02-17-2025 to 02-24-2025 First Week in Desert Hot Springs

 After arriving safely on Monday afternoon and getting settled into our site, I checked in with our friends to see how everyone was doing.  Jimmy and Nickie had been here for three weeks and so had already done many of the things we wanted to show Phil and Joanne for their first visit here.  However, the first priority for us the next morning was a swim in our favorite pool

It was a bit surprise to step into what we expected to be balmy warm waters to discover that the pool was barely 85 degrees.  It felt warm to Joanne, who is used to swimming in a cooler pool at her fitness club, but not to us.  We are used to the pool being a good 95F.  This year, as Nickie warned us, there have been a few issues with the well pump and the temperature of the pool has varied a bit.  We still enjoyed our swim, but it wasn't quite the silky warm bath we expected.

After some discussion, Nickie and Jimmy took off for parts unknown and Mo and I with Phil and Joanne decided that a visit to the Ten Thousand Palms Oasis would be a good starting point for a short walk for me and a longer hike for them into the desert.  Nickie had warned us that the oasis was much different than in the past, with floods and lack of funds to maintain the property causing serious damage.  We thought maybe we could at least walk down to the oasis even though the parking lot was gated.

Once we arrived however, we discovered not only a gated parking lot but signs saying no hiking was allowed in the area except on Wednesday through Sunday.  It was a bit of a disappointment because the photo below is what I remembered and wanted to share with my friends.

Mo and I have enjoyed many wonderful hikes in this area over the years, and we loved it for the shade, the water, the sound of the streams, and the wonderful visitor center that explained so much about the landscape, the San Andreas Fault that underlies the oasis and the native plants in this area.

Ten Thousand Palms Oasis is a private reserve, and it has suffered severe damage from flooding, and now from lack of funding.  This is what it says on the website: 

"We are a private 880-acre Nature Preserve within the Coachella Valley Preserve. The Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM), a nonprofit tax-exempt organization, owns/manages Thousand Palms Oasis in an ecologically beneficial manner consistent with local, state, and federal environmental laws. Founded in 1990 in California, CNLM protects sensitive biological resources through professional, science-based stewardship of conservation lands in perpetuity."

Instead, signs directed us to park a bit down the road at the Pushwalla Palms trailhead, and an interesting hike through open desert country to another smaller palm oasis. I have good memories of hiking the Pushwalla Palms trail with good friends Laurie and Odel back in 2010, but it isn't necessarily a good hike for weak legs and hot temperatures.

Sue and Laurie Brown hiking the Pushwalla Trail in December of 2010

On this hot day in February, Phil and Joanne, and Mo and I, parked our cars along the highway and started up the trail. (A little side note here: RVr's often used their towed vehicles as a sort of garage, and all the back seats are usually full of "stuff".  Hence, it is often the case that only two people per car are manageable without a lot of juggling.) The views from the top are quite spectacular and I was thrilled that I managed to climb the steep beginning portion of the trail to the overlook.

Joanne at the beginning of the Pushwalla Traill

Mo and Sue at the first overlook on the Pushwalla Trail

I watched Phil and Jo continue up the trail but had no desire to push my IBM legs any further in the heat.  I was thrilled to manage what  I did, with just about a mile of hiking.  Mo and I waved goodbye to our friends and traveled back home to the welcome coolness of the RV at the park. On the first few days at Catalina Spa, it was warm, but not too hot to stay comfortable with fans and open windows throughout the afternoon.

Visiting in the evening with our friends, we all decided that Wednesday would be a good day for the six of us to visit the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens on the southern side of the Coachella Valley in Palm Desert.  Mo and I are used to traveling the many routes from Desert Hot Springs across the Valley to Palm Springs and the many communities that line Highway 111 through the valley.

This was the first time we had visited this part of the desert without seeing wildflowers in full bloom in every direction.  The most prolific flower in this area is the sand verbena, creating carpets of purple across the sandy soils of the valley.

A Photo from a previous year of brittlebush and purple sand verbena along Varner Road near our campground at Desert Hot Springs 

This year, there was very little rain, and the desert landscape was dry and barren, with only crinkled brown stems where the verbena was on the ground and the brittlebush shrubs were covered with dried branches and no new buds or flowers to be seen. 

We expected the Living Desert to have a bit more color since it is partially irrigated, but the lack of water was evident there as well. The beautiful natural gardens depicting habitats throughout the Americas showed serious damage from the drought situation in Southern California.

Most of the habitats at the Living Desert are spacious with much-needed shade for the animals

The animals were still wonderful, and we were entertained by knowledgeable docents and volunteers who shared the stories of the important work that the park does to contribute to the protection of endangered species, with an emphasis on careful genetic management.  

I especially enjoyed the discussion of the difference between the white rhino and the black rhino.  White rhinos are big and have square noses, and black rhinos have a prehensile nose.  Originally, white rhinos were the only known species, but the name was a mistake in translation when someone mistook "wide" for "white".  Thus, when a new species was discovered that wasn't a white rhino, they simply called it a black rhino.  Both species of rhinos are a gray tan color.

Nia is still too immature to breed, but the plan is to mate Nia in about two more years with Jaali, who is also at the zoo.  The purpose is to help the world population of black rhinos, with only a little bit more than 6,000 animals left existing in the wild.

The park is quite lovely, with winding paths that are often circular.  The six of us started together, heading toward the giraffes, which are always a favorite.  

A yearling giraffe in the distance and one of the older boys reaching for leaves.  The newborns are not expected this year until May.

I was interested in the black rhinos, and Phil and Joanne followed Mo and me while Jimmy and Nickie headed back to the giraffes.  Mo and I started looking for another favorite of ours, the cute little meerkats.  Mattie sits much like a meerkat, so we always love watching them.

The four of us never saw Jimmy and Nickie again until everyone was almost finished with touring the park.  In the meantime, we enjoyed seeing animals from around the African continent, in addition to the special displays for North America, South America, and Australia.

The cheetahs are another favorite, at first sleeping in the shadows.  Our patience was rewarded when they decided to wake and travel slowly across the habitat.  The docent told us that the cheetah races that we saw a few years ago are no longer needed because the three cheetah sisters figured out they didn't need to race to get the treats offered at the other end of their area.  We loved seeing how incredibly fast they were back then.  This time, they simply sauntered, but doesn't that look like a magnificent hunting animal?

We were all amazed at the speed that this tortoise displayed walking toward us.  I don't think any of us have seen a tortoise walking upright on all four legs as this one was walking.

Joanne and  Phil at the Living Desert

We ended our shared time at the Kookaburra Cafe, where we had a great salad and drinks in view of the Big Horn Sheep habitat. With some urging from Mo, I stood up in the middle of the space and got a few long-distance shots of these wonderful animals in their perfect element.

There is so much to learn at the Living Desert, and each time we go, I am impressed with the wealth of knowledge about the animals, their breeding and habitat needs, and funny little tidbits of information that the docents offer throughout the park.  It was a nearly perfect day.

Once everyone was back home at Catalina, we got together a bit to discuss plans for Thursday.  It is interesting trying to coordinate different styles into something cohesive.  Mo and I are the only crazy ones who like to swim at sunrise and neither of us particularly likes going to the pools in the afternoon and evenings.  Jimmy and Nickie love to swim after long hot days on one of the many trails that they explore either with hiking or biking and Phil and Joanne also enjoy afternoon and evening swims.

One thing we all love to do, however, is eat, and after such a great experience with Jimmy and Nickie last year at Tommy Bahama's Marlin Bar we decided it would be a good choice with options for everyone.  Palm Drive is lined with many restaurants with streetside tables and any one of them would be a good choice to enjoy dinner before the Thursday night Street Market.

We had a great time with excellent service and delicious salads, sliders, and other goodies in addition to some yummy cocktails for some of us.  I especially loved the frozen specialty drink flight, mostly because it was so pretty.

After our early dinner, the six of us meandered through the market, sometimes together, other times not, and we all enjoyed the evening light over the mountains and the sparkling lights of the many bars and restaurants.  

It felt like a very happy evening for almost everyone.  It was especially happy for me because I dropped into a ridiculously expensive store called "Johnny Was" Palm Springs, and bought a beautifully impractical silk kimono in colors I couldn't resist.  

In the past, when we were in the Palm Springs area, I made the rounds between the many quilt stores that used to be here.  Most of them are now closed, so I could justify my luxurious purchase because I wasn't buying a bunch of quilt fabric this time.

Our friends Jimmy and Nickie left on Friday morning to return to their home in Nevada City, California. Mo and I were glad that our time at Catalina overlapped at least a little bit this year and we could spend some time together.

From left: back row-Joanne, Jimmy, Phil, front row-Nickie, Mo, Sue

Bye-bye to two of our good friends until next time. We are lucky that these two live close enough to us that we manage to visit each other every now and then and spend some good times together in the mountains of California or at the beach in Oregon. Just a side note here, for any readers who don't know this already: we met Jimmy and Nickie thanks to this blog and Nickie's blog, where we commented on each other's writings long before we met in person many years ago.

We still had a few days to share with the Hartwigs before we parted ways for a time, and those stories will come next:  to be continued.