Palm Springs, California

Without question, the first thing that bears mentioning about PS is the heat. We arrived at the hotel about 5 and were immediately knocked down by an oppressive 105 degree intensity. Shade was a little better, but not much. The second thing of note is the ridiculousness of the town itself. That a resort city – with over 100 golf courses – exists in the middle of the desert, requiring massive amounts of water to sustain itself, is crazy. The sight of sprinklers and of bright green grass is enough to really frustrate me. I guess by paying good money to stay here we are actually contributing to the problem.

Shortly after arriving and unpacking, we were back in the car headed to Joshua Tree, about 45-60 mins out of town. Not much of note between PS and JT, except for the several wind farms positioned along the way. Of the several wind farms we’ve encountered this summer, these were the only wind mills I can remember seeing actually spin. A pretty cool sight.

We arrive at the park about 6:45 to find that the guard gate was shuttered and all entry fees waived. The temps in the park are (unexpectedly) much lower than they are in town, despite sharing almost the exact same terrain. Everything (save the tips of the trees) is a variant of brown and desert dust/sand seems to pervade just about everything.

The Joshua trees make for very bizarre sightseeing. The bigger ones rise to about 20 feet, and have brown trunks of average thickness; the trees’ branches are also quite thick and extend upward from the trunk, bending and pointing in odd, unpredictable directions. The branches on younger, healthier trees are tipped with dark green spiky “leaves;” dry, brown ones adorn others.

The road through the National Park bisects the desert, with “armies” of Joshua trees visible almost to the horizon on both sides. Massive rock formations accompany the trees and add to the peculiarity of the scene. Wish we had decided to go through with camping there, but were scared off by the heat warnings and the decision by the National Park Service to close many of the campsites on account of low traffic and high summer temps. Perhaps we’ll have to return in the winter to get a more comprehensive sense of the park.

On the other hand, a swarm of bees greeted us at every stop, almost as if they were guarding the park and the trees. We had to cut short a stop at Key Views* because of the bees, and even had to chase one out of the car at one point. They probably wouldn’t have been all that cool to camp with.

Either way, a nice, quick trip and a really cool spot. Glad we made the trek and took the time.

Back to town just in time to make it to Native Foods before closing. LVL is about to go through a long stretch of unfriendly (read: very meat-centric) culinary territory across the south, so we decided to indulge in some high-end vegan fare. As much as it (sorta) pains me to say,** the food was excellent. Chef Tanya’s “chili cheese” fries, seitan fish tacos (me) and veggie burger (inexplicably, listed on the menu as the “scorpion burger”) were all really tasty. And natural/native/etc.

* A vista point from which on a clear day one supposedly can see the Salton Sea and more. Today was not one of those days; way too hazy.

** Not sure why, but I have an almost involuntary reaction against this type of place. Maybe I'm skeptical of vegan food and plants made to look and taste like meat. Maybe I have an aversion to what has struck me in the past as an almost oppressive cultural commentary, lifestyle judgment, holier-than-thou attitude. Preconceptions incorrect. This place was fine.