A Visit to the "Playground of the Stars" - Part 1
Since we had a great time drinking wine in Southern Arizona from Arlene the camper over the long MLK, Jr. weekend, we decided we needed to do it again soon - so we did! Over the Valentine's/Presidents' Day holiday weekend, we headed out to Palm Springs for a few days of relaxation, eating, and sightseeing.
Selfie time in downtown Palm Springs
Look! Clouds and wet stuff, falling from the sky!
For this stay, we'd made reservations at Happy Traveler R.V. Park, which is one of only a few RV parks in Palm Springs proper (there are several in the surrounding cities of Palm Desert, Indio, etc); it was the only one truly "in town," and we were within an easy mile's walk of the southern half of Palm Canyon Drive, the main drag. From our experience so far, it seems like about half of the RV parks out there will let you make reservations online, while others still want you to call and talk to someone on the phone. Happy Traveler was right in the middle; you filled out a form online and someone then emailed you back, letting you know if they had a space for you. After some back and forth with Rebecca, one of the folks there, we were confirmed for a two night stay, and after checking in at the office upon arrival, we started making our way into spot #133.
Right at the foot of Mt San Jacinto
You can tell many folks stay in this park for quite some time; several spots had more permanent structures around the RVs, including fences, screens, and the like (one even had couches!). In fact, the spots all around #133 had potted plants/tomatoes growing in their spaces, and although the spots were kind of close together, tall hedges separated each, so everyone had privacy.
I got out of the truck to handle spotter duty, and Chris commenced working on backing the rig into our space (while he was doing this, one of our neighbors happed to come out and remark, "yup, that's a tight one! Good luck!"). After a few tries, Chris put Arlene in the perfect place, all while under the watchful eye of the resident RV park roadrunner.
Not a great shot, I know,
but he had just turned to watch us
when I snapped this.
Arlene, all cozy in spot #133.
As you can see, it's not super wide in here -
our awning almost touched the bushes, fully extended -
but we had plenty of room to move about.
The truck is parallel parked between the two hedges,
and we could juuuuust squeeze past it
as we walked in and out of the space.
After getting the rig situated and changing clothes (it was chilly when we left home, but it was a beautiful, sunny 75 in Palm Springs), we strolled downtown to check out some of the amazing architecture in the city and grab a snack. While trip planning, I'd downloaded the Palm Springs Modern Society's app, and it gave you maps where you could find notable buildings nearby, as well as detailed information on why they were neat.
Above, that's the old Robinson's Department Store. It used to look like this, and it's now a BevMo:
Look at how much taller the palm trees are!
Here's the old Coachella Valley Savings and Loan -
it's now a Chase Bank.
(We saw a lot of banks on our stroll)
We also made it to our snack spot, Great Shakes, an ice cream store that specialized in awesome milkshakes. Since you couldn't eat in the store itself (everything was takeout or patio seating in Palm Springs at this time), we wandered to a nearby courtyard and found some convenient steps for a rest.
Can you see the mini doughnuts they put on your straw?
Noms!
We'd strolled ourselves out, so we moseyed back to Arlene to enjoy some afternoon wine and sit in the shade of our camper awning and large hedges. After an hour or so, we changed into nicer clothes and headed to Del Ray, the tapas/Spanish restaurant in the Villa Royale, where we were able to sit in their adorable outdoor courtyard. Dinner was fantastic - everything from cocktails to dessert was yummy, the service was great, and everyone was very cautious about minding COVID protocols - and we strolled back home through a nearby neighborhood, where we gawked at all of the awesome, post-modern houses.
Our cocktails at Del Ray -
red sangria for me and a specialty martini for Chris
(it was made with olive oil and had chorizo on the toothpick)
Back into comfy clothes once more, we chilled outside in our patio chairs for a little bit, but we crashed pretty soon. We'd had a long day, and we had some hiking to do tomorrow!
Later!
Amy
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