Monday, January 3, 2011

Winter Desert Trip (1): Palm Desert


Palm Desert, El Paseo

In my post on the last day of last year I said that I would love to share our winter trip to the desert with you. This I will do step by step since I don't want to "flat you" with one super-huge post and endless pictures. Plus, I'm still sorting through the photos, so this is a work in progress.

Our original plan had been to go to the National Parks in Utah. Those belong to our favorite ones, we had been to all of them repeatedly, but we love them so much that we never tire of them. There are always new trails to discover and revisit spots we cherish. However, the weather forecast for the region was wet, wet, wet - we weren't really keen on that. We had hoped for snow since the Red Rock Country looks so beautiful with snow, but there wasn't any in the forecast. So we checked out which places were dry and sunny - Arizona and New Mexico, no surprises here. So we went southeast.

And happened to have a full day of rain while driving down I-5 through Central and Southern California! The closer we came to the south the heavier the rain became. The Grapevine area was terrible (and it was already dark at that time)... Driving through L.A. was actually way easier than I had thought and we arrived in Palm Springs in the evening. The next morning was dry (not for very long though as we got to know later on) and we decided to spend the morning in Palm Desert - wandering along El Paseo, a long boulevard with nice shops and interesting sculptures.


Kaefer's take on photography

The shops really did it for me. Although I am not a big shopper (most of the time), I love to look at interesting stores and their window displays.



 These are all sequins!


Finally I found an Anthropologie store - the very first one for me (there aren't any where I live). I pretty much got blown away by this one - the displays are so creative and beautiful (the prices, though, are not!), it's a mere pleasure to wander around the store and take it all in.


And even the utility boxes were painted! I loved it.
 I wish this would happen in my town, it looks so much more welcoming - to change something rather ugly into something beautiful.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks like a pretty trip. I have a friend who has a 2nd home in Palm Desert but I've never been there. El Paseo looks very colorful. Thank you for visiting my blog.

La Vie Quotidienne said...

It is going to be so much fun to follow along with you on this tour. So far it is great!

Marianne said...

Seems we are both traveling. How much fun to be able to just get up and go. I have never been to Palm Desert but I have been to Southern Utah and I love it. Zion is my favorite and best Friends Animal Santuary very close to Zion. That makes it an extra special place for me.
It's great that you were able to visit an Anthropologie. We had one about 20 minutes away from where I live, but it closed. I miss it but my wallet doesn't. They have the coolest stuff there!
Be safe and have fun
Marianne

Darla said...

Ahhh, I love Palm Springs. Your post brought back lovely memories. One of my favorite things to do there is to go to the outdoor market at the College of the Desert.

Darla

Sheila Dalgleish said...

This reminds me a lot of Santa Fe. Pity about the Red Rock country, but it will be there next year....

gina said...

Lovely photos of your trip...I especially like the butterfly chairs! We went to Palm Springs last January for our anniversary and enjoyed the wonderful warm sun down there. There's so many art galleries and shops to explore.

Christine E-E said...

mentoring another photographer, eh??
I haven't been to Palm Springs for decades?? when I was a preteen, I would travel there with my grandmother... love the pics of the weather vane!

Meegan said...

You're making me homesick! I sooo miss southern California. Anthropologie is my favorite store, even though I can never afford to actually buy anything. We don't have one near us now unfortunately. I think it's a wonderful place to browse and get inspiration.

Anonymous said...

My family lives 45 min from Palm Springs area and I never tire of visiting it! It's especially nice now that I live on the freezing East Coast to visit in Feb.

Anonymous said...

My family lives 45 min from Palm Springs area and I never tire of visiting it! It's especially nice now that I live on the freezing East Coast to visit in Feb.