North Lykken and Museum Trails

On Friday we decided to do Downtown Palm Springs which entailed walking up and down the streets of Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive.  To me this day crystallized something for me.

I am really looking forward to getting back home.

Now despite some iffy weather we have had a great time and seen some great things but we have been living in our trailer now since July 30 and some things are getting a bit old.  The tight confines of the trailer are made even worse when our four legged companion insists on parking herself right behind you.  So if you are standing in the kitchen and decide to take a step back to get something out of the fridge you are immediately stepping on a tail.  Now admittedly this applies more to Lori than to me for 2 reasons.

Firstly, our kitchen is just big enough for 1 person, then add a dog.  Well a second person just won't do.  As my creativity in the kitchen stops at barbecue, which I have been doing regularly,  and slow cooker meals (Lori has tired of those long ago) the kitchen is Lori's domain.  (OK, so this is a bit of a cop-out but I'm writing the story so you get my version).  The second reason is because in Charli's eyes Lori is her 1st person and I come a very distant second.  So that means Charli follows Lori everywhere and when Lori sits down Charli immediately wants to get up in her lap.  So there is little time for Lori to have some time alone as it were.  More on that later.   In Charli's eyes I am good for a few things and it mainly involves trips outside to attend to bathroom duties regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.  I guess it is nice to be needed and I'm pretty good at juggling a leash and flashlight with one hand and bagging and tying off Charli's latest deposit with the other.  Hey, we all have our skills.

I digress.  Back to the main reason it will be nice to be home.  SHOPPING.  Lori loves to shop.  To her its an Olympic sport and she is constantly in training.  To her its the thrill of the search.  Wandering into all sorts of stores, walking in zig zag patterns up and down the aisles, reaching out and touching every article of clothing, caressing it.  Its almost like the sweater talks to her upon contact.  "Yes, take me home, I will keep you warm, I am so soft, please take me home, I am so lonely on this shelf."  Now I will admit that in most instances she is able to resist the tug at the heart strings that these conversations are meant to inspire however that doesn't stop her from continuing her search.  Now what the search is for is often a bit mystifying.  When we enter a store I will ask; "so what are we looking for" and the answer I get is often ambiguous at best.  I think she is hesitant to tell me lest I spot the item immediately and eliminate the satisfaction of the search.

I, on the other hand, walk into a store, usually with a purpose, go to the specific section I'm interested in, pick something out, proceed to check-out and I'm done shopping.

Now if the measure of success is who purchased more at the end of the day I can hold my own.  If the measure of success is who touched the most merchandise I am truly a sorry excuse for a shopper.
So to wrap this up the biggest event for me when we get home is when Lori says that she is going shopping and that I need not disturb myself from my meditations on the couch to accompany her.  Next year she really needs to get comfortable driving the truck around Phoenix or accept me moping around the store as she pursues her Gold medal (see Olympic reference above).

Again this is my version of events.  Other perspectives may exist but its not their blog.

In defence of this ramble its late, nothing on TV except the ongoing saga of Trump Reality TV as shown 24/7 on CNN and MSNBC.  You would think that nothing else happens in the world cause it never makes the evening news.

Ok, on to our last hike on Saturday. The weather has been getting better so its time to hit some trails and boy could we feel that we hadn't been doing much hiking in the past few weeks.  The North Lykken trail merges with the Museum Trail and while internet searches differ it was about a 3 mile hike.  Not the longest and the way back was a walk thru downtown with a stop at Starbucks for a
Frappuccino so net calories burned was probably a wash.  What the trail lacked in overall distance it made up for in elevation change, about 1900 ft, and a rocky uneven surface which required concentration to avoid tripping and becoming the proverbial snowball rolling down a hill bouncing off boulders along the way.    

What the trail did offer was great views of the Coachella Valley.

Interesting what a little irrigation can do.
All the boulevards and lawns in the cities south of I-10 are lush and green
and perfectly manicured.  
North of the I-10 mostly brown sand and rocks.
Makes it easy to see where the money is. 

Finally convinced Lori to take off the sunglasses for this shot.
Still working on the visor.
Something about her hair.

All the rain we have been getting hasn't been great but
it does make for some nice pics with the 
snowcapped peaks. 

A little golf course below.  

I can see 7 hikers making their way up the switch back trail to the top.  
When you get to what appears to be the top there are more tops behind it. 
We were beginning to wonder if we would ever start the downward trek.  

One other thing.  California drivers are the worst.  Perhaps worse than Winnipeg drivers.  They all seem to be very impatient, zipping in and out cutting you off.  Double solid lines on the highway have different meanings down here too.  At home it means you can't pass due to limited visibility of oncoming traffic.  Down here it means to zoom up right behind you, pull out narrowly missing your back bumper, floor it and then pull in right in front of you.  In one instance it was a police car that did this so I can only assume that it is the law down here and no his lights weren't on.  In two other instances the cars whipped by me, pulled in right in front of me and slammed on the brakes as they pulled onto the shoulder.  I assume their phone rang and not wanting to risk getting a ticket for distracted driving (I assume that is a ticketable offence down here) they would rather risk killing us all.  I can hardly wait to pull the trailer through the LA freeway system.

Next up we get a birds eye view of Bob Hope's house and the mansion used in a little Sean Connery movie called  "Diamonds are Forever".