Ma Vie en Violet: Palm Springs 2008

We had an awesome time in Palm Springs. Here's the breakdown.

Day One:

We arrived into town and went to our hotel, Hotel Zoso. At first, we had mixed feelings about our hotel. There is a valet charge of $18/per day for parking because they don't allow you to park your car yourself on the property. We got around that though by parking on the street near the back entrance of the hotel. The decor is sterile-trying-too-hard modern. It kind of looks like a cheesy Target commercial. However, the room was really clean and the bed was really comfortable. After settling in and resting, we walked around the downtown area. The location of our hotel was great. Most of the shops, restaurants, and museums were within walking distance.

View from our balcony.
The hills are very dramatic in person.

The sofa that we didn't use.

The bed was ultra comfy but the coverlet thing was itchy.

Day Two:

We woke up somewhat early and headed out to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It was a super fun experience. The tram fits about 80 passengers. As you go up the mountain, the floor of the tram rotates, allowing you to see the valley as well as the sides of the mountain. Each time the tram passes a tower holding the cable there's a slight dip. At the top of the mountain (8,000+ feet above sea level), the temperature was in the mid 60s (much cooler than the low 80s in the valley below) and we got to play in the snow. The snow was slushy since it was melting. I was super excited because I didn't wipe out at all even though I was just wearing tennis. It was a big accomplishment for a klutz like me. :)

My hubster sledding on his bum.

My favorite wintry shot.

View from top of snowy mountain overlooking burning hot valley.

Mount San Jacinto State Park

Day Three:

We went decided to go the Living Desert. The Living Desert is a botanical garden/zoo in Palm Desert, about 30 minutes away from Palm Springs. It was pretty hot out and the park is HUGE. Besides seeing a bunch of cacti gardens and critters, you could also go hiking in the neighboring national park that's a part of the park. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing the right shoes, so we couldn't go hiking. The animals were adorable. The zoo even has a super fancy smancy animal clinic where they perform annual wellness exams and other medical procedures on the animals. Near the entrance, there's an elaborate mini train set up too.

There was a yellow butterfly, but my hubster said I had to be the monarch.
He said I'm not pale enough to be yellow one. lol

This long horn was hidden away.
He looks a lot more intimidating in real life.

Hubster looking for safari animals.

We finally made it to the giraffes!
As you can tell by my hubster's expression, it was a very arduous walk to get there.

Mini wigwams in a mini village.

Teddy getting ready for a procedure.

Day Four:

With all the driving and walking about, we knew the town pretty well. We wanted to do some legit hiking, so we decided to go to the Indian Canyons, which include Palm Canyon, Murray Canyon, and Andreas Canyon. The reason why I really wanted to go to Palm Springs was to visit these amazing Palm Oases. Unfortunately, we got lost on our way to the canyons. We ended up all the way in another city before we realized that we were lost. Boo! After we retraced our steps and looked over the map again, we found our way.

Once we arrived at the canyons, we spent most of our time at Andreas Canyon because it was the first canyon we went to. Then, we went to Palm Canyon, the largest natural oasis of Fan Palms. We even got to check out a waterfall. We assumed that the water was from the snow that we saw on Monday. After hiking, we also went to the Palm Springs Art Museum. I loved the museum and will have a separate post for that since this is getting kind of long. With all that walking, we definitely had sore feet by the end of the evening.

My hubster with the crooky palm.

Isn't it pretty?

We heart Palm Springs. :)

See, even my hubster is impressed.

It was starting to get painfully hot in the oasis.

Sparkling waterfall hidden between the rocks.

Me in Andreas Canyon.

There were tons of flowers in bloom.

Yay for the tripod!
Now we can both be in the picture.

Reminds me of Red Rock Canyon, just a little less red.

Day Five:

We ate lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Tyler's, and picked up some souvenir gifts. As we headed home, my hubster kept his promise and stopped by the giant dinosaurs that we saw when we were going to Palm Springs. Inside the belly of the brontosaurus was a dinosaur gift shop. Of course, we had to take a peek. I love how he indulges my gooberness.