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.
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