We moved camp this morning to Palm Springs 57 miles to the west. As we traveled on SR62 we were driving through mountainous terrain and descended several long hills that went straight down, no curves. As we got close to to connecting with I-10 there was a huge windmill farm. There had to be hundreds of windmills of different sizes and different blade configuration. We have seen other windmill farms but this is by far the largest. A short hop on I-10 and then off into the city of Palm Springs and to the Happy Traveler RV Park. The RV park is an old park, well-maintained but small, small spaces. Our motorhome is in the site but our Jeep is parked in front of the motorhome in a roadway through the park- like other towed vehicles. At $48.00 for the night we are only staying here tonight.
Palm Springs is a very clean city with beautiful flowers blooming throughout. We went to the downtown area and had lunch at Maraca’s, a Mexican restaurant. We ate in their outside dining area, something that most restaurants in this town have. The sidewalks have pavements with blocks of various celebrities that apparently have been affiliated in some aspect with this city. A statue of Sonny Bono, the mayor at one time, is located here. A huge statue of Marilyn Monroe is in another plaza area. Before leaving the downtown, we went into a See’s candy store for our dessert of a couple pieces of this decadent candy.
Leaving the downtown, we drove to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. In 10 minutes we were transported by the tram from the Valley Station (2,643 feet) to the Mountain Station (8,516feet). The temperature varies about 40 degrees between the 2 stations. It was 50 degrees on top. The tram can carry up to 80 people and while underway the floor of the tram rotates allowing passengers to continuously have different views. At the Mountain Station we watched a short movie about the tram and then walked about outside to the viewing areas. A paved walkway from the Mountain Station descends to the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. Tom and I walked down the walkway but didn’t continue on any of the trails- the walkway with the switchbacks was challenging enough for us. We had been assigned specific tram times going up but going back down we just got in a line and waited our turn. A fun day.
