30th Wedding Anniversary

June 18, 2024

This is our first trip to California since we have moved to Arizona.  I will break this into 3 categories since we actually accomplished 3 adventures on this trip.  First, we spent a couple of days in Coronado Beach, outside San Diago.  Then, we drove to Palm Springs for four days.  On one of those days we drove to Joshua Tree National Park.  We originally intended to stay closer to Joshua Tree for one night but Teresa called an audible and increased our stay in Palm Springs.  Great call on her part.  Just like we have experienced at the other National Parks we have visited.  The accommodations at or near the park is sketchy at best.  Just something we need to keep in mind whenever we travel to a National Park.

First Coronado Island (peninsula really).  The beach is very highly regarded based on internet posts.  We would agree it is a very nice beach with powdery white sand beaches.  The weather was much cooler than we were used to coming from Arizona.  About 75 for the high each day.  Very relaxing.  The downside was due to bacteria in the water you were not allowed to go into the ocean.  Not sure how often that happens each summer but if we had planned a weeklong vacation with our children and then found we could not go in the water we would have been really, really mad.  But, for us it was fine.  I would have gone in but not a big deal.  Below are some of the pictures we took in the town.  It is a very quaint, quiet town and worth the visit.

These first photos are taken on the Hotel Del Coronado property.  It is a huge hotel on the island and is very famous for movie stars who have visited.  It is going through a renovation right now so we could not find a room there, but it would be a great place to stay in the future.  It really is the focal point of the island.  There are a handful of other hotels, but I think they are only there to accommodate the overflow at the Del Coronado.

Next up, Palm Springs.  Couple of comments.  First, it is the same temperate as Scottsdale so it was really hot.  Not sure why we thought it would be cooler considering it is also in the middle of the desert.  We stayed at a Mariott property called the Avalon.  There were 3 pools so we had plenty of places to cool off when we got too warm.  I do have to say the property was a bit warn out.  Could really use a facelift.  My guess it was built in the 50's and has not changed much since then.  Don't get me wrong, it was clean and a nice place to stay.  The rooms were perfectly fine.  It was just very dated and could use some sprucing up.  Other than that it was all good.

The entire city of Palm Springs was sort of the same way.  Very clean and nice but just seemed a bit warn out and dated.  There we very little development going on in Palm Springs which is quite different than most any city (large or small) that we have been to over the past couple of years where new construction is everywhere.  Not many pictures to share in Palm Springs.  There was a museum down the street from where we stayed that featured Marolyn Monroe (shown below) but we went to the museum on Monday, and it was closed due to summer hours.  Only opened from Thursday to Sunday.

And finally, Joshua Tree National Park.  If you have never seen a Joshua Tree this is your lucky day.  They claim the trees are on the endangered tree list but you could not prove that by me.  We saw thousands of these trees in the park.   This park was just ok.  We went on a couple of hikes but to be honest this park is almost a drive through and get out.  It is a National Park though, so we had to go see it.  Just don't have to go see it again.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is a typical Joshua Tree.  Note all the branches that extend from the trunk.  These branches grow as a result of the tree blooming.  Apparently, they only bloom when the temperature gets down to freezing.  The tree could go years never blooming because the temp is not cold enough.