timeshare in Palm Desert. Scott wasn't feeling great so Traci and I spent a couple hours hanging out at her beautiful pool and just catching up. Then I headed to Palm Springs to find my VRBO before picking up Scarborough friend Katy Jacques at the Palm Springs airport. Katy was coming out to play for a long weekend! No sooner had we gotten back to the VRBO that my daughter Kristen joined us – she lives in LA and took the 2+ hour drive east to Palm Springs to spend time with us. So fun to have so many of my favorite people all there!!!!

Friday night we walked into Palm Springs and had a nice dinner. Saturday end up being a mellow day because I was not feeling great .... walked around the downtown and then hung out at our pool/Jacuzzi. Then it was back into town for dinner. Kristen had to go to work Sunday morning and Katy and I got an early start and headed to Joshua Tree National Park (see a separate blog for that day)

Then on Monday Katy and I downloaded a self-guided car tour of Palm Springs. This area is famous for all the Hollywood stars who use it as a close-by escape .... especially back in the 1950s and 60s. There are famous celebrities who had homes here like Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and even current day celebs like the Kardashians and Barack Obama.

After the car tour we went downtown and wanted the streets and did some shopping and enjoyed some delicious French crêpes. That afternoon we connected with Traci and Scott Giles again. They knew of a speakeasy that they introduced us to – super dark and formal and fun – a great place for celebrities to hide back in the day! Then went to a nice dinner and enjoyed some more time together to catch up. Funny how we have to come all this way to all get together!

Had quite a few hummingbirds around our VRBO – funny how different places have different "nature" around - also love all the palm trees!