this weekend, it was mentioned to me that we go on vacation "a lot" and don't ever take anyone else with us, and i've been reflecting on that. maybe we do, but here's what we do: we take the time, plan a workable budget, and go on TRIPs. we have the perspective that life is short, the world is big, and kids grow and learn too fast to waste time waiting. david and i and ramona and james really like one another, really like one another's company, and find that the four of us have a great time together and come alive with curiosity when we step out of our home, our comfort zone, and have a good groove when we do. we wedge big trips into small slots, we sacrifice sleep and comfort, we literally fly by night, and make it back in time for school and work the very next day at 8 am. we have a relentless itinerary that most people wouldn't call "vacation" and taking anyone else along on a vacation has truly never occurred to me.
i don't know, maybe i sound defensive. maybe i feel the need to defend or justify this approach to life, because i know i'm the big pusher of this active activity lifestyle. but i think we are ok, and i think i'm not going to let other people's opinions change my beliefs or approach to life.
anyway. i use this blog to mark our memories, and here comes more memory recording of a trip (a vacation?!) so i can pull up details later when my memory fails me.
this spring break week, we double masked the kids and ourselves, thanked our lucky stars for our adult COVID vaccines, and boarded a plane to palm springs california. we have been eager to get to palm springs only because of the desert modern ranch architecture and it's proximity to joshua tree national park. traveling during a pandemic means selecting a national park that is all outdoors (sorry hot springs arkansas, we're coming soon!) and overnight accommodations that are self contained (thanks airBNB!).
we were in palm springs for a full 7 days, and were kinda amazed by the natural features: there in the middle of the desert sits a green palm tree laden oasis called the coachella valley, ringed by tall scrubby dry brown mountains that appear to arise out of the flat ground and shoot straight up, casting shadows around the green valley. the san andreas fault line runs right under interstate 10 through the coachella valley and the fault allows water to bubble up to the surface, accounting for the oasis of palm springs. very cool. very looney toons sort of desert.
our airbnb was a modern recently built concrete bunker on the edge of palm springs, which is a small and easily navigated town. our backyard ended at the bottom of a mountain, and the front yard looked across the valley. we were 2 miles from the old part of town where all the very cool modern museum-quality mid century homes are. it made for great, flat scenic running, that was only tolerable if done by 9am. the pool was of critical importance on those hot afternoons, and the outdoor grill and ping pong table were much appreciated.
and the view from behind on the stroll for morning coffee and pastries...
the mountains around the city are loaded with public hiking paths, and private paths owned and operated on cahuilla indian reservation land, and you better believe we struck out onto a hiking path first thing on our first day there. we hiked the south lykken trail in the blistering sun on a 95 degree day and got some sweet views over the valley before calling it quits in search of ice cream at 11 am. we found some.
after learning our lesson about starting a hike at 10 am, we started on the tahquitz falls trail by 730 am a few days later, and were richly rewarded by a lush running waterfall, lots of native american former rock dwelling sites along the path, and sweet cool shade in the canyon. highly recommend, if the river is running.
because of the pandemic, the art museum was closed, but we found lots of public art installations while wandering around downtown, and plenty of outdoor patio dining. 
on another very hot day, we visited the palm springs air museum which is 4 very very big hangars full of war planes through the years of the 20th century, and a tarmac full of more planes. one kid (james) eagerly gobbled it up, having recently decided that the flying fortress B-29 is his favorite plan after watching unbroken, and then more recently deciding that the tuskegee airmen are hands down his favorite heroes ever after watching the movie redtails. ramona was hot, and mostly uninterested. she was a pretty good sport. she knew it would end in ice cream. it always does.
the air museum had a B-17, not a B-29, but it was close enough, satisfying enough, and frankly pretty amazing. there was an old cargo plane with an intact cockpit for playing in. it had all kinds of helicopters, including the ones my grandpa flew, and war planes flown by redtail air force pilots, including an entire wall of one hangar devoted to the history of the tuskegee airmen in WWII. it was a morning well spent. 
on yet another hot day, we set out on another hot hike in the coachella valley preserve. this is the hot bed of ground water directly over the fault line and the palm oases are many, are thick and green and lush, but the surrounding desert through which you must hike is just hot hot hot. this was a favorite visit spot for me, and i wished we could have spent more time here, but we timed it wrong and weren't getting any farther without burning our northern skin and turning into dust. 
we met up with our friends from LA who also happened to be spring breaking as a family in palm springs, joining them at shield's garden and date bar in indio, slurping down a date milkshake (look it up: it's real) and taking a walk through the scuplture garden featuring some important stories in the early part of the new testament. it was holy week, and the timing was just right. 
happy easter!
speaking of holy week, we spent easter sunday in the house, listening to all the celebration hymns, hunting for easter eggs in the cactus landscaping, and laying low enjoying the day. after the traditional easter dinner of spaghetti (im kidding, but we really did have spaghetti) we watched jesus christ superstar. some traditions are utterly unbreakable.
nothing says easter like pickles for second breakfast in the hottub.
did i mention the airport is all outdoors? it is. 
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