The Month in the Desert; A Vacation, April 8 – May 6, 2010 (Days 28-56)

So, there was a lot of relaxing.  A lot of tanning and not a lot worth writing about that wouldn’t bore everyone to tears.  Sam and I spent the last month at her parent’s place in Palm Springs.  Sam’s sister Ashley was there, so the three of us spent a lot of time hanging out.  I’ll knock out some of the highlights.

-          We took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.  Drove the entire park and climbed around on the rocks a bit.

-          Sam and I did a few hikes up in the hills of Palm Springs.  We never took the Sky Tram.  It is just didn’t seem worth it to pay $23 each to go see more snow.  We did a 3 mile Henderson loop out in Palm Desert, too.  I was brave enough to hike about 6000 feet up the Skyline trail one morning (and even met a UCLA law professor in the process).

-          We ate lots of frozen yogurt.  Palm Springs is packed full of the self-serve soft serve fro-yo shops where you make your concoction yourself then pay by the ounce. 

-          Sam took her Fundamentals of Surveying Exam in Pomona.  We stopped at REI to exchange Sam’s Keen shoes to get a better fitting pair.  We also managed to get some Chick-fil-A on that trip.

-          I love having a Trader Joe’s to do grocery shopping again.

-          We did an afternoon marathon of putt-putt.

-          I introduced myself to the grill at Mike and Sue’s (Sam’s parents).

-          We were able to check out the new house that Mike and Sue are moving into in Bermuda Dunes.  No more renting by the end of the month for them!

-          I gave blood.

-          We went to The Living Desert.  A very cool zoo out in Palm Desert.  It has two sections: The North American Desert and the African Desert.

-          In N’ Out Burger!

-          The Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs.

-          I applied for a few jobs out in DC.  Still haven’t heard anything from the Coast Guard about JAG.

-          Lots and lots of lying by the pool.  We actually had planned on leaving on May 3, but Sam’s parents talked us into staying a few extra days.  Sam isn’t supposed to start work until Mid-June and I haven’t heard anything on the jobs that I applied for, so we extended the vacation out a few days.

After all that, we are packed up and got ready for the road again on May 7.  Mike took us out for a going away dinner; all you can eat sushi and we are sad to be leaving.

Up Next: Wagons East!

M.E.