Day 5 - Los Angeles to Palm Springs

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This morning was cloudy, which ruined the morning sunbathing plan and we decided to set off early to Palm Springs. As it was Saturday I expected the freeways to be a bit quieter than usual but in the area around LA they were as busy as ever. The driving didn't improve either, I know some people think I'm an aggressive driver but believe me I've got nothing on some of these people.

As we got further from LA the roads got quieter and the countryside started to change from mainly flat green to mainly hilly brown desert. We only travelled about 100 miles between LA and Palm Springs but there is quite a difference in temperature between the places now that we're in the lower desert region and away from the coast. The temperatures in LA had been around 28 or 29 degrees for the last few days but we stepped out of the car in Palm Springs to be hit by a blast at 42 degrees, a 13 degree jump in 100 miles. We walked to the town centre for something to eat in the evening and were still sweating in temperatures in the high 30s on the walk back at 10.00pm.

The town itself is lovely and feels very safe and spacious after LA, with each road at the Western end of town 3 or 4 lanes wide and lined with palm trees. The planners obviously weren't short of space.

We're only here for a night but the hotel is lovely; it's bigger than the last one and has a lot more facilities including a better pool. It also has a large convention centre attached, where the USA Junior Gymnastics Championships are being held this weekend. There are hundreds of teen and pre-teen girls running about the place and it was quite strange at check-in to hear a group of 7 or 8 year olds discussing the merits of shaving and waxing! (feel my legs, they're sooo disgusting!). Sam, however, isn't complaining because he seems to be getting a lot of attention.

I finally did some proper sunbathing today. We were both in the pool about 15 minutes after checking-in and spent the afternoon by the poolside, although Sam isn't a happy sunbather; he grumbled about it and spent most of his time in the pool. At about 6.00pm we walked into town and had a classic American burger meal at a classic 50s diner (still keeping to the healthy options!) It was a real throwback; red plastic seats and waiters and waitresses in the 50s outfits. It was still very hot this evening and this is obviously the norm because a lot of the restaurants had mist sprays attached to their awnings to keep the customers cool. It was quite funny to watch people eating as everything was being covered in a fine mist, but nobody seemed to mind.

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