Day 13 – Transitions

A new friend

We’re still recovering from our itises so we’re continuing to take it slow.  We’re both feeling much better, but not quite top of form yet.  We spent the morning packing and then geocaching north of I-10.

Cutoffs are different from
back home.  Here, they remove
the entire house!

The railroad that changed the valley’s, and the Indian’s, fate in the late 1800s is still here and alongside it is I-10.  The two almost perfectly bisect the valley on a diagonal running from Southeast to Northwest.  South of the Interstate are beautiful cities with luxurious resorts, incredible homes, malls, medical centers and 133 golf courses.  North of the interstate are gas stations clinging to the exits, a few towns consisting primarily of trailers (with doors facing east) and numerous failed businesses.  Granted, there are a few exceptions, but not many.  Why this dichotomy?  The clue is in the fact that the doors primarily face east.  That’s because the winds coming through the Gorgonio Pass are channeled through this area and the constant winds tend to fill every crack and crevasse with sand…and more sand….and more sand.  On this side of I-10, they have to continually plow the roads…for sand.

The desert out here is different…primarily flats, with but drifts scattered here and there.  Walking on the flats is interesting because they are “crusty” and perforated with holes about an inch in diameter.  Your foot often goes through the crust, sinking about three of four inches, and you wonder what’s in that burrow that you just broke through!

About noon, we received a phone call from Monte and Aleta.  They were in Indio and getting close.  We headed for the Shadow Ridge Marriott and they pulled up behind us as we were turning into the resort.  After greetings and hugs we piled into Red and headed for Blue Coyote for our “Welcome to Palm Springs” tradition.

Afterwards, we checked into Shadow Ridge and unloaded the cars.  Then back into Red to check out of the Mission Hills Westin, then on to Ralphs to stock up on provisions for the rest of our desert stay.  (Whew, got pretty busy there for a bit!)

We bought a deli tray at Ralphs and ended our day munching on crackers, cheese and deli meats, drinking Chardonnay, and sharing travel stories. Life can be tough out here in the desert, but somehow we manage to get by.