Home

Got back last night around 11:30 and were home by midnight. When we walked out of the airport it felt like winter--it was in the 60s. Today was nice, in the 70s, but Philip is already feeling short of breath after one day and had to start nebulizing again. As usual we stayed up way too late last night due to the time change, and this morning I was pretty groggy, although I got up about 8:30 in an attempt to reset my body clock before work on Monday. Two weeks made for a perfect vacation; we're going to try to do it again in February!

No Free Lunch, But a Great Free Dinner

The Marriott people have been asking us to tour the other facility, Shadow Ridge. We stayed at Shadow Ridge last December and it is a beautiful resort. We didn't really have a need to take another tour, but they enticed us with a $100 cash voucher, good at any of the restaurants at the Desert Springs Hotel. We figured we'd have a nice dinner on our last night. We sat with a sales agent at Shadow Ridge, and finally extricated ourselves after about an hour. We have absolutely no need for a second time share, and we don't want to sell the one we have. So we promised her we'd think about it, and went to spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool.


We had a marvelous dinner at Tuscany, an extremely high priced restaurant at Desert Springs. Impeccable service, fantastic food, and prices that would have made me choke had the whole thing not been free. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the bill came to $94.00, and we don't have to pay a dime of it.

Let's (Not) Talk About the Weather

Spending two weeks in perfect weather has made me think about how we let the weather dominate our lives on the east coast. Living in an area where the weather is extremely volatile all year long means that everyone feels the need to talk about it. Constantly. I find it more than tedious to hear everyone talking about the weather, all the time, whether they know what they're talking about or not. It will snow. It will rain. It will be cold. It will be hot. Let's move on, and live with it. If a severe storm is going to affect how or if I can get to a destination, then it matters to me that I get an accurate weather report. Other than that all I need to know is how to dress. There must be some other topic we can use for small talk!


Here in the desert you wake up to sunshine every day. Period. In the winter it's a little cooler and there may be some rain (about 5 days out of the year). No need to talk about it, the weather is pretty much always glorious. I have noticed, however, that the summer heat (every day is somewhere around 100 degrees, give or take) is the local residents' version of our winter: they talk about it (a little bit) and take measures to be comfortable and drink enough water. Many stores provide water and many of them provide fresh bowls of water for dogs. Beyond that, it's no big deal.


I do think, though, that the weather has a real effect on one's mood and outlook. Sunshine is relaxing and makes you feel good. It's obvious that our long, dark, cold winters take a toll on us; since we left home two weeks ago it hasn't stopped raining in Boston and even though it's the middle of June, temperatures are still in the 60s. No wonder we're cranky. There's something very energizing and uplifting about having an early morning cup of coffee on the patio all year round.

Last Day

Our last day! Vacations are wonderful, but ending them is hard. It will be good to go home, though--we both miss Bob. And I guess work beckons. As I write this it's only 7:30am, and the ducks are looking at me through the screen door, quacking at me to come outside. The front page of today's paper says it may hit 110 degrees today, so I'm not sure how we'll spend the day.


Some observations about California vs Massachusetts:


- Traffic and driving
People here do not cut off other drivers. Everyone adheres to the rules of the road (in Massachusetts most people are unaware that there are rules of the road). We have yet to be tailgated; drivers do not do that here. Directional signals are used for both turns and lane changes, and when a lane is marked "right turn only," no one tries to cut off other drivers by going straight instead of turning. In two weeks we have not seen a single incident of aggressive or rude driving. Nobody honks--I don't think we heard a single car horn the whole two weeks. Everyone knows how to negotiate a four-way stop and knows who has the right of way when one car is turning left. Drivers do not pass on the right when the car ahead is trying to turn left. The culture here is courteous. On both highways and city streets merging is seamless, and people let other drivers merge or change lanes without trying to prevent them from doing so or cutting them off. Another interesting thing is that we haven't seen a single car accident since we got here; we see several a week at home. Accidents here are unusual enough that they're published in the paper when they do occur (I read the Desert Sun at home, and I can recall a very few accidents reported). We've been spending a lot of time in the car (this is California, after all, and not an urban area where walking is an option) and we don't have to be on the lookout every minute for someone to do something rude, aggressive or stupid. It just doesn't happen.


- Respect for surroundings
There is no litter here. People do not spit on the street. There are no old plastic bags, bottles, papers, etc. along the sides of highways or major streets. Even during Village Fest in Palm Springs the streets are kept clean because people here seem to want to keep their communities looking nice. I have not seen anyone throw anything on the street, not even a cigarette. When a street needs repair it's done immediately and quickly; the job isn't dragged out for a year or more. Granted, we're in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells and Palm Springs. California is a big place and every place is different. But here in the desert, at least, people care about where they live. You just don't see that in Massachusetts, not even in the wealthiest suburbs.


- People
People here are friendly, courteous, and helpful. We walked into a drug store and were looking around trying to find the right aisle for the item we were looking for. A store employee spotted us, walked up to us and asked if she could help us find something. Enough said. That has never happened to me in Massachusetts in the 30 years I've been living there.

Palm Springs Art Museum

The Palm Springs Art Museum is a wonderful place. The building itself is an architecturally important building designed by E. Stewart Williams. They have an outstanding permanent collection that includes photography, modern sculpture, pre-Columbian art, and art from the US West. Because there are some very deep pockets in the Palm Springs area the museum is well endowed and has a large number of active donors. The Sinatras, the Hopes, George Montgomery and others have made major contributions which enable the museum to mount some impressive shows. Last year we saw a major Roy Lichtenstein show, and today we saw the recently opened Russel Wright exhibit. And their museum store is one of our favorites, too.


Tomorrow is our last full day. Hard to believe we have to go back to our regular lives on Friday. Well, with luck we can look forward to coming back in the winter.

El Paseo

El Paseo is compared to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. It's a beautiful street with a wide grassy island in the middle filled with stunning original sculpture. Along each side are wonderful art galleries and high end shops. It's always fun to walk the length of each side of the street; we have a few favorite shops and galleries we like to visit. Today was hot, as it has been every day: probably hovering around 100 degrees. We ducked into air conditioning whenever possible, but all in all we weren't uncomfortable. In fact, one thing we need to be more mindful of is that we don't drink enough during our days outdoors, because we don't feel the heat and we don't sweat. During our almost 2 mile walk down El Paseo we remarked that Dr. Zorn either wouldn't believe or would be horrified that Philip did all this walking while we've been here.


We've spent some time during this visit discovering neighborhoods we've never seen before and exploring the area. There are so many places off the beaten path that locals know about but tourists generally don't see. We've gotten lots of tips from people we talk to; each time we come back we try to find places we're unfamiliar with.


Watching Philip play blackjack piqued my interest. At home I've been playing a little poker, trying to learn the game. But blackjack is easier and requires a little bit less skill and less memorization of the different hands. Philip and I played some blackjack when we got home, and I think I'm ready for the $2 table. Maybe I'll try my luck, if we have time.

Back to the Trough

When Philip gets hungry at lunchtime, it's always nice if there is a casino in the vicinity (there are four in this area). Cheap, all you can eat buffets are right up his alley. An added bonus is that we don't have to worry about dinner. While we were there he played a little bit and accumulated some more pocket cash.


As I said in an earlier post, we are not really casino people. It would never occur to us to seek one out (food notwithstanding) and neither one of us is a gambler. As for the clientele, Emma Lazarus would feel right at home here. But it's an interesting segment of society, and I guess a lot of people enjoy it. If Philip can play blackjack for a little while and win some money, who am I to argue? I still hope Massachusetts doesn't succumb to the casino temptation.

Architecture Tour

Today we had a real treat. PS Modern Tours offers a 3-1/2 tour of some of the most important Modernist mid-century architecture in and around Palm Springs. Palm Springs is regarded as the epicenter of the movement, and has been the launching place for some of the most important architects in the world. The tour is a one-man operation, and Bob Imber is an expert on Palm Springs history and architecture and design. He took four of us on the tour today, and it was fascinating and entertaining. He's a wealth of information, and we saw parts of the city we had never seen before, despite lots of time driving around over the past few years. We saw some amazing buildings, both residential and commercial, and learned about their history, who the architects were, how they were built, who lived (or is living) in them, and much more. Bob knew several of the architects personally and knows many of the people who have bought and lived in the homes over the years. He explained the design of each one, how to spot certain design details, and why the buildings are important. Many of them would not be noteworthy to most people; unless you know, or care, what you're looking at you might drive right by some of these buildings. Many of them are in unprepossessing neighborhoods and some are in neighborhoods that were actually considered run down and are only now being recognized for the wealth of wonderful homes they contain. We also learned about how preservation of important architecture in Palm Springs is, surprisingly, an often uphill battle. Because of politics and special interests, many owners of architecturally important buildings actually fight being designated a Class 1 Historic Site. This was a fabulous experience, and now we know about a lot of hidden neighborhoods in the city.

Summer Baseball

It was a perfect night for baseball. Warm, with a breeze coming off the mountains, and plenty of misters throughout the stadium. The Palm Springs Power were playing the Arizona Diamond Jacks. We were right behind home plate. The Power played well--in fact, when we left at the sixth inning (I know, we should have stayed for the whole game) the Power were ahead 20 to 3. We figured there wasn't much chance they were going to blow it at that point.


Today we looked at more homes, this time in Desert Hot Springs, which is just a few miles outside of Palm Springs. It's a quicky growing town, and prices there are much cheaper than in Palm Springs, Palm Desert or even Cathedral City. It's really amazing what less than $300K can buy: 2-3 bedrooms, dining room, huge kitchen, large back yard, 2-car garage, and lots of amenities. We saw some beautiful homes with as much as 1600-1800 square feet. Of course, now is the time to buy in some of these places but we can't do it financially at the moment. But we'll at least have a lot of information when the time comes. So far it seems that Sun City offers the best deal for the money. It's fun going through the model homes, but after a while we get confused about where we saw which home!


Boston connection #4: the woman who showed us a couple of homes in Desert Hot Springs has a sister who lives in Westfield MA.

Indian Canyons

Indian Canyons is comprised of four canyons, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The canyons were settled by the Agua Calliente Cahuilla Indians centuries ago; they developed complex communities based largely on agriculture. The canyons cover 32,000 acres spread out over the desert and are home to many endangered species of plants and animals. There are miles of hiking trails, some fairly rigorous. Palm Canyon, where we normally stop first, is the world's largest California Palm oasis. Andreas Canyon is also lush with absolutely clear water rushing over rocks and miles of palms. Seen from a distance it truly stands as an oasis in the middle of the desert. There are remains of Cahuilla society still evident in the canyons: rock art, housepits, foundations, trails, irrigation ditches and food preparation areas. It is peaceful and beautiful--you can hear all sorts of birds and the sound of the water carries quite a distance. At Palm Canyon there are hummingbirds everywhere. A couple of them even flew right up to me and circled my head.

18 Holes

At the Desert Springs Hotel there is an 18-hole putting course which is a scaled down replica of an actual golf course. It has all the hazards, the tricky layout, etc. of a real golf course, except it's played with a putter. We've played there before and we went back yesterday. Although golf is obviously not my sport, I respect those who can play it; it's a lot harder than it looks, even with a putter! It takes about 1-1/2 hours to finish the putting course (with time out to let the ducks cross the green) and although I was ahead for a little while we ended up with identical scores. For those of you who really want to know: a perfect par game is 54 and we both scored 70. Pictures are here: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOGrRk0cs2Ge
Every Thursday night is the Village Fest in downtown Palm Springs. Every week, all year, the streets downtown are closed and there are booths with everything from crafts to food to a farmer's market. There is live music and many of the downtown stores stay open late. We go whenever we're here and it really is a lot of fun. Philip especially likes the grilled bratwurst at Flaherty's booth. Village Fest was the brainchild of Sonny Bono when he was mayor of Palm Springs. The city went through a period of slow economic growth and general doldrums and he thought this would be a benefit to the community and to business. It has grown tremendously and there is always a big crowd; everybody loves it. Typically, even with thousands of people walking the streets, eating, etc. there was hardly a piece of litter on the streets.

Living Desert

The Living Desert zoo and gardens is one of our favorite places. It has animals and plants from the world's desert environments. We actually joined as members last year, because we like it so much. Last night there were very strong winds--upwards of 50mph--so it was cooler today and a perfect day to go. There was still a breeze, so even at 85 degrees we felt cool. The winds last night toppled a huge Palo Verde tree at the Living Desert. The tree was over 50 years old and had been a beautiful shade tree. Unfortunately it had to be chopped up.

Pictures are at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOGrRk0cs2GP

At the moment there are about 10 ducks with their bills up against screen on our sliding doors (it's nice out so we've opened up and turned off the AC). They're just standing around quacking, watching us. I went out onto the patio and explained to them that the rules prevent me from feeding them, but they're content to just hang around and talk.

House Looking

House looking is different from house hunting. House looking is for fun and fantasy. After a grueling day at the premium outlets we took a swing through a new gated community (around here, almost every neighborhood is a gated community) at the edge of Palm Springs. There were several models open, and they let us wander on our own with no sales pitch. The houses were really lovely, each one a slightly different floor plan and size. The Homeowners Association fee is only $71 per month. It's fun to look around at different places, but then reality hits me like a slap in the face with a wet towel: I need my job! And there are no jobs here! Oh well. Some day, maybe.

A Profitable Day

There are two large Del Webb over-55 communities in this area. One is Sun City Palm Desert, whch is about 15 years old and the other is Sun City Shadow Hills, which is about 2-1/2 years old with more homes still being built. We drove through the Palm Desert location yesterday and were impressed with the grounds, the quality of the homes, etc. We didn't stop in at the office, because there are no homes for sale at present except for a few resale homes which are represented by independent realtors. The Shadow Hills community is quite close, so we decided to take a look. Del Webb pioneered the idea of over-55 communities when they built the nation's first such development in 1961. They are now the country's largest homebuilder. We met a very nice man (our third Boston connection: he used to live in Framingham) who showed us around the different models. These homes are really gorgeous, reasonably priced, and have amenities that would cost a fortune on the east coast. The construction is solid, the materials are top quality, and the surroundings are beautiful. At such time that I no longer have to work (will that day ever come?) it is something we would definitely think about. Of course, as long as Mom is living it is not an option. She would absolutely hate it here, and we would never ask her to move. But it's something we like to keep in mind for "someday."

Out of curiosity more than anything else we visited the two new casinos just outside of Palm Desert. I really don't like casinos, and I think gambling is just about the most boring activity I can think of, but it's sort of like a car accident: it's fascinating to watch. Philip spent some time playing blackjack (he is very good at it) and won about $100 at a $5 table. He said he finally had to quit because he was getting tired! I won a whopping $5 at the penny slot machines. Talk about a no-brain activity! But it was kind of fun in its own way.

The ducks who live on the golf course just outside our villa now come up to the glass doors in the morning and watch us, I guess hoping we'll either come out or let them in. They are so funny. When they wake up in the early morning we can hear them quacking outside.

Our cell phone has been found. It was in the limo, wedged into the back seat. They're going to FedEx it to us so we won't have to go through the hassle of getting another phone.

The Worst Private Eye Movie Ever Made

The final film of the Film Noir Festival was 1947's "Blackmail," starring William Marshall. This is the only print in existence; the film is quite rare and almost never shown. Probably with good reason: it is so bad as to be hilarious. Bad dialog, cheesy fight scenes, bad acting, the movie has it all. It was a lot of fun.

Also yesterday Philip satisfied his In-n-Out burger craving. They only exist in a few western states, and for burger mavens I guess they're the best. They certainly smell good!

General Patton and Carroll Baker

Every time we come here, one thing is certain: we will always make contact with at least one person who has a Boston or Boston area connection. Our first occurred at the rental car office: the guy who rented the car to us was from Andover. On Saturday we went to the gigantic street fair held every Saturday and Sunday at the College of the Desert. It's kind of an outdoor flea market, but most of the stuff for sale is good, not yard sale type items. Many of the people who sell there have stores, as well. We go whenever we're here. There was a new booth this time, one that had hundreds of different kinds of hot sauces, salsas, etc. All the kinds you can find at places like Williams Sonoma, but much more variety. We got to chatting with the owner, and it turns out he's from Boston and his son lives in Andover. That's two people in two days--I'm guessing there will be more.

The General Patton Memorial Museum is in Chiriaco Summit, about an hour's drive through completely undeveloped desert. After a few miles we began a steep, but gradual, ascent. Signs advised us to turn off our air conditioning to avoid overheating; there were a lot of big trucks on the road, and they frequently had to pull off to use the many large barrels of radiator water that the state provides along the side of the road. This desolate (but beautiful) territory makes you appreciate what the early settlers went through.

The museum is quite interesting. Patton's connection to this area was that he located, established and commanded the Desert Training Center in 1942. The Americans would soon be fighting in North Africa and needed to be ready. The Mojave Desert is bleak, inhospitable and remote, with temperatures that range from below freezing to 120 degrees. The Desert Training Center (later called the California-Arizona Maneuver Area) was 350 miles wide, 250 miles deep and consisted of Patton's headquarters at Camp Young (where the museum is located) and 10 other camps. The camps trained over 1 milliion American service men and women before it was closed in 1944. The museum had some very interesting exhibits of items from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, including a collection of old tanks on display outside.

The big event of the evening was the Palm Springs Film Noir Festival, which began on Thursday and ends on Sunday. We had picked one film we wanted to see, so we had some time to kill before the movie started (we had swung by the theater and purchased our tickets earlier). We went into downtown Palm Springs and decided to check out a gallery we like and where we've bought several items. When we were here last December we were disappointed to walk in and find that the business had been sold to new owners. They were very nice, and the things they carried were good, but it was not the same collection of artists, etc that were there before. This time we walked in and the old owners were back--turned out the people who bought the business were essentially scam artists and had cost the old owners a lot of money. So they took over the business again and are trying to recoup their losses. The former inventory is back in the store, and we had a great time talking with them for a while until it was time to go to the movie. Another (sort of) Boston connection: they had just come back from a two week trip to Boston, so we talked a lot about that.

The film festival draws a big crowd, and the theater was filled. We were there to see "Something Wild," a very obscure film (not available on video or DVD) which is rarely shown anywhere. Foster Hirsch, a Professor of Film at Brooklyn College, gave a very interesting introduction before the film started, explaining the background of the film, why it's hard to classify (some people would argue that it's not completely a noir film, but I think it is), what we were about to see, etc. He knows Carroll Baker and Jack Garfein, the director, very well (Baker and Garfein were married when the movie was made) so his talk was really great. The movie was amazing. I wish more people could see it. Very dark and, and Foster Hirsch said, "challenging." Not an easy film to watch, but so superbly acted I wondered how I would be able to watch lesser movies again. After the movie Carroll Baker and Foster Hirsch had a wonderful interview onstage and took questions from the audience. She looks fantastic. She's about 76 years old and just gorgeous. Very funny and personable. I tried taking some pictures, but we were a little too far back and I don't know how good they'll be.

Palm Springs Summer

It's 7am, and although we were up at 4am yesterday and didn't get to sleep until 11pm, I'm awake and watchng the ducks conducting their daily business on the golf course next to our patio. I guess that qualifies as jet lag, but by tonight my inner clock should be back to something like normal. Or maybe not: with all this relaxation and easy living maybe I won't crash and fall asleep at 9 or 10pm like I do at home!

The trip was really pretty smooth. With all the traveling we do, we have remarkably good travel karma. We've never had a serious problem (canceled flight, lost luggage, serious delays, etc) although I may have just jinxed that by saying so. United is a seriously horrible airline, although I really had no choice: they own the Boston-LA route, and the other connection choices were just no good. The planes they fly on this route are too small (757 with a 3-aisle-3 configuration and too cramped (I'm 5'1", for heaven's sake and I felt squished!). But I always get us each aisle seats across from each other, so it wasn't terrible and I slept a bit anyway. I sat next to an older couple from what sounded like Russia or someplace. They were driving the flight attendants (and me) crazy the entire time; she kept changing her mind about what she wanted to drink, asking for something every five minutes, etc. They also talked really loud all the time. And then there was the exciting adventure when both of them wanted to get out to go to the bathroom. All I could think about was the Marx Brothers stuffing everybody into that tiny little stateroom on the ship--in reverse. When we got to LA I knew we'd have a long walk to our next gate. Even though we were staying on United, the bigger planes arrive at one end and the smaller planes depart from another. There wasn't a single shuttle cart to be found, so we started walking. We got to the gate without running into anybody driving one of those carts. Philip was out of breath, but wanted to just keep going. The planes they fly from LA to Palm Springs are really almost commuter jets (other airlines fly the bigger planes into Palm Springs, but United uses United Express). One row of single seats down one side, and one row of double seats down the other. No real room in the overhead bins, so if you have anything bigger than a small duffle or something like that you just give your stuff to the guy at the bottom of the stairs (you have to walk up a little staircase that attaches to the plane door, just like when we were kids!) and they hand it back to you when you get off the plane in Palm Springs. It's only a 30 minute flight.

Before we left Boston, we realized we accidentally left our cell phone on the back seat of the limo that took us to the airport. Oy. We called the limo company, and they are going to FedEx it to us and we should have it today or Monday. Oh well, not the worst thing. I like to have it because it's the most reliable way for my mother to reach us when we're away, but she assured me last night that she wouldn't need us. She said she promised not to telll us if she broke another bone--I told her not to do that, to stop breaking bones.

When we arrive in Palm Springs it's always an ahhh feeling. You get off the plane, walk across the tarmac to the airport, and the air is warm and there are flowers everywhere. Nice. The airport here is small and efficient and easy to deal with. We changed our rental car company this time, and it proved to be a good choice. Enterprise takes a different approach than the others. They have their facility a short distance (maybe a block or two) away instead of at the airport. When we checked in at the airport desk the guy was friendly, quick, and told us to just step outside and he'd call their shuttle to pick us up. In about one minute the shuttle pulled up and the driver handled our luggage. When we got to the rental facillity the agent greeted us at the shuttle, took us out to the lot and showed us the car (and also said if we wanted an upgrade we could choose one). He was dressed in a suit and tie (although he had his jacket off) and was professional and friendly (and, it turns out, he's from Andover MA!). I think Enterprise aims toward a business clientele and just does things differently. Certainly they train their people better, and it shows. And their rates are very competitive. I think I'm going to change my reservation for Omaha in July.

So off we went. No muss, no fuss. We got a tiny car (Kia Spectra) because gas prices here are sky high (around $3.50). But the car is brand new, has all the requisite bells and whistles and is comfortable. Beyond that, who cares?

Small snafu when we checked in. We were a bit early, because check in time is 4:00 and we got there around 3. No problem, we said we'd go get something to eat and come back. At 4 we came back and the villa still wasn't ready. I was not happy, but we said we'd do our grocery shopping now, come back, and then we wouldn't have to go out again. When we got back at around 5:20 it still wasn't ready and I began to have a meltdown. Finally they got in touch with housekeeping and were told they were just finishing up and we could come put our stuff away, etc. The staff couldn't have been nicer, but at that point I was tired and aggravated--not a good combination for me. Turns out the previous people in our villa had really done a number on the place, and housekeeping wanted to make sure everything was perfect. From the looks of all the garbage bags out front filled with beer cans and cardboard beer cases, I'd say someone had a hell of a bash in this place. Anyway, the place is gorgeous and bigger than our condo at home. The bed is heavenly and the pillows and comforter are those really cushy ones (which are available to guests for a 10% discount!). And I love that they give us SIX pillows on the bed!!!

By the time we got settled, fired up the laptop, took showers, nebulized (Philip, not me), it was almost 8pm. We watched WWF Smackdown, Law & Order, and finally crashed.

I'll try to post every day, or close to it. Tonight: Palm Springs Film Noir Festival.