2016 - December

We spent Thanksgiving in Desert Hot Springs.  Spending a month at Desert View Mobile Home Club and RV Park.  They had the best pool and hot tubs we have run across.  Heated by Hot Mineral Water that comes out at 140 degrees and is cooled down to 90 for the pool and 100 and 104 for the hot tubs.  We will sure miss these daily dunks of wetness.

The second week we were there we took a 7 day cruise on the Ruby Princess to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas out of Los Angeles.  It was a very relaxing cruise, we walked the oceanfront boardwalks and enjoyed cervezas, margaritas and chips/salsa along the waterfronts.

Back in Desert Hot Springs we drove to Joshua Tree National Park for the day.  We hiked a few trails, saw lots of Joshua Trees, amazing rock formations and a whole garden of Chollua Cactus.  The wild Chollua Cactus Garden was an amazing site.

We had our first In-N-Out Burger in the area if Indigo, Ca, it was pretty good for a burger and fries.  It is amazing how small the menu is for such a large chain fast food place.

We took a great hike in the Coachella Valley Preserve right on the San Andreas Fault.  Awesome Palm Trees and a water oasis in the middle of the desert was a welcome but unique surprise.

We took a road trip by driving the whole Coachella Valley from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea.  From Palm Springs to Indio was a very green, lush area with lots of Country Club Resorts. 

 The Salton Sea is the largest fresh water lake in California once connected to the ocean but now silt has divorced it from the sea and it is slowly evaporating and becoming more salty. Salt percent is between the oceans and the dead sea which has unfortunately reduced the fish species there. The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial and Coachella Valleys. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside Counties in Southern California. Its surface is 234.0 ft below sea level. The deepest point of the sea is 5 ft higher than the lowest point of Death Valley. The sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo Rivers, as well as agricultural runoff, drainage systems, and creeks. 

 We also visited Salvation Mountain and Slab City while in the area.  Salvation Mountain is one man’s journey to build a monument to his faith, an amazing place to see.  Worth a google if you are not familiar with it.

 Slab City is largely a snowbird community used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It took its name from concrete slabs that remained from the abandoned World War II Marine Corps  barracks of Camp Dunlap.  The site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled, and there is no charge for parking. The site has no official electricity, running water, sewers, toilets or trash pickup service. Many residents use generators or solar panels to generate electricity.  It is a very sad place to see, where old RV’s go to live out the rest of their life.

Our next adventure was up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.  The tramway has the world’s largest rotating tram car and travels over two-and-one-half miles along the steep cliffs of Chino Canyon, transporting riders to the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. During your approximately ten-minute journey, tram cars rotate slowly (2 rotations per direction), offering picturesque and spectacular vistas of the valley floor below. The Mountain Station is at 8,516 feet.  There are two restaurants, observation decks, natural history museum, two documentary theaters, gift shop and over 50 miles of hiking trails.  We did the Desert View Trail hiking through recent snow to many valley lookout vistas.  The first snow we have seen in 5 years.  The pine smell brought back a lot of Michigan memories.  After the hike we enjoyed a Hot Chocolate with Bailey’s and Kailua enjoying the views of the valley.

Our last tourist stop in the area was The Living Desert Zoo/Gardens.  They take in rescue animals of all kinds.  The desert gardens were very nice and filled a half day of exploring.

Our last few days in Desert Hot Springs were spent cleaning and getting ready to move with a few last wonderful dips in the pool.  We will miss that great pool, just saying!!

Our first sightseeing stop was Castle Dome Mine Museum with Peter and Denise, our Canadian friends.  The Castle Dome Mines Museum is located 30 miles north of Yuma in the ghost town of Castle Dome. Once a thriving industrial town bustling with more than 3,000 inhabitants, Castle Dome is now a deserted town-turned-museum filled with rich Arizona history.  Restored buildings house authentic relics from the town's past including old mining equipment, furniture and newspaper clippings.  We enjoyed looking in every building and were amazed at all of the original equipment/furnishings.  There was a pair of Levis from 1880, amazing to see.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch in their picnic area.  Great place for a day trip.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with Peter & Denise dancing and eating some good munchies.