Palm Springs Jan. 2015

 On the road again







Before we left Rancho Oso outside Santa Barbara we went to a stagecoach stop which is over a 100 years old. It was really something to see and when you imagine a stagecoach going thru that terrain you wonder how they did it. There is a tavern, a restaurant and a shop located there now. The food was a little pricey but not if you do  lunch and it was awesome.

We had 3 weeks at Rancho Oso and never ran out of things to do.

Our next stop was 8 days in Palm Springs where we enjoyed phenomenal weather. The pictures below were taken on our drive there.

In 2009 when we made our trip west there was no green like this. It is obvious that CA has gotten some rain (not much since we've been here).

I love seeing the valley full of windmills as you drive toward Palm Springs.

As you can guess this is entering Palm Springs.  We made 2 stops in downtown Palm Springs.

We went to  the street market which was a lot of   fun and I took a picture of the British flag for Jane. We did not ride the incline this time but we will when we go back in March.

Beautiful mountains any which way you look.
We made a day trip to Idyllwild , CA in the San Bernadino mountains.  So many switchbacks and so narrow but it was a beautiful drive. Often called the drive from Palms to Pines.

Yes, that road below is the road going up the mountain.

Now we are in the pines. Isn't it beautiful?

Met this really nice couple on the way up the mountain. They have hopes of traveling like we are some day.

Idyllwild is like the Mt. Gretna of PA. It is a very what I call Artsy town.

When we were west in 2009 we met this lovely couple -- Vern and Arlo Mallory . We were able to spent some time together and it was great to catch up.

The sun was just wetting as we traveled back down the mountain.

I will post this and then take you to Joshua Tree National Park on the next post.  That was one of the other things we fit into our 8 days in Palm Springs.