Desert Hot Springs Week (Feb 21-26)

We arrived in Desert Hot Springs and got a campsite at Catalina Spa for 5 nights. Blue sky and temps in the 80s. Nice view of the mountains, sunrises and sunsets. We like this area because the pool and spa are connected to a hot spring that flows out at 130*.  Cold water is added to bring it down to 90* for the pool and around 103* for the spa. The system flushes itself several times a day so no chemicals are needed. Many snowbirds had already left for home so the park wasn't very full.  I went to line dancing class every morning and Sonny did for 2 days. He was happier to ride his bike instead! We found Starbucks in town for our afternoon coffee. We went to the Living Desert Museum another day  and had coffee at the Starbucks on El Paseo, the "Rodeo Drive" of Palm Springs.  It was interesting to people watch.  On Thursday evening, we went to Village Fest in Palm Springs.  3 City blocks are closed to traffic for a giant market event. Another afternoon, we stopped at a date farm for local fruit.

Palm tree microwave tower.

Village Fest percussionist

Hard to really see this guy but he was playing an electric bass and looked

like a character from the Star Wars bar scene.

Local artist's manikin display

Seattle Sea-hawks tooth fairy pillow

Lower pool house for "bobbing" with the noodle

View on my walk to line dancing class.  There is a gondola ride up the face of the mountain in the distance but I was too chicken to go.

In the lot behind us, there was a grading project  going on.  I

was learning how these trucks work.  They unhook the

trailer and dump the load on the truck,  Then, the trailer load slides into

the dump truck and it gets dumped. 

In Desert Hot Springs, the utility boxes are artistically painted.

El Paseo in Palm Springs.  Beautiful flowers in the median and pieces

of art.

At the Desert Museum, there was a huge model train exhibit with great detail.

The train had a disaster at this bridge.

Many parts of the country were included in the exhibit.

Safari exhibit with long horns.

Giraffes in the distance

Wild boar

Kissing camels

The children's petting area. Goats are my favorite.

Really long horns.  This guy had his head tilted sideways maybe

to rest his head?

Zebra habitat

"Kori Bustard", egrets and cranes

Fennec-small desert kitty with huge ears.

Abyssinian ground hornbill. The blue is his eye and beside that, it looked

like an airplane intake valve on his head.

There were desert cactus gardens throughout the park.

Wolf on his walk.

This  mountain goat was easy to spot. There was a 2 week old with it's

Mom on the hill, too

Rare chance to see a young one.

Trees with feathery blooms.

Ground owls that were about the size of a bowling ball.

They had  burrow in the ground.

Unusual cactus growth.

Another garden

Desert blooms