California!

  3/11/22

The flight to LAX was uneventful, but lessons were learned. I thought I had a 2 hr layover at Midway, but with the time change it was closer to 4 hrs. which is too long to spend in any airport. The long flight from Chicago to LA was made bearable by a rereading of The Martian on my nook, and beautiful views of the western deserts. I'm not sure if this is Glen Canyon or the Grand Canyon. 



Getting the car rental and driving across LA to the hotel initiated me to city driving. The stories about the traffic are all true. I suppose you get used to it, but that is something I don't want to do - over an hour to drive 15 miles seems a complete waste of time and energy. 

I spent the first morning at the Descanso Gardens which I thoroughly enjoyed. I took so many of the side trails and still did not see the whole place. The camelia forest was a highlight as I've never seen these beauties before. 

After a tranquil morning wandering the gardens, I found a Target and bought provisions for our weekend getaway and browsed a Costco as I'd never been in one before. I was unimpressed.

I met up with Glenn and her friend and we set out for the Palm Desert in the evening. The traffic and people - ghaaa! We found the house way off the beaten track in the desert. It's so spacious and well stocked so we should do well. 

After a bit of back and forth discussion, we decided on visiting the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon. The habitats were spacious and seemed to spread off far into the open desert. One of my concerns with zoos is the caging of animals, but these are more open habitats. Still, my emotions are mixed on keeping wild animals for display.




Our second day was spent in Joshua Tree National Park. For the 2nd time in a year, I've explored a desert environment, and this one was very different to the other side of the Mojave Desert. Rounded, faulted rock mountains surrounded by Joshua Trees and cholla cactus in a sandy desert. We hiked the Hidden Valley Trail and another trail to get the feel of the park. The best part for me was that it wasn't crowded with people. Busy for sure, but nothing ruins an experience for me more than teeming crowds.


Our last day was a travel day so we stopped at the Palm Desert Street Fair to observe the eclectic mix of wares for sale. Music and coffee made wandering among the stalls fun, but it started to get really hot after an hour. I wanted to visit the unique biome of an oasis, and we found one to wander around in a short distance away, the Coachella Valley Preserve. The sign that warned that the rattlesnakes were out made us watch every step, but exploring the oasis was interesting. Afterwards we headed back to LA as the girls had to be at work the next day. I settled into The Culver Hotel and had a quick tour of Main St. 

How to spend my last day? I thought about Griffith Park, or the Long Beach Aquarium, but the thought of driving the freeways was depressing. I ended up taking a walk in search of the Culver Stairs to a small park with a lovely overlook view. On my way I saw the sights of Culver City including the Ballona Creek Bike Path. Intrigued, I sat on a bench and googled the 6.5 mile path and bike rentals. I found a bike share station and headed off towards the Ocean. While not as scenic as the NYS bike paths, I got a great workout as that bike had to weigh at least 60 lbs. I also saw several homeless encampments which are so sad. How can this well off country do such a poor job helping out the economically or mentally challenged? I made it all the way to Marina Del Rey and back traveling past the fortunate and unfortunate housing situations juxtaposed as they were. 

I met Glenn for a final dinner at Ugo where I had the lovliest Tortellini Limone and asparagas followed by a berry tart. We walked and talked for awhile before I dropped her back at her apartment. I'll miss that girl.

My travel day back home was gratefully uneventful and there was none of the snow left from the 2 storms I missed, Could real spring finally be here?

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