A HOPE and a BOND House

Monday we took the Araby Trail which snakes its way up a canyon wall and then at the top joins up with a number of other trails.  We were limited to the the first part of the trail which is probably only about 1 1/2 miles out as the rest has a "no dog" policy and we had decided once again to bring Charli with us.

The main attraction for tourists is this trail goes past and above Bob Hope's former house.  You can also view the house used in the Connery Bond film "Diamonds are Forever".  Apparently a house owned by Steve McQueen is also in the area however we weren't sure which one it was or if in fact it was even visible from the trail.  Apparently the Hope house was listed a few years ago for $50 million and it must have sold as it was evident from the workmen around the house that it was undergoing renovations.  Lori took a look through her binoculars and she couldn't see any furniture inside.  The Bond house was apparently also just recently purchased.

It was a relatively easy trail especially after the one we were on two days earlier.  There was a pretty good climb on some switch backs but the trail was mostly open with little required in the way of scrambling over boulders.  We got to a point just below the Bob Hope house and we came upon the sign banning dogs from going any further.  Lori decided to stop there but, Shhh don't tell anyone, Charli and I persisted and went up anther few hundred feet so at least we could look down on the main attraction.  While I was tempted to keep going to the top I know from past experience that often the top that you can see is not really anywhere close to the top.  I snapped a few pics and we headed down to join Lori for the trek back to the truck.

White and Red Rose bushes lined the fence.

Not sure whose house is in the foreground but thats the Hope saucer roof up above.

Thats the Bond house up top so must be a Bond girl below.  

As with most hikes in the area, great view of the Coachella Valley

Hmmm $50 million.  
This is the back and those 2 white circles are the water tanks. 
I'm sure it looks better from the front and no doubt it has big rooms, 
great for entertaining and the view is fantastic but for $50 mil 
I don't think I would have designed a flying saucer. 

The nice thing about the view in the Coachella Valley, 
unlike other great views closer to bigger cities, 
is that there is very little haze from pollution.  
Most of the haze that you do see drifts in from LA. 

Starting to warm up so time to doff the legs.  

Bond house at the top

Plane landing at Palm Springs International Airport.
We watched for about 15 minutes and watched about 7 jets land.
They were stacked and circling further down the valley
 waiting for their turn.

Another 1,000 words

So which one do you like.  
The Colour version, beautiful but perhaps a bit boring 

The Black and White.  A little more stark 

Or as described in my iPhoto program the "Noir" version.
I kind of like this one.  Has kind of an eerie Hitchcock feel to it. 

They do offer a tour of the Windmills which would have been interesting.

We only have a few days left before we move on to Yuma for a week and then hit the west coast.  We have managed to do most of the things on our wish list although I'm sure we missed a ton.  Have to leave something for next time.  The weather is now pretty good and the forecast is for more of the same so I expect we will spend the next few days sitting in the sun reading, some walks around the Park and a few trips to the pool and hot springs.  Oh woe is me.