February 21, 2006

• Palm Springs getaway

  
  

  Drove out to Palm Springs on Saturday morning thus avoiding a lot of traffic.  The first thing we did was to walk around Palm Canyon Drive, the main street in the city lined with palm trees full of shops, restaurants, art galleries, bars, etc.  We had lunch at Phillipe’s Cafe…the food here was not very good and service was just so so…definitely do not recommend going here.  After eating we went hiking in the Indian Canyons.  There are three main canyons where the Cahuilla indians used to live with beautiful scenery.

  
  

  Palm Canyon–this is the biggest of the canyons.  We did a short hike to the West Fork Falls about 1/4 mile.  Then we did a loop hike along the Palm Canyon trail and coming back along the Victor trail…about a 3 to 3.5 mile hike.  There are plenty of picnic tables and a Trading Post that sells lots of indian jewelry and pottery.

  
  

   

  
  

  Andreas Canyon–did a loop hike about 1 mile long…you can see mortars where the indians prepared food.  There was a lot more water in this stream.

  
  

   

  
  

  Murray Canyon–this one was not as popular as the other two but we did a short mile hike to another palm oasis…supposedly you can sometimes see the Bighorn sheep but we didn’t see any.

  
  

  After all that hiking we were glad to check into our hotel in Desert Hot Springs (about a 15 minute drive to Palm Springs) at the Crystal Hotel Spa & Resort.  They just recently remodeled so it looks very new and quaint.  Showered and got ready for dinner at Crazy Bones BBQ.  This was a fun place with a great terrace overlooking the street and a lively bar scene.  We both ordered the different rib samplers and together we tried the Memphis (cross between pork chops and pork ribs), St. Louis (the meat was so tender it just fell off the bone…literally), Texas (this was one huge ass rib), Kansas City (baby back ribs), and beef brisket.  The helpings are huge at a very reasonable price plus it comes with two sides…we had the dirty rice and the garlic mashed potatoes.  We left very full and satisfied…definitely one of the best rib places I’ve been to.  Got back to our room and took advantage of the in room jacuzzi.  Popped open a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne and sprinkled some bath crystals and we were very relaxed for the rest of the night

  
  

  Got up the next morning for the continental breakfast before getting ready for our couples Swedish massages.  It was very thearapeutic and exactly what I needed.  I loved the scented oils and the relaxing music they play.  Afterwards we soaked for a little bit in their Japanese bathhouse that had a great view of Mt. San Jacinto.  For lunch we decided to try Pepper’s Thai Cuisine…food was decent but nothing out of the ordinary.  Across the street there was an art fair so we went to check that out.  On the drive back we stopped at Morongo Casino but it was so crowded that we didn’t really gamble much.  I won $1at the slot machines while Lanny went to the bathroom, lolz.  I wanted to play a round of golf but it was sprinkling on and off all weekend so I decided against it…oh well next time.

  
  

  Later that evening we went to a friend’s house for a BBQ…there was chicken, steak (cooked very rare), baked ziti, mashed potatoes, chinese chicken salad, spam masubi, and lots of wine.  It was fun hanging out…thanks for inviting us Carlin!

  
  

  Oh and don’t forget to pick 5 or 6 words that describe me…I’m kinda curious to know what ya’ll think —-> Click here.

  • 1:07 am
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