Palm Desert

Mom generously let us use some of her timeshare points for a midwinter trip to Palm Desert.

We planned on escaping the cold, but in fact we escaped the mild! The weather there truly was perfect with highs around 80 degrees and little if any wind.

We definitely appreciated the deluxe digs too.
Huge terrace!
Outdoor shower.
Spent a lot of time here!
We rode our bikes quite a lot.

Too much boulevard biking, which was mostly tolerable as long as there was a bike lane or actually a bike lane/golf cart lane.
We eventually made our way out into the sticks.
And enjoyed big views on quiet roads.
Re-entry was a little weird with huge tracts of dead orange trees and strange stands of sickly palms and tamarisk.
After three hours of riding we needed nourishment, so we headed to the Shields Date Garden.
Got ourselves a couple of date shakes - just what we needed!We didn't stick around for the show however.
Funky old place. Was great for people watching too.
After two days of riding we took a hike in the hills above Palm Desert.
This Penstemon was blooming nicely.
I was struck (but not literally) by the huge variety of cacti.




And the Ocotillo was simply amazing.
After the hike we packed up and headed home.
Pleased as punch!