Palm Springs

We had heard so much about the Palm Springs area that we were excited to see it. Our first foray into Palm Springs was not what we were expecting. The city is very retro and "alternative." Danelle loved the architecture and clothes stores that were vintage 70's and 80's. We started our sightseeing by doing a few quick hikes in the Coachella Valley Preserve seeing 100 year old + groves of palm trees around natural springs along the San Andreas fault. Later we took the tram to the top of the San Jacinto State Park for some amazing views of the Coachella valley. Our next day was spent at Joshua Tree, which is one of my favorite parks. We ended our sightseeing of the valley by driving into Indio to see the Polo grounds where they hold the Coachella music festival and a stop at the Salton Sea, which is a huge salt water lake in the valley that used to be a major water vacation destination in the 50's and 60's, but is now a deserted state park. We enjoyed our time here, but are more than ready to get away from the wind and for a week at the beach. Newport Beach here we come...