Day six already!
Lisa wanted something other than the oatmeal and fake cheese omelettes offered by our hotel, so this morning we treated ourselves to a real omelette and some delicious banana pecan pancakes at a local diner. We continued with a visit to the Sunnylands Center and Gardens and then did a two-mile hike in the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve. After lots of walking in sandy washes yesterday, we were not thrilled to find the same type of terrain on our trail. It was super windy too, so the hike wasn’t all that memorable despite the palms. I’m guessing that we’ve been pretty spoiled with what we’ve already seen in the Indian Canyons hike.
After our hike, we drove to the Desert Hot Springs Hotel and Spa to check out their pool area. They offer a day pass for just $8 per person, and we thought about using our last full day at a local spa or pool. With eight pools of different temperatures and all having natural mineral water, this could be a great day for relaxing. The only problem is that it is pretty windy and Friday’s temperature is only supposed to get to a high of 65 degrees, so it might be a little chilly for us to attempt hanging out at the pool all day long. In addition to the Desert Hot Springs Hotel, we walked to their sister property Miracle Springs Resort and Spa to check out their amenities — at $14 per person, it is a little pricier but it is adults-only and it the grounds are a little more spread out. Both properties passed muster so now we’ll just have to decide if we want to do an all-day spa Friday.
Our next stop was a guided tour of Cabot’s Pueblo Museum, which has nothing to do with Native Americans and everything to do with some dude who, at the age of 58, decided to make a Pueblo type house made of recycled items that he found around town. It was really engrossing and well worth the admission cost and hour tour — all about some random guy who led a life that could be turned into a pretty interesting movie. It was time for us to eat, so after our tour we used an Entertainment book coupon to eat at a ‘holistic’ vegan restaurant. I had a “mesquite beet” burger and Lisa opted for a falafel wrap, and while both were pretty darn good, we both agreed that we love meat too much to give up being omnivores.
We finished our day with a visit to the Village Green Heritage Center, the Palm Springs Art Museum (free admission after 4pm on Thursdays!) and a stroll down VillageFest, a closed-to-traffic pedestrian-only street fair with arts, crafts, food and entertainment. With all that we’ve done, there is so much more to see and do, who knew?? But now it is time to turn in for the night, on this the shortest night of the year — happy Winter Solstice!
Log of daily expenses:
$19.00 Breakfast – CJ’s Diner
$17.48 Lunch – The Gray Cafe
$16.58 Dinner – Las Casuelas
$1 Mud Pie dessert from a dollar store
$54.06 Total plus $21 average daily cost for rental car