Palm Springs, California - Keep Life Colorful
I always thought of Palm Springs as a fancy tropical paradise and after
only a day here I can say that it definitely lives up to that and I cannot
wait to return! Scroll on down to read more about my desert adventures in Palm Springs!
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Driving into Palm Springs from Joshua Tree my first stop had to be one of the Palm Springs welcome signs.
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You can find this sign right off a main road in Palm Springs. Just park in
the Palm Springs visitor center parking lot and walk over to it from there.
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Location: 2901 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
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After the Palm Springs sign I still had a few hours to kill before I could
check into my hotel for the night so I decided to make a journey
up a mountain on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.
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Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
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When I was doing my research on Palm Springs this aerial tram was
always on the list of things you must do so of course I had to experience
it for myself! I pulled out of the Palm Springs visitor center parking lot, took
a right, and began driving my truck up the mountain to the tram station
while listening to yet another Emma Chamberlain podcast
episode (I really need to start listening to those again. lol). The station
was pretty full when I arrived mid afternoon, but luckily they still had
some tickets left.
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I sat in the lobby, waiting for my ticket number to be called until
finally it was time for me to board the crowded tram car.
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I was one of the last to board and immediately started stressing out a little
bit because I wanted a good spot where I could see everything and it
looked to me like those spots had already been taken so I stood awkwardly
in front of the door a little sad that this might not be the best experience.
However, once we began our journey up the mountain
I quickly realized it doesn’t matter where you stood because
the entire platform inside the tram rotates 360 degrees so you can see all
around you without having to move!
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Now, I have to admit I shared quite the love/hate relationship with that
rotating platform. While it was nice to get to see all around without
moving about the tramcar and shoving people aside (more accurately
standing behind people not seeing anything because I have too much
social anxiety to ask them politely to let me sneak in to see), it
did not help with my motion sickness. Y’all that rotation combined with
the climb made me want to jump right out of that tramcar before I lost
my entire lunch. Thankfully I made it to the top without seeing my cheez-its again
and stepped out of the car and into the freezing mountain air. Okay….not
freezing. It was really only about 41 degrees F, BUT it was windy AND I was in
shorts so it was freezing to me! Lol
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Teeth chattering and knees knocking I journeyed around the mountain top taking in the views.
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You can find this little bridge on the Discovery Nature Trail
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Once I was done exploring and convinced I was only mere seconds
away from turning into a human popsicle I boarded one of the final
trams of the day back down the mountain.
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Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Things to Know
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Location: 1 Tram Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262
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Ticket Cost:
Adults - $28.95
Kids - $16.95
Seniors - $26.95
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*No matter how warm it may be on the ground you will want to at
least bring a jacket and/or wear jeans before taking your journey to the top.
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After my nauseating but cool tram ride I still had time to kill before
check in so I decided to let myself unthaw while exploring the Desert X exhibits.
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Desert X
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I timed my visit to Palm Springs pretty well because while I was there
Desert X was going on. Desert X is an art show that only takes place
every two years (the next one is set for 2023!) where you can visit various different
locations in the Coachella Desert to see these big sculptures/art pieces. It was nothing
like anything I had experienced before, but it was so stinkin’ cool!
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"Never Forget" by Nicholas Galanin
You can read more about this art piece here
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This art piece is actually still on display at the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center located at
480 W. Tramview Road in Palm Springs.
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“What Lies Behind the Walls” by Zahrah Alghamdi
You can read more about this piece here
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“ParaPivot” by Alicja Kwade
You can read more about this optical illusion piece here
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“The Passenger” by Eduardo Sarabia
You can read more about this maze piece here
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Finally, it was time to check in to my most looked forward to
hotel of the trip, The Saguaro Hotel.
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The Saguaro Hotel
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The second I pulled up I just felt happy and I am seriously considering
painting my house all different colors on the inside like this hotel.
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Once I made it to my room I decided I wanted to check out the
gorgeous pool so I quickly changed into my bathing suit and made my way down.
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Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo below, I missed the
best part of the afternoon sun which had now sunk below the hotel
walls leaving the pool area with only an evening glow and some slightly cooler weather.
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However, even without the sun at full force I stayed out on my lounge
chair taking some pics by the pool and then eventually even
getting in the water for a little bit!
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As the sun inched even lower behind the mountains and horizon I could
hear my stomach growling and decided it was time to leave the
pool and go out in search of some dinner. My original plan was to go to
Norma’s buuuuut poor planning on my part quickly showed that to not
be an option (make sure you make reservations ahead of time if you want to go here!).
Instead I ventured across the street to this
pizza place called Giuseppes. I ordered both a pizza and some garlic bread (yes just for me lol)
and brought it back to my hotel room where I sat and ate and watched some
Food Network competition shows. I do have to admit that the pizza and garlic
bread weren’t all that great. In fact, it tasted to me almost identical to Domino's
pizza which (sorry not sorry if this offends you) immediately made it not a favorite for
me, but I suppose it was better than protein bars and cheez-its.
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The Saguaro Hotel Info
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Location: 1800 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264
Cost: ~$139/night
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Definitely would stay again!
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The next morning I made my way to Death Valley National
Park (article here), but not before making a final stop in Palm
Springs at the infamous Indian Canyon Windmills.
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Palm Springs Windmills
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My one and only reason for stopping at these windmills was to
have a photoshoot and I have to say…I am not at all upset
with how the pics turned out.
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This is hands down my favorite from the lot!
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Location: Great article that talks about taking pics at the windmill can be found here!
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And that was Palm Springs! I really want to go back someday to
try some of their trendy restaurants and of course stay at The
Saguaro again! Have you been to Palm Springs? What things
do you recommend to do there?
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