Up to this point, most of our travels have been in the Chihuahuan
Desert, the high deserts of New Mexico and eastern Arizona. Now, we’re in the Sonoran Desert which is the
low desert and which receives more moisture than the Chihuahuan, thus it can
support more and larger plants, like the saguaro.
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| Mona and friend |
Saguaros dominate the desert landscape throughout central
and western Arizona. They can grow as
tall as 45 feet and come in an incredible variety of shapes and sizes. It’s certainly not hard to pick out which
cactus is the saguaro…it’s the tallest one out there! Saguaros typically have arms…did you know it
takes about 75 years for the saguaro to develop its first arm? These plants commonly have a life span of over 150
years.
Saguaros are a big deal around here. It’s illegal to deface or kill one. And, you must have a special permit to move
one…even if it’s in the way of your new home!
We love driving in this area. The desert is beautiful and dotted with the saguaros
and yellow sage is blooming along the highway.
As we near Phoenix, we came through a little pass and suddenly, there is
a beautiful city, surrounded by rugged peaks.
It’s breathtaking! The view only
lasts a moment, so no photo. If you
want to see this view you’ll have to drive there yourself!
Outside of Phoenix, we begin to head due west. We’re in the homestretch for Palm
Springs. We’re seemingly surrounded by
craggy peaks of every shade of red, brown and green. It seems everywhere we look it’s another
Remington painting and you almost expect to see a stage burst out from behind a
pass with Indians barreling down upon it!
We cross the Colorado River and the border into California…the
Promised Land! We’re still in the
Sonoran Desert, but the saguaros are gone.
What the heck?!!? Who took the saguaros???? We’re still trying to figure that out!
Saguaros or not, we’re loving the scenery. Just wish a picture could capture it, but of
course, no picture does it justice. That’s
why we have artists like Sheryl to paint it for us!
Loving the scenery and truly enjoying the ride. The phone rings, and like a fool I (Marvin of
course) answer it. Its Charter Cable
service and they say we owe them money? Huh? What?
We disconnected from them two months ago and in fact they owe us
money! “Sir,” the agents says, “May I
have your Charter pin number?” I take a
few guesses, but I’ve apparently forgotten it.
“Sir, then I’ll need the account number from the upper left side of your
bill.” Me, “I don’t have my bill, I’m in
a car in the mountains enjoying a vacation which you are disrupting!” Charter, “I’m sorry sir, we can’t complete
this transaction without the number.” Me,
“Hey there, are you listening?!?! I’m in
a car…and YOU called ME! …isn’t that ID
enough?”
Finally, the agent got together with his supervisor and they
decided that they could do this without further identification (geeze, thanks)
and we didn’t owe them anything. That’s
15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back!
Okay…back to vacation!
We’re going down this steep incline and suddenly we see patches of
emerald green, bordered by huge peaks.
At last, Coachella Valley! Our
home away from home! We’ve been coming
here for 14 years, but have never driven here and this is the first time we’ve seen
this beautiful sight! We’re in awe!!!
We are at the eastern end of the valley and we want to be at
the western end…those who know us, know that it’s a must to go first to the
Blue Coyote when arriving here. Look out
Palm Springs! As we approach our turnoff
from I-10 we are in the midst of one of the world’s largest wind turbine
farms. There are about 5000 windmills in
this area, scattered throughout the San Gorgonio Pass. This pass is
between two high mountain ranges, the San Jacinto Mountains and the San Bernardino
Mountains, and it funnels the coastal air into the Coachella Valley. Because of this funneling effect, it’s one of
the consistently windiest places in the US….perfect for wind farms! But, no time to stop and ogle, Blue Coyote is
howling our names!
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| Blue Coyote Where you can hear the call of the wild! |
Palm Springs is
packed with a car show and an art show….had to park blocks away, but walking in
Palm Springs is fun anyway. Lots of
people, Art and spectacles. Reach Blue
Coyote and practically shout out as we walk in the door, “Dos margaritas, Por
Favor!” The waiter knows us and rushes
to comply. Finally, finally, finally we
sip that nectar from the Aztec gods….Ummm…Ah…Ohhhh……Palm Springs at last!
The drinks start
to surround us with a pleasant fog…but wait!
It’s Mona birthday!!! We’ve got
birthday stuff to do! Off we go to Palm
Desert and to check into our villa at the Westin Mission Hills. It’s right on the golf course, so
entertainment will be free and it’s very close to the Agua Caliente Casino
where we’re seeing Melissa Manchester tonight.
And, where later in the week, we’ll be paying our share of the reparations
to the Agua Caliente tribe of the Cahuilla Indians.
Now, back across
the valley to the Aqua Caliente and The Show (that’s the name of the theater
inside the casino.) We’re here to see Melissa Manchester…a pop star from the
eighties who took time off to raise her children and who is now back on the
road. She’s a great singer/songwriter,
but more than that, she’s warm, she’s funny and personable. We’re in the third row and it’s like we had a
conversation with her. What a great way
to end the birthday evening!
But wait, the
evening isn’t over? You’d like a glass
of wine on the balcony?!? Oh..okay! Time to find some wine. Took us several stops with no luck. We finally end up at Ralphs (our favorite
desert grocery store) and they generously allow us to purchase a bottle of
chilled white.
We finish the
birthday with a glass of wine on the balcony watching the stars and listening
to the wind in the palm trees. Yes, this
is a happy birthday!
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