Looking In The Desert

I’m back out by the fire pit, writing the blog in the almost chilly late evening air. Palm Springs has been very cool, at least by their standards.


WEATHER ITEM   OBSERVED TIME   RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST

VALUE   (LST)  VALUE       VALUE  FROM      YEAR

NORMAL

..................................................................

TEMPERATURE (F)

TODAY

MAXIMUM         82    258 PM 111    1996  95    -13       86

MINIMUM         65    550 AM  38    1932  64      1       55

AVERAGE         74                        79     -5       71

PRECIPITATION (IN)

TODAY            0.00          0.00 2002   0.01  -0.01     0.00

2001

1998

MONTH TO DATE    0.00                      0.07  -0.07     0.00

SINCE JUL 1      0.12                      1.05  -0.93     0.40

SINCE JAN 1      0.19                      4.29  -4.10     1.71    

That’s 13&#176 below average and only .2″ rain since January 1!

Toward sunset tonight, there were a very few thin cirrus patches. It’s likely the official observation read: clear. In any event, they’re the first clouds we’ve seen.

Among the reasons for our trip, to see if we’d like to live here some day – maybe for retirement. Florida is very nice, but very humid and buggy. The desert is neither, but of course, blast oven hot for much of the summer.

A friend recommended a real estate agent and we spent the afternoon with her.

I was apprehensive at first. I can’t imagine Helaine was any more confident going in. But, it was a very good experience and I think we have a better understanding of what we can and can’t do. And, it looks like what we can do is what we’d like to do.

This valley seems to have nothing but rapid growth. There’s construction everywhere, both residential and business.

We got back to the hotel. By this time, having skipped breakfast, Helaine was starved. I asked Larry, who owns the place, where we should eat and he suggested Al Dente, downtown.

It was a five minute drive and there was parking out front. It is not like this in the season. October is still a slow time in Palm Springs.

We sat outside for dinner, right on North Palm Canyon Drive. There were still a few motorcyclists left from this weekend’s convention and they made a throaty gargling sound as they drove by.

Helaine had a pasta dish with fresh tomatoes. I ordered celery soup, thickened with potatoes and the stuffed chicken special. The soup was excellent and the chicken was very good and really moist. The service was attentive. What’s not to like?

This is a city built on tourism and people in the hospitality industry here understand that.

We’re really having a very nice time, but we’ll only be here until Tuesday morning before heading back to Las Vegas. This time we have to stop in Baker, CA to get some Alien Jerky!

At some point I’m going to have to tell you a little more about this hotel and the people who run it. It too is one of the pleasantly surprising pieces of our journey.

Not tonight. I’m turning off the fire (it’s gas) and going inside.