On Halloween, two friends and I decided to spend 5 days in Palm Desert, followed by a mini roadtrip on the way back to San Diego. Continue reading for details!
Where we stayed... My parents own a house at Desert Falls Country Club. The house is open concept, 3 bedrooms, and 5 beds. My favorite part is the master bedroom, breath-taking views, a huge bubble bath, and a California king mattress.
Here is the airbnb link...
One of my favorite things to do here, is waking up for sunrise. It is the most beautiful time of the day here, since the sun rises from the East. It creates a beautiful pink shadow over the Little San Bernardino Mountains.
You can also tell from pictures, the pond in front of the balcony, breaking up the golf course from the house. The pond reflects the amazing palm trees and has wild life swimming in them, including ruddy ducks, coots, and mallards, once in awhile you will see a large gaggle of geese come by.
Follow the home on Instagram!
They provide lots of cooking utensils as well. I love home cooked meals, and conveniently there is a Ralphs less than a mile away. Nothing better than a big kitchen to cook in with a built in wine fridge! I will have a post on some popular dishes, coming soon.
This house is decorated modern retro, which goes perfectly with the Palm Springs theme. This county, back in the day was a getaway for Hollywood stars. Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack were the two who really put Palm Springs on the map with Polynesian cocktail parties, massive pools, and impromptu open mic performances in the 1950s. The mid-century modern design came from post World War I design, blending in with the aesthetic to suit the red, sandy desert and surrounding mountains.
Desert oasis is the perfect name for this home. Once you walk in you immediately feel the ambiance. The open concept makes it easy to spend time with everyone staying there. It is a real bonding moment for friends and family.
Not to mention there is 1 of 14 pools right by the front door, including a jacuzzi. In the garage they provide you with floaties and bikes. With the deserts amazing weather, the pool is a good idea year around!
Something to keep in mind, if you plan on sitting in the house for the weekend brings games and crafts. We brought dice games, Uno, Yahtzee, chess, and mood board crafts!
A mood board is an arrangement of images, materials, text, and whatever your heart desires. You do not have to be creative, just inspired. I got images off Pinterest of my favorite things, quotes, and images of me. It allows you to manifest, have gratitude, and put together something unique that is abut you. This is a form of self-care, which is very enjoyable to share with friends.
Downtown Palm Desert known as El Paseo, world class shopping. Their shopping selection is out of this world! They have high end to boho-chic stores. It is a resort styled look that transitions from day to night. They have all sorts of styles from today to mid-century modern style. The Shops on El Paseo, are a must see, even if you just want to look around.
Along with shopping, El Paseo have fantastic drinks and food. There are more than 20 restaurants in the area as well. With exotic flavors and menus, making it an unforgettable experience. The Coachella Valley has emerged into a leading culinary destination for chefs and foodies. Want a great drink? El Paseo has some of the best mixology, with some killer happy hours. There's even great bars for those later nights.
Not only do they have great shops, eats, and drinks, they have fantastic events too! Check out El Paseo's calendar for their next event while you are there. (15 minutes from airbnb)
Downtown Palm Springs which is along S Palm Canyon Dr. It is a desert getaway for vistors, wellness enthusiasts, and architecture fans. Which offers fine dining, casual dining, upscale boutiques, incredible museums, family-friendly activities, and more! Downtown Palm Springs has all the above plus some great night life and out of pocket thrifty, unique stores. This area is pride central, with plenty of fun gay nightclubs. (30 minutes from airbnb)
Elvis and Priscilla Presley's neighbor hood, Vista Las Palmas is a main attraction for the Palm Spring area. Many people drive through to check out the luxious houses built, starting in the1950s and now. Their home was known as their honeymooned, the House of Tomorrow. There were many more homes built in this neighborhood by other celebrities, like Marilyn Monroe as well. Approximately 330 homes, with a mid-century architecture. Many people drive through this neighborhood, right outside of downtown Palm Springs to check out the amazing homes. I was lucky enough to stay in one of the airbnbs for Splash house, a music festival held in Palm Springs.
On our last day we headed back home to San Diego, but had some pit stops along the way. We first hit Salton Sea Beach, which was 45 minutes from Palm Desert. What I researched was exactly what I experienced, stinky, along with plenty of flies. Aside from that, worth the trip, because it was beautiful. Plenty of availability from camping on the 'beach', along with other outdoor activities, like biking, kayaking, and wading.
The current Salton Sea was formed when the Colorado River floodwater breached a canal in Imperial Valley in 1905. Since then the sea has been maintained by irrigation runoff in Imperial, Coachella Valley, and local rivers. This is a terminal lake, it is increasingly concentrated salts, resulting in salinity, that is 50% greater than the ocean. With the high salt in the open water, caused the reduce of fish, whited eliminated the population of more birds.
Here is the link to parks California for camping reservations.
Bombay Beach, was one to remember for the rest of our lives. After driving around looking at the beautiful art, like everyone was doing in their cars, we got stuck. Lucky we were only stuck for an hour.
You may be thinking... what dumb asses, you're not suppose to drive your car in sand... check out this Facebook group of 500 members that also got stuck.... https://www.facebook.com/groups/542987943061824
Thank goodness for this number! We had 3 separate cars come up and try to help, AAA does not go in sand, and the other option was $250 an hour... thank goodness for these locals.
Onto the history of Bombay Beach, when you enter, you drive through an old neighborhood with unique houses and trailers. Once you get to the map destination, you go over this hard dirt bump into a wonderland of structures beyond rotten, that started in the 1940s. It started out as bacchanalian spring arts festival, over the years, the towns demolished waterfront, jagged collection of debris, and salty winds with triple digit weather, is now known as the "Bombay Beach Ruins".
This art was worth getting stuck. It is about the experience with friends and learning new stuff for the future. We were able to laugh about it, knowing we were going to get out and laugh about this story for years. It is all about mindset!
Next up the list was Salvation Mountain, in Slab City. Before this was known as a toxic nightmare, after 10 years of relentless toil. July 1994, the state of California had a petition to tear down this man, Leonard's, mountain. They fought back, finding out there were no unacceptable levels of contaminants.
In 1988, Leonard experimented with bales of straw and adobe, that would insulate from the 115+ weather, and now made up of 100,000 gallons of paint and hay, which people donated. This mountain continually evolves, to this day.
His message was LOVE will be seen all over the world and that people everywhere will show more love and compassion. He believes that love is the answer to peacefulness and harmonious existence.
When you arrive, do not block the driveway! There is always someone there to make sure people are respecting the property.
It will be a short trip, yet so much to take in. You are able to walk on the blue and yellow paint to explore.
Along with the beautiful mountain, there are many vehicles with lots of paint and decorations on them. Including old cars, trucks, buses, and tractors. This was 40 minutes from Bombay Beach.
On the Road to Julian, about an hour and a half from Salvation Mountain. Enjoyable drive to say the least. Once you pass the north side of the Salton Sea, you go through the Anza-Borrego Desert state park, you immediately enter the trees and freshness of the forests, which leads you to highway 78, towards Julian.
Talk about a change up, make sure you have a good playlist, put down your phone and enjoy the scenic drive. This day took 10 hours, lots of time to make memories.
Roadtrips, are not for everyone. It takes a type of person with patience, enjoying the moment, and creating memories with your friends.
For me, it is okay to stop anywhere your heart tells you too. Gives you the space to take in the scene, moment, and take creative pictures. Even if you do not post it, you can look back and reminiscence on that fun roadtrip.
I hope this influences you to take your own wholesome adventure. There will be many more posts about mine!
Photos taken by Kailynn (excluding the downtown pictures)
This was the best trip! So grateful to have been able to stay at the rental and had so much fun on the road trip back. It doesn’t get much better than being able to explore new places… Great post, love the history!!