West Coast Part III

Palm Springs and Twentynine Palms

Before I had even crossed seas, I knew Palm Springs would be my favourite part of this trip. And it didn't fail to meet expectations. After driving through the Mojave Desert, and narrowly avoiding one of the infamous flash storms, we arrived at our mid century h(e)aven at around 4ish. This was our second airbnb venture of the trip. A whole 1960's villa with private pool for a (very) reasonable sum. Mid century, with mod cons. My idea of PERFECT. By this point we had mastered the lockbox, and were in with no troubles. Dan had needed a wee for about 30 miles so we were all happy to get inside.

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in this place was amazing. From the toiletries (method) to the towels (Lacoste.) The chairs, to the tables (Eames, Saarinen, and Bertoia) Even the drawers in the kitchen were labelled. LOVE. I'm really annoyed at myself for not taking more pictures of the actual house, so here is the airbnb link. We googled local restaurants, and drove to The Cowboy Way BBQ grill. Now, everyone who knows me, knows I LOVE Bodean's. This place kicked Bodean's out of the park. It wasn't award winning for nothing, afterall. I had the sliders, of brisket, pulled pork and tri tip. It was amaazing. Try their corn bread too if you are ever wandering Palm Springs.

After we finished dinner we drove to a supermarket and stocked up for our three day trip. We then jumped in the pool and had ourselves a little pool party! I think we were probably asleep by 10...

The next day, the 42 degree heat had us up and about very early. Rachel found the pool toys, including a whale intended for a seven year old. He became the mascot. That night ordred Indian... Steve came into the house to practically serve it for us. Nice guy. Think we fell asleep at 9 watching back to back family guy. Ravers.

Our last day we had two dramas. We ventured back to the BBQ place, and Rachel had a little sunstroke turn, and on the way to the pharmacy I skimmed Dan's foot with the monster truck. A very. Narrow. Miss. To say the least.

The last morning we ventured into Twin Peaks for breakfast, and they were displaying HUGE desserts around the tables at 10am... It was very confusing, but the decor was all walnut wood and red velvet. Lovely.

We drove into Twentynine Palms, the land of army training I believe. We stopped via Pioneer Town for smoe antique rummaging and just to see Pappy and Harriet's as it didn't open till 5pm, which was a great shame. We bought some amazing jewelery from The Hoof and The Horn. Everyone should check them out!

Twentynine Palms runs right alongside the Joshua Tree. I hear many a desert army training is done here. We rolled up to The Twentyninepalms Inn, and checked in. We had been recommended this little retreat by a few people. I kind of thought it resembled a hostel. But hey ho... Anything would have looked like a hostel after our Palm Springs abode. I was a little annoyed as we had requested a hammock room, but they "upgraded" us to a room which was way too big for the party and we didn't really need the extra space, I wanted the bloody hammock! Alas it was already allocated to someone else. There were also two dogs in reception, and we all know how I feel about dogs. One of them was famous for some reason. Hollywood dog. Well he didn't look like Lassie, or Beethoven, or Cujo (thank GOD) to me. After my growling about the 1990's spanish decor, we took a lovely walk in the grounds and found a public hammock. I was happy again. We had dinner in the inn's restaurant, and there was a live folk singer... With no mic. Barely audible. However the food was lush. Slept like a baby to the sounds of the desert.

Next stop Venice beach.