A Weekend With My Mom (or An Adventure In Palm Springs)

I don’t get to take vacations that often. And when I do, more often than not they are for me to go somewhere to Thanksgiving or San Diego for my grandma (now I’ll be visiting her in Northern CA when I get a chance). While those are vacations, they don’t necessarily feel like one because they are usually for a family event or to help with family in some way. I also don’t really have the money to go on vacation, so when I get the chance to take one I jump at it!

My dad and brother were going on a ski trip together and my mom asked me if I wanted to go on a trip with her (she invited my sister-in-law but she ended up having to stay home). Of course I said yes! I’m not sure if everyone is the same, but I love traveling with my mom. Part of this is because she pays for the trip (which allows me to go), but she really is a great travel companion. We have similar taste in traveling and she’s great at planning. And for this trip, she wanted us to go to Palm Springs.

I had been to Palm Springs when I was a kid, but I don’t remember that trip. And the last time I was in Palm Springs was when I was a college freshman and we were actually outside of Palm Springs. So I was happy to get to go back since it’s not that far from LA and I haven’t been in forever.

I drove down after work and a workout on Saturday. I didn’t really think about other people going out-of-town in the afternoon, but I dealt with more traffic than expected. And by the time I got to Palm Springs, it was already dark so I couldn’t see too much. My mom had gotten there a few hours earlier and once I arrived we did a quick run to the grocery store for some stuff for the week and we  spent the night relaxing at the house. Even though I didn’t go outside, I was already loving the house and the pool looked amazing in the dark!

The next morning when I woke up, the pool looked just as amazing in the daytime.

But we had no time to be lazy by the pool in the morning because we had plans to go to The Living Desert. The Living Desert is a zoo and garden that is all about the animals and plants of the deserts in North America and Africa. I had never been there before and I love going to zoos so I was excited to check it out. And fortunately, it was colder than normal in Palm Springs so we weren’t too hot while we walked around. And since it wasn’t too hot, the animals were out too. The giraffes were enjoying their breakfast when we got to their area.

And the warthogs were all spooning together in the sun (although one was spooning the wrong way).

And we were able to be at the cheetahs when they were doing their run demonstration and feeding.

We did a lot of walking around and we managed to cover the entire place. It’s a nice sized zoo that has a lot of offer. But it’s not too big that you can’t see everything in a day, especially on a day that isn’t unbearably hot like we had.

After The Living Desert, my mom and I headed back to the vacation house so we could relax by the pool and be lazy. The rental house also had a small putting area and I discovered that I totally suck at that! I haven’t played mini-golf in forever so I guess I couldn’t expect to be good at it.

The next day, my mom and I started the day with a walk around the neighborhood. We were checking out all the mid-century modern houses and how gorgeous the view of the mountains was.

Then my mom and I headed to the airport because one of my mom’s friends was flying in. My mom was going to be in Palm Springs for a week and I wasn’t going to be there for the last half. So my mom invited a friend to join her for the second half of the trip and we had a little bit of an overlay.

After the airport, we headed to the Palm Springs tram. It had been cold near where we were staying, but we knew it was going to be much colder at the top of the tram. So we bundled up and got on the tram headed up the mountain. I had been on the tram when I was little, but since I didn’t remember that I was excited to check this out. And since the last time I was on the tram (or my mom was on the tram), they had changed up the tram cars and now they are round and rotate while you are going up. So you will get to see all around as you are going up and can enjoy all the views.

Because there hasn’t been a lot of rain or snow, there wasn’t much snow on the top of the mountain. But it did smell like snow (or Tahoe) to me and it was freezing cold! While I was in the sun I felt fine, but in the shade or when the wind kicked up I was wishing I had gloves or hand heat warmers with me.

I didn’t end up doing the hike around (it was a very steep incline and my hips were a bit sore), so I just sat in the sun while my mom and her friend went on a mile and a half adventure that they enjoyed. But I was happy sitting in the sun and just looking at the view.

When they returned, we checked out the various movies and displays inside the mountain top building and then took one more look at the view before heading back down.

And we got to enjoy another lazy afternoon/evening at the rental house which was perfectly fine with me. I love going on adventures on vacation but also having time to relax too. And we did just that.

There’s still one more day of my Palm Springs vacation, but since that was a trip outside of Palm Springs that will come later!

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