The Fat Lady's singing!

Another US road trip comes to an end and there's no regrets, only good memories of four weeks of sunshine travelling through our favourite state. Today turned out to be a laid back affair, more so than had been planned. We wanted to drive the scenic forty mile route to Idyllwild, a small town in the mountains overlooking the valley, where the temperature is significantly below that in Palm Springs and where the atmosphere is distinctly different. On our previous visit we made it up there and spent the day amongst the forested streets and met some nice people. However, when we set off today, we made it to the highway 234 mountain road, climbed up it for several miles, before encountering two setbacks: (1) the highway was closed, due to a previous road washout that was in the process of being mended; and (2) a complete loss of visibility, owing to low cloud. The temperature was also decidedly low up there! Accordingly, we turned around, headed out to the mall at Rancho Mirage, where the sun was shining again!

A great trip and an old hit of the Dave Clark Five sums up our feelings ..... "Glad all over'!   

Star Struck!

For anyone visiting Palm Springs for the first time, the Celebrity Homes Tour is a must. Not only do you discover who actually lived here and where, but you also gain an insight into the development of this community.

The city is currently undergoing an ever accelerating transformation from its former roots as a getaway haven for the biggest names in show business, to being a tourist centric vacation spot, complete with casinos and mobile bars! Apart from Leo Di Caprio, current celebrity homeowners now prefer to habit gated communities in Rancho Mirage, away from prying paparazzi. The current owners of properties once inhabited by yesterday's stars also prefer to preserve there privacy by planting high hedges, formerly anathema to their original owners. The list of former celebrity home owners is endless: Carry Grant; Frank Sinatra; Dean Martin; Elvis Presley; Marilyn Monroe; Bob Hope; Bing Crosby etc. (One well known resident, the legendary Hedy Lamour, was the co-inventor and patent owner to over forty major patents relating to wide spectrum radio technology, the basis of microwave and mobile phone technology!)

The number and close proximity of the celebrity properties is startling. Major celebrity inhabitants were and remain active supporters of the local community. Frank Sinatra, Barry Mannilow and others have raised millions of dollars for charitable foundations here and have helped in other ways too. For instance, the lady who greeted us before the tour was a Brazilian immigrant  and on arriving into the US, her three children spoke Portuguese, only. The two older children qualified for state support to learn English, but the youngest child didn't. Accordingly, she searched for a voluntary tutor and who stepped up? Desi Arnez Junior! Frank Sinatra raised funds to build the local hospital and financed the building of a church in Cathedral City for his mother.

During the tour we heard the back story to the famous Racket Club (where Norma Gene went in and Marilyn Monroe came out!) and the Millionaires golf course. Another anecdote from the tour concerned the origin of the Rat Pack ... In fact. Frank Sinatra assumed the mantle of being head of the Rat Pack after the death of Humphrey Bogart. The latter was playing cards with Sinatra and others when Lauren Bacall happened to say "You look like a pack of rats" and the rest is history! (Half-way through the tour, we also visited a mom and pop shop to sample the best 'date shake' there is, mad, of course, with local Palm Spring dates!)

Driving back to the hotel through the palm-lined highway we heard a track that just seemed right ....
Ronny and the Daytonas "Little GTO"

Through the Villages

In all, there are nine villages in Palm Springs and today we visited Thousand Palms, Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City, in addition to Palm Springs village, where we are staying. In fact we did little more than drive through the first two, as they mainly comprise very upmarket housing in gated communities.

We stopped at Cathedral City (where Frank Sinatra is buried!), parking in the free undercover parking at the Mary Pickford Cinema. Our intention was to grab a coffee and then see the film 'Downton Abby'. So after purchasing tickets we set out on foot past the wonderful fountain in front of City Hall, in search for a coffee shop, only to discover that most of the local business had closed down. This was hard to understand given that both the cinema and live theatre are there and its a relatively new complex. We were told that the locals were hopeful of a resurgence once the 'planned' new casino gets Federal approval. Good luck! Anyway, we grabbed a hot dog in the cinema and the film didn't disappoint, in the air conditioned setting.

Pat was right, driving through the valley, its easy to imagine what it was like doing the same in the heyday of Palm Springs.

Being a Thursday evening, come six o'clock, the main street is closed off to traffic and food and craft market stalls line the street. We walked through the colourful and varied stalls and the highlight had to be 'The Lord of the Cello' ... an elderly dude with long grey hair, a kilt, and playing an electric cello whilst facing a headwind of his own creation! His CDs weren't shifting!!

Driving back to Palm Springs, we hear the following 60's hit from 'We Five' ..... 'You were on my mind'

Palm Springs

San Diego was surprisingly cloudy today, as we loaded up the car again, to begin the last leg of the trip. We did our usual pit stop before setting off and then we headed northeast towards the desert and Palm Springs. The I5 was heavy with traffic but as we moved east on the I10 things eased. We passed through several new desert towns where houses were being thrown up, in numbers. It was hard to see where the demand for such house comes from, as we saw few signs of industry and a commute to LA would be intolerable.Passing through one of these towns we saw a sign offering a repossession and eviction service for $99! Arriving in Palm Springs we passed the vast acres of wind farms, before reaching the main street. Immediately, we noticed that considerable development had occurred since our previous visit and later learned that in addition to a whole lot more premium brand shopping, the city is about to get its own hockey team, which is relocating from Seattle. Fortunately, whilst our hotel (Las Brisas) has also undergone some refurbishment changes, its as friendly and welcoming as ever!

Whilst driving up today, we heard the following classic song from Buffalo Springfield and were reminded of the Film 'Forest Gump' ..... "Hey, What's that Sound"

Off to the Zoo

For anyone visiting San Diego, a visit to the zoo is a must and that includes us. Its been acclaimed as the best zoo in the world and for good reason. The zoo complex is adjacent to Balboa Park and spans a natural valley and boasts over four thousand animals, all housed in the best possible conditions. Where possible. animals' social needs are also catered for e.g. Some big cats are housed alongside dogs from an early age and this reduces any anxiety they might otherwise experience. Free bus rides, a sky tram, and a rolling walkway, all help visitors to negotiate the place.

The zoo is an active participant in worldwide species protection programmes, which is well evidenced in the zoo's breeding population of snow leopards, of which it estimated there are only three hundred left in the world.

As for a musical tribute to the day, no specif reference to 'zoos', but hopefully Freddy Cannon's 'Palisades Park' works!

Doing the tour

We thought about taking a short bus tour of San Diego, but then we figured that we knew the city well enough to put our own together and include a more selective itinerary. So, off we went, first to he Liberty Station Arts District. This is a sizeable area comprising shops, eating places, galleries and museums, all occupying what was an elite navel officer training barracks. Its a must to visit.

Initially, we visited the IDC Comic Art Museum, where examples of various comic artists were on display. The artists represented had created characters ranging from the Ninja Turtles to those featured in 'CSI' comic magazine.

Moving on we browsed some very neat eating places, catering for both sweet and savoury tastes and including a craft brewery. I was impressed by the BBQ-based '"Pig's Gig".

By late morning it was time to move on and so off to colourful San Diego Old Town. If you like Mexican food, its a must! We passed  on the food and spent time wandering (and sitting) around the historic buildings and vibrant market stalls.

Finally, we left Old Town and drove to the Cabrillo National Monument, which overlooks San Diego bay and provides some fabulous views of the  city and ocean. Before leaving, we also drove down to the tidal rock pools where the ocean rolls onto the sandstone cliffs. A lovely place.

Last evening we learned that Herb Alpert was playing next door and he's now 84! In fairness to his commitment, I thought I should include one of hist hit tunes form his younger days "A Taste of Honey"

Park Life

The odd cloud soon burned away and rather than settle for a monster hotel breakfast, we drove to a local McDonald's and for only $5.98 got breakfast for two! From there we drove the short but tricky route to Balboa Park, which is always lively on Sundays. Local Mexicans were setting up their stall in the International Centre, as we walked through the excellent children's play are, towards the park's main buildings, which have a very Spanish style about them.

We took in the fountains and the picturesque rose and cacti gardens, where we met and chatted to Wes, a retired volunteer who told us about the good life for retirees, in the San Diego. Everyone appears to be welcome.(Senior citizens are enitled to a free meal each day and monthly travel passes work out at around $30)

We then walked around the impressive Arts Village and then through the 'Houses of the World' where this month, Lebanon is the host.

The English House was interesting and offered free cups of Tetley Tea! No mention of Brexit, though!! In the afternoon we sat for a while in the open air concert venue and listened to the Speckler Organ recital. Balboa Park is the best!

Now how about Bruce Springsteen and 'Balboa Park' (even though it doesn't markrepresent the best of the place!)?