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Published: March 23rd 2009
Valley View
Each morning I walked out into the desert. The view from up here is beautifulI went from the beautiful Indian Waters RV Resort into the parking lot at the Fantasy Springs Casino. My friend BJ (Barbara Jean) arrived on time and we enjoyed a couple of hours walking around the casino grounds and then out to dinner. The casino is on Indian land and is run by the Cabazon Indian Tribe. The grounds are really beautiful. We registered at the casino for the freebees and got ourselves a new t-shirt and a $2 credit on one of the one-arm-bandits. The credit lasted less than 2 minutes so I was glad it wasn’t $2 out of my wallet!! On Saturday we went to the Date Festival which was just a typical small town festival, lots of street vendors etc. The main attraction of course are the dates, there are a lot of things you can do with a date that I had not expected; the date-shake being the most popular by the looks of the line-up.
On Monday I moved on to Desert Hot Springs. The resort here is called Desert Pools because it has its own hot springs. They have to cool the swimming pool down to 88⁰ to make it pleasant enough to swim.
Fantasy Springs Casino
The grounds are just beautiful. Hard to believe people are giving themselves a heart attack a few feet away The water comes out of the ground at around 114⁰F. There is a sauna as well as three soaking pools, one at 98⁰ one at 100⁰ and one at 108⁰F. I am not a big fan of saunas, hot tubs or soaking pools and prefer the swimming pool so have enjoyed participating in the water aerobics each morning.
Palm Springs is about 10 miles away so I have gone in to look around a couple of times and went up to the top of Mount San Jacinto on the aerial tramway. San Jacinto State Park is located at the top of the mountain and a lot of younger folk were carrying back packs and going up to hike the 54 miles of trails and stay in one of the campgrounds up there in the snow! It was about 85⁰ at the base of the tramway and about 55⁰ at the top which is almost 11000’ above sea level. A lot of people were up there with their little kids playing in the snow; nice when you think you are just an 8 minute trip away from more comfortable temperatures.
One of the “hot spots” in Palm Springs is the “Palm
Blossom
I think this is an amarylis, but am not sure. There are all kinds of blossoms like this in this area. The climate must be just perfect. Springs Follies” a performance that takes place in the resorted historic Plaza Theatre right on Palm Canyon Drive. The show stars a group of 16 vaudeville stars who are in REMARKABLE shape, the youngest being 59 years of age and the oldest 85. The three hour performance is action packed and very enjoyable. In the 1950s a lot of the Hollywood stars had residences in Palm Springs so there are photos of a lot of stars relaxing in the city. Lucy and Desi Arnaz, Hoagy Carmichael, Jack and Mary Benny, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Alan Ladd all came to the Plaza Theatre to enjoy some picture show or other. The movie “Camille” starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor was premiered in the Plaza Theatre. (For you golf fans, the Bob Hope Classic is held on the course on which is home backed up to in Palm Springs.)
I left the desert on Saturday, March 6th. My next stop was just east of Los Angeles. Bev had meetings at her corporate offices so she flew in to spend a couple of days with me. I was very happy to see her.
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shalena
non-member comment
hibiscus?
Just beautiful! I had no idea there were mountains like that in palm springs! The flower looks like it might be a hibiscus. They have woody stems that makes them hard to pluck. Not sure from the photo though. It sounds like you're having fun!!