Tuesday, January 27th: And The Snow Raged On!

This is our bonus day compliments of the blizzard of 2015 who some have named "Juno."  Why Juno?  We should have been on a plane winging our way eastward toward oblivion, instead we got to enjoy another pleansantly warm day in the Palm Springs area.

Today we decided to focus on architecture.  Unfortunately the Architecturee Museum which would have been educational was closed today.  But  we were able to purchase a map of architectural highlights from the Visitor's Center (got a chance to try for another photo op) and get lost among the maze of streets.  To say this was a poor excuse for a map was an understatement, but we did managed to find a few of the locations and many other interesting homes that weren't on the official map.  

Picture of a Picture of the Tramway Gas Station before they built the wall around it and removed the gas pumps.

Best picture I could get today.

Palm Springs is known for it's midCentury modern architecture.  There are also many houses of more of the southwestern or adobe style with the tile roofs, but what we were seeking out today were the more modern homes.  We zigged and we zagged and we admired along the way.  And ended the tour back in the downtown area where we had enjoyed the Street Festival earlier in the week to take note of some of those buildings as well.  

Another Shot of The Kaufman House we saw on our tour last Thursday.

I just love the drame of this entry - not on the offical tour

Home really blends into the landscape

Notice all the glass walls - helping with the effect of bringing the outdoors in.

A different style - this one was Elvis' hideaway

Art?  And wait, there's more!

Local MetalWork artist whose displays keep growing and growing and growing!

Downtown Modern

Great Example of midCentury Modern, too bad it wasn't open today.

Time to head back to the condo for some lunch.  Pretty much eating ourselves out of supplies.  Just enough left for some tea later and breakfast in the morning.  We tried to check in on line but the airline wouldn't let us.  So we will get to the airport early tomorrow and hope for smooth flying all the way home.

Monday, January 26th: Sock It To Me

The weather turned noticeably cooler and the mountains surrounding us were all socked in.  The sky was gray and overcast.  Good day to get a slow start, sit back to read and relax.  Late morning we took a drive to Old Town LaQuinta to walk around the shops and grab some lunch.  Came back to the resort and soon enough the weather closed in even more and we are getting some real rain.  But better than the blizzard happening at home!

Going to meet some friends from our trip to Ireland for dinner later.  A nice relaxing end to a relaxing day.

No pics today, but tomorrow we go investigate the architecture of the area for our last hurrah.

Sunday, January 25th: John Wayne Ate Here

Frankie Valli - at 80+ he still puts on one heck of a concert.  Two hours of music memories.  He still has the voice, and you realize exactly how unique it was listening to him in person.  And yes, he can still do that falsetto, but maybe just a little more judicious in breaking into it.  It seemed effortless.

Started today making calls to airlines to see what we could do aboit changing our homeward bound flight.  We are scheduled to go home right in the middle of a potentially record breaking blizzard.  Can you spell c-a-n-c-e-l-l-a-t-I-o-n-s?  Wonder what it is going to take to get home?  The joys of winter travel!  As  of now all I can say is check back later - the airlines have not yet acknowledged there is a havoc wrecking winter storm bearing down on the area.  Oh well.  We may end up on vacation an extra couple of days.

But given we didn't have to rush to get on a plane right away, we continued with our plans and to drive west and north into the Santa Rosa mountains on the Palms to Pines Highway.  Along winding roads and many, many switch backs we rose from the valley floor and palm trees at about an 150 foot elevation to the mountain highs with the pinon pines, mountain meadows, and an elevation of over 6000 feet.  

Beautiful views and cowboy country.  You can almost imagine the old John Wayne movies and the cowboys riding horses along the dusty trails.  Indeed when we got to about a mile high we stopped at the little town of Idylwild.  A good place to stretch our legs and poke around the little shops and galleries.  ((Don't worry, I didn't buy any more "stuff.")  And we stopped into the Red Kettle Restaurant for a bite to eat.  

This is the oldest dining establishment in the area and John Wayne did indeed frequent this place when he was filming his movies.  Even Elvis is known to have stopped in for a bite to eat during the filming of Kid Galahad.

The Town of Idylwild under the landmark Tahquitz Rock

John Wayne Ate Here

On the downward journey we were treated to sweeping vistas of the valley below and the town of Hemet with Temecula beyond.  We also got a view of the back side of the snow capped Mount San Jacinto that we took the tram up earlier in the week.  

The valley below

San Jacinto

Doesn't this look like John Wayne Territory?

On the highway back we drove thru the middle of the massive windfarm at the edge of the valley.  One of our guides this week told us he believes this is the second largest windfarm in the US - the largest being somewhere in, where else, Texas.

Tiime to relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in the warmth on the patio.  This may be our last day of warm for a while.  Tomorrow temps are suppose to cool and we might even see some rain.  And we return home on Tuesday (?) to potentially 30" of snow!

Saturday, January 24th: Traveling towards Mecca

Today was a driving day of exploration from the south end of the valley to the north end of the valley.  We are basically staying right smack dab in the middle.

First direction, south towards the town of Mecca which is at the north end of the Salton Sea.  Weleft  civilation behind after going about 10 or so miles down the highway and drove into the wide open agricultural center of this area.  There were miles and miles of date palm trees, citrus groves, grape vines and some low to the ground green growing vegetable that I guess was spinach.  On the way back from the Salton Sea we detoured briefly through Mecca which is a well maintained little town isolated by itself and we assume the home of many of the farm workers.

As we drove south past Mecca we entered the Salton Sea State Park Recreational Area.  We saw a lot of "sand", a large body of water, and mountains rising behind it.  there were a few small campgrounds dotting the shore but in general the area has an abandoned feel to it.  

The Salton Sea was formed when the Colorado River broke thru and flooded that area many years ago.  But the Colorado receded and there is no other natural water source feeding this body of water.  So at one point when it was "new" it may have been a desirable place to swim and fish and go boating, but no more.  However it does attract hundreds if not thousands of migratory sea birds and indeed we saw many clusters of white pelican sitting along the shore.

Salton Sea View

Deserted Recreational Beach Town of Bombay Beach

Abandoned Cafe along the road

Train heading towards Mexico

After viewing the 14 miles of sea coast that can easily be seen from the road, we reversed direction and headed toward the northern end of the valley.  The destination being Indian Canyons just outside of Palm Springs proper.

We drove down the narrow, winding entry road and were immediately immersed in a much different landscape.  Desert scrub giving way to colorful cliffs and in the distance clusters of Palm Trees that signify the presence of water, an oasis.  We had a chance to enjoy our picnic lunch among the palm trees with the sandstone cliffs towering above us in Palm Canyon.  Then we went back down the road a bit to the San Andreas Canyon and hiked a mile long loop next to the San Andreas Creek, gently climbing until we reached the hig point and were treated to a magnificent panaromic view.

New Growth in the Oasis

Native American Mortar hole carved into the granite rock surface

San Andreas Creek

Such a View

Driving "home" we felt like we are getting to know our way around a bit more and seeing how it all fits together.  Tomorrow we will do some more exploring to the west going up into the Santa Rosa mountains.  But tonight we are looking forward to an evening with Frankie Valli and maybe a few pulls of the slot machine at one of the local casinos.

Friday, August 23rd: At the Corner of Hope & Sinatra

MAfter it being pleasantly warm all week so far it was a bit of a shock to walk out this morning to a chill in the air and cloudy skies.  I acttually had to wear my light jacket.  But it did eventually warm up to a pleasant 70 and blue skies.

At the Corner of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope you will find Sunnylands.  The 200 acre estate of Walter and Leonore Annenburg.  If you are not familiar with them.... Walter took over the his family's publishing business when his father went to jail for tax evasion.  He was a communication genuis and turned the company into a small empire.  Think Seventeen Magazine, TV Guide, and WFIL in Philadelphia and the start of American Bandstand.  And Leonore, well she was born Lenore "Lee" Cohn and was raised by her uncle, Harry Cohn, the founder of Columbia Pictures Studio.  The Annenburgs were very wealthy art collectors and philanthropists who both served as Ambassadors of the United States at different points in time.  He the ambassador to London and she the White House Ambassador of Protocol.  They were friends with and rubbed elbows with movie stars, presidents, and royalty.

They bought this piece of property in the Palm Springs area to be their winter vacation home and named it Sunnylands.  It was built between 1963 and 1966 and remained a private residence until Leonore's death in 2009.  It has been called the Camp David of the West and indeed has been used as a Presidential Retreat and working vacation location by no less than 8 presidents starting with Richard Nixon.  They only recent president to not ever have come to Sunnylands was Jimmy Carter.  Queen Elizabeth was once a guest as were many heads of state.  Most recently the President of the People's Republic of China for a summit with President Obama.  

The property is now open for tours but also hosts about 10 major conferences or retreats a year.

The home is 25000 Square Feet and represents a prime example of California MidCentury Modern architecture which by definition means bringing the outside in.  The onlly deviation is the roof line because the Annenburg's wanted a Mayan style roof and they had it colored pink so it would blend in to the natural sunset colors of the mountain view behind it.

Approaching Sunnylands

Front Courtyard

View from the golf course back towards the house.

Pool and Guest Quarters

The Annenburg collection of impressionists now resides at the Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC, but they made digital replicas of them to be hung at the property so guests could view the scope of the collection.  It included Monet, Picasso, Guigan to name a few.  All the other art in the home is still original including sketches by Picasso and statues by Rodin.

If the Anneburg saw a piece of art of something they wanted, they offer would hire the artist to just recreate a copy of it for them for thier estate.  For example at one of the Scandanavian airports they noticed a sculpture known as the Brids of Welcome, they invited that artist to make a smaller version of that sculpture to welcome their guests as the drove down the long winding driveway to the home.  Also that column in the front courtyard that stands about 20 feet tall is a replica of the original found in Mexico and recreated by the orignal artists.

There is much more to this story, you could fill a book!  We were very glad we had the opportunity to tour this impressive piece of culture and history. 

After Annenburg we drove down to El Paseo, a well known high end shopping district.  Sort of like strolling down a smaller scale Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with all the upscale shops and eateries. We stopped in to enjoy a nice lunch and do a litte window shopping.

Sculptures in the Median along El Paseo

At the end of El Paseo we stopped in to enjoy a photo exhibit and the Sculpture Garden at the Palm Desert Annex of the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Entrance to the Art Museum

One of the Sculptures in the Garden

Then it was time to return to our condo to sit back and relax a bit for the afternoon.  Later this evening we'll be going out to enjoy the Ladies of Rock & Soul at a near by theater.

Enjoyed an evening of memories from Donna Summer to Whitney Houston to Diana Ross to Aretha Franklin with a Supremes ending.  Lots of fun.

Thursday, January 22nd: Home Of The Stars

Today we got off to a leisurely start with a mid morning tour of old Palm Springs and the homes of the stars.  It seems like at one point in history anyone who was anyone had a vacation home in Palm Springs.  Part of this may be because in the good old days of movie studios and their contract stars, they were required to stay within 2 hours of LA so they could get back in a timely manner if called to do so.  And of interest were in general how modest - at least from the outside - most of these homes were and how close together they are.  Not the aprawling mansions when we think Hollywood stars homes of today.  For example, Bob Hopes home was a modest 1300 sq foot bungalow.  But he had wonderful neighbors - Bing Crosby had a home directly across the street and and Dorothy Lamor lived next to Bing.  If you recall, they were the three stars of the "Road To" series of movies.

As  you might expect, most of the homes had privacy fences around the property so in some cases you only caught a glimpse of a roof line above the gate, but still we got a good overview of this residential side of Hollywood and the architecture of the homes.  Many we simple ranch style bungalos, some were more modern as in mid century modern.  Very few modern day stars have homes here - at least that we were told about.  But we did see Barbars Streisands sprawling complex on a hill side just outside of downtown and Leo Di Caprio's home that use to belong to another star of the early era.  And we got a good view of Elvis' home which many believe is hainted by his spirit to this day!

One of Liberace's Homes - wasn't hard to see this one

This is where you might find Leonardo

The Kaufman Home - they also built Falling Waters (by Frank Lloyd Wright)

The main street of Palm Springs was bustling with afternoon activity - people shopping and dining and strolling among the statuary.  We had plans to return there later in the afternoon to take advantage of the Art Museum and the Villagefest evening activities of art, street food, and vendors.

Went back downtown to take advantage of Free Thursday at the museum.  Was  an eclectic collection of art wroks from sculptures to Native American crafts to art glass to contemporary art.  Interestingly they had a special exhibit of Art Glass from Australia, many of the contributing artists coming out of The Jam Factory in Adelaide which we had actually visited when we were in Australia!  It was a nice hour of culture.  

Interior of the Art Museum

Who Knew I Was Creating Art Curbside Every Friday

Chuily

How Tall Can You Stack The Dishes?

After the museum we strolled our way up and down the 6 or so blocks of the downtown area that was closed off for the weekly street fair called VillageFest.  There was street food and entertainment and artists of every sort.  TThere was also a nice Farmers Market down one of the side streets.

A Few of the Booths as the Market Begins

Palace Theater where The Follies use to be

One of The Interesting Buildings Along the Street

I was impressed with the variety and quality and size of the festival along with the volume of the crowd.   Lots of people - citizen and tourist alike - enjoying a mild evening stroll and people watching.  

Wednesday, January 21st: Lunch With A View

Another wonderful day in the desert.  Exceptionally clear skies, maybe due to the slight bit of wind blowing today.  We actually got to see the windmills turning today vs being tall white statues.

Fiirst stop was the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens.  This was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.  Although overall we have been to much better zoos.  Never the less, we still saw a few animals we'd never seen before and got better views of others than some zoos provided.

Colorful Crested Crane

Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike - Do You know what day it is?  It's  Hump Day!

Graceful Giraffee

Before leaving the zoo and heading to the resort for the afternoon, I took a moment to check in with our tour company for tomorrow.  They  unfortunately did not get the necessary number to be able to run the tour but very kindly put me in touch with another tour company and I was able to rebook at least the Palm Springs Home of the Stars tour with them.  That left us free to head to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram on our own today which given the clear conditions was a welcome adjustment.  The only problem being we had not prepared given we hadn't planned to be there so we only had on our short sleeve shirts knowing the temperatures would be substanially cooler at the top - turned out to be 38 degrees.  But hey, we're tough New Englanders!

The Tram ascends the San Jacinto Mountain.  It is a 10 minute journey and takes you to a height of just over 8500 feet.  The ride up is quite thrilling as the tram car rotates....... well, not the car itself but the floor underneath your feet.  Almost two full revolutions on the way up so you get to see where you are going and where you have been.  It  is an imposing site of sheer granite walls on the way up and a long look down to the tram station below.  Yikes!  And the views from the top are spectacular as the entire valley is spread out below you.

Looking out at Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley

After taking a quick walk around outside to enjoy the views we had a lovely lunch where we could gaze out at the view but be warm, cozy, and fed inside.  Before leaving we enjoyed the brief film about the history and building of the tram.  It was first conceived of in the 1930's by a frequent hiker thru this mountain area but not actually considered even possible until after WWII and not built until the 1960's. The first tram cars did not rotate, that evolution did not occur until more recently around the year 2000.  It is now the second steepest rotating tram car in the world.

Rotating Tram Car

Coming back down the mountain we got some great views of the wind farms on the valley floor.

just a few of the many, many wind turbines

It was nice to return home to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio as the sun was setting and look forward to a relaxing evening at the condo before another day of touring tomorrow.