greetings from Palm Springs

There's much to report about this totally uneventful drive from the Valley to Palm Springs. What we saw, where we went wrong, and mainly the weather. It's a good thing I took that photo of the Chinese pistache tree yesterday. In the night, a fierce wind came up and this morning that lovely orange fire had been stripped from its limbs and it was completely starkers! And the wind was blowing hard all the way down I-5, stirring up tolveneras through the parched orchard lands of the San Juaquin Valley.

Over the Grapevine, SNOW! Yes, the temperature dropped to about 34º and the hillsides were dusted with snow. It was gorgeous. We pulled in to our usual Rest Stop (Thank you, Arnold, for not closing all of them) to have "breakfast" and what do I see? A red Smart Car, the drivers asleep in their seats, perhaps waiting for the wind to die down. It was a red one with a black cabriolet top (convertible). It was a boy car, I'm sure. It had black trim, sort of like sideburns. Dorothy, on the other hand, has silver trim, like silver earrings. Now I realize that in these interesting times sideburns and earrings are no longer gender-specific. But I still think it was a boy car. Attitude, perhaps. Then on the next leg of the trip, YIKES! Another Smart Car! So they are beginning to take over. These sighting represent a 200% increase from the early August trip we took (we saw none) and a 100% increase from the late August trip. Before you know it, everyone will want one of these little beauties.

We only got "lost" twice ~ missed the cut off to the Pasadena freeway from I-5 and the !-10 connector later. But we finally made it into the heart of this desert oasis mid-afternoon. It's been many years since I was here, and it's now a bustling chic town, the streets lined with trendy shops and restaurants. But since we started getting things together this morning at 3 AM we are not going out on the town tonight but instead are having turkey sandwiches, cold grilled shrimp, left-over pie and a good bottle of Murphey-Goode before calling it a day at, probably 7:30 tonight. Tomorrow we are off to Tucson after a promised breakfast at this hotel. Hope to write from there tomorrow.