Palm Springs. February 2020

Palm Springs

I’ve been wanting to visit Joshua Tree the last time I was in LA and I finally made the trip on a weekend getaway! We flew out to LA late on a Friday and stayed there for the night before making the drive out to Palm Springs. We had heard that the drive from LA to Palm Springs is marked by 1) windmill farms, and 2) billboard ads for dispensaries. While that is a very accurate description, I was more interested in the food as it was approaching lunch time. While waiting for our table, we walked along the main strip of Palm Springs, my body still adjusting to the warm sunny weather as I had just returned from Switzerland a few days prior.

Brunch in Palm Springs

We had a great lunch at FARM, a country-chic eatery with a beautiful garden patio.

After lunch we checked out the outdoor art fair and the galleries along the main strip. And of course we made a stop for ice cream at Lappert’s. Our original plan was to visit the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway before making our way to our resort hotel in Indian Wells, but the wait for the aerial tram is well over 2 hours so we decided to return early the next morning.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Fast forward to the next morning after a fun night at the resort hotel in Indian Wells, we got breakfast from IW coffee (their coconut latte is brewed to perfection!) and headed to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which features the world’s largest rotating tram cars. The ride covers 5 zones, transporting you from the valley station to the mountain station at 10,834 ft. Interestingly, the tramway was designed by a Swiss electrical engineer and manufactured by a Swiss industrial group based in Thun, Switzerland, where I was just a week ago.
Up at the mountain station, the viewing deck gives a 360 panorama of the valley as well as Mt. San Jacinto State Park.

Joshua Tree National Park

After our visit of to the Coachella Valley, we made our way to Joshua Tree for our hike of the day. We decided on the Mount Ryan Trail, a 3-mile trail that climbs 1,050 feet up for a panoramic view of the national park.