tales from the Drivers' seat

Before we left Desert Hot Springs we decided to take a look and see what it was like from the top of one of the surrounding mountains. Palm Springs Aerial Tramway took us to the top and what a view. The tram cars turn a full 360 degrees as you rise from the valley floor to 8,500' into the ice and snow. Glad we brought a coat, only wish it was a warmer coat.
At the top looking down the cables, you can see a little snow at the top.

We took our lunch with us and ended up spending about 4 hours at the top. Had to check out the gift shop but saw nothing that we had to have. That's one of the great things about traveling in an RV; you have to get rid of something before you can bring a new item in. So Jackie gets new shoes and Dick gets rid of an old pair. (ha ha) Strange how those thing work out.

This view was looking out over the Palm Springs area. .

Lots of smog but on a clear day you can see the mountains around Las Vegas; not this day. We took a 1.5 mile hike while up there and did slip and crashed on some of the ice on the trail. Met some folks from Italy who were visiting a son who now lives in the area. The mother is 75 and she was walking the trail; she did pretty well and we were impressed. The trail was at the top, but it was a switch-back hike down to the trail from the visitors center, and then back up! Not for the faint of heart.

. What can we say, here is Dick standing on another rock. Is there some sort of theme here?

We have had several chances of going out to dance but all the Indian Casinos that have music are just too smokey. We can make it through about two sets before we have to leave. Oh well, that gets us back home at a decent hour. But we did find a place to dance that wasn't smokey -- the Palm Desert Senior Center. Every other Thursday they have a big band perform from 2:00 to 4:00. They have a nice dance floor and for a change we aren't the only ones dancing. We went when we were in the area before, then just this Thursday. We met some really nice folks and had a great time!

We are now back at Desert Hot Springs after spending a week or so in the Ramona area of California, but more to follow on that trip.

To be continued...