Palm Springs has been so wonderful to us over the last two weeks. It welcomed us with clear skies and warm sunshine when we rolled into the Joshua Tree/Palm Springs KOA resort. We have wrapped in so many different activities during our stay here, but not too much that we’re running ragged trying to catch our breath.
After a couple of days going through the amenities here at the KOA: pickleball, basketball, swimming, and hot springs spas; we ventured out to the Joshua Tree National Park. That park is truly a wonder of the world.
The geology within that park is unlike any other terrain we’ve seen on our treks across the U.S. Though similar to the hiking we did down in Utah with the massive boulders and awe-inspiring rock arches, Joshua Tree has a mix of tropics with it. Along the harsh red rock of the hills, there are palm trees and bright flowers. There are a few natural springs within the desert conditions of the park where we experienced an oasis of tropical green plants. Though not to be outdone by the sporadic oasis environments, the Park has an expansive display of unique cacti and critters. Our first stop on our route was the Cholla Cactus Garden. Oh. My. Word. The walk through the Garden is only about half a mile, but goodness, is it mind blowing. The Cholla cactus is wild. It looks like a big fuzzy bush, but yowza, no touching!
The walkway through nature’s pin cushions gets you right up next to them and even leaning away at times so you aren’t stuck. It was very cool, and a great start to the many hikes we completed in Joshua Tree National Park. Jason had promised the boys that they would appreciate Joshua Tree because of the boulder crawling they could do there. The boys were not disappointed! I’m a bit of an anxious ball when it comes to watching my boys jump over crevices and yelling my name so I can see how high they’ve climbed and maneuvered themselves, but even I enjoyed doing some hardcore parkour from time to time. I think the only disappointment from the boys came when I told them they could NOT crawl into the “eyeball” of Skull Rock because of the line of people waiting to get their own pictures taken. Turns out, they survived the letdown just fine.
After Joshua Tree, our next, and perhaps most exciting outing, was the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament that we had the absolute delight in attending. We put in a lot of miles and sweat under the sun, but I was in heaven just knowing all my favorite players were walking the same ground I was. The tournament touts itself as “Tennis Paradise”, and I get it! Top notch tennis played by the world’s best under sunshine and palm trees. Just divine.
Not all players were scheduled for a match the day we attended, but we were still able to catch a glimpse of all of them on the practice courts. When I'm home, I pace the RV, hide my face, yell at the screen, pump my fists, or even turn OFF the TV because I can’t handle the stress or potential heartbreak when I watch these men and women play, so seeing them in person was so surreal. Despite looking at the schedule and attempting to plan out our stops for the day, we tended to be a little bit behind every other fan around us. We didn’t get any autographs, so that bummed the boys out getting back into the car at the end of the night with their giant tennis balls with no names on them. I think it just means that we now have a great trial run on a tennis tournament under our belts, and when we go to the next one (Wimbledon, maybe!?), we’ll have a better understanding of the chaos that is waiting for us.
Sidenote: Carlos Alcaraz is shorter than his stats claim, Jannik Sinner is skinnier, and Maria Sakkari is even more ripped than she portrays on TV! Man, I love that we had the privilege to see and experience Indian Wells.
Our final big ticket item we crossed off our list while here in Palm Springs was having the chance to visit family. We were only a couple hours away from a couple cousins that our boys rarely get to see, and thankfully, we were able to get some time in with them before we take off to Phoenix in a couple days. Travis and Joanna have two adorable girls that are completely opposite personalities from each other – which worked out perfectly for our boys. There were thoughtful, mature conversations between cousins about school, friends, and favorites – and then there were crazy, boisterous, entertaining role-playing games that had the four adults asking their youngests to turn it down a couple octaves. While the cousins played, we adults were able to commiserate in parenting, laugh, and update each other on the latest life has thrown us. I love family. Getting time with family is a lift in spirits that can’t be beat.
After ruminating about all the good our stay in Palm Springs has given us, I would be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge that Palm Springs has done us dirty, too. When we arrived here, in beautiful, soul-filling sunshine, the weather forecast was delicious. It had sunshine with a side of sunshine, followed by warmer sunshine as the week went on. Well, reality begged to differ with that! Our warmest days were the first three days here. Since then, we’ve been hovering around high 60’s and low 70’s. Umm, excuse me, California, we came here for your 85 degrees that you promised us. In fact, as I sit quietly at the dinette table typing, it’s raining and a brisk 57 degrees outside. It’s not just the lackluster daily temperatures that have disappointed us, but the wind here is INSANE! Never have I experienced such high winds. Or perhaps I have, but I was comfortably sitting in a solid-built house sipping hot cocoa and not in an RV clenching my blankets terrified this whole rig is going to be uplifted and thrown like a ragdoll.
The days came with wind, but usually not enough to deter us from the pickleball courts. When nightfall came, Mother Nature gave us all she had. Each night, I lay in bed and feel the RV rock and sway with the winds. Irrationally, I felt like I was on watch duty. Like if I fell asleep, a tree would fall on top of us, so I needed to stay alert when crisis struck. Since sleep wasn’t coming, I went through all the scenarios: if a tree fell on the front, how do we get out? If it fell in the middle between the boys and us in the back, how do we get them safe? What if we tip over, then what? Do we have enough insurance on this RV to cover everything we have in it? Might I point out that there are exactly zero trees in our immediate vicinity that would cause any damage to this RV. However, that didn’t stop my late-night anxiety and panic kicking into overdrive with disaster situations. Wind is definitely not my brain’s friend, nor any high-clearance vehicle’s friend for that matter. Although my tan and Vitamin D intake isn’t at the levels I was hoping for, I am still grateful for the lows not getting anywhere close to what they are back home in Oregon.
In two days’ time, we’ll be nestled into a new resort close to Phoenix, AZ, where we have more adventures awaiting us. We’ll get to see more family and some friends, get better weather (hopefully), and we’ll be stationed closer to the airport. Why do we need airport proximity? Because Jason is heading home for a few days while I stay in Phoenix with the boys. As we like to fly by the seat of our pants and be open to opportunities, the day before we left for Palm Springs and potentially a 5-month trip to the U.S. east coast, we walked through a house that is in dire need of a life raft. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for Jason and I to slide into! Actually, we’ve been watching this house for over a year – since before we flipped the last house and that was a yearlong project!
Jason and I have been doing some sleuthing on the history of the house, and ended up being able to work a deal with the out-of-town brother that inherited the house. Sadly, it was left empty for far too long with zero attention other than from the nefarious folk of the town. With it’s sad state, we have some potential with flipping the home.
As of right now, we’re still heading for the East Coast, but if the inspection that Jason is flying back for doesn’t unearth a catastrophic problem with the house, then we’ll be homeowners again with a massive project on our hands. After the (successful) inspection, Jason will fly back to us in Phoenix, and drive us all back home in time for Easter and my dad’s 70th birthday!
So here’s to marveling at nature’s wonders, to surviving mental and physical storms, and to remaining flexible throughout.
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