Fairfield Inn By Marriott Palm Desert

... 8211; for 10.30 and it was already busy. I nearly missed the half hourly service thanks to the people in front of me in the queue engaging the only lady serving in an inane conversation about nothing at all – hello! People waiting here!

The cable car has a revolving floor so as you go up you get to see 360 degrees of view without having to move which is a very cool idea (and according to the ...

... I could make from G6 but decided as my Mum reads this I better stick with the Gee-whiz which is now my chariot of fire until the end of Feb.

Getting on the freeway at 2pm was a relief as I was tiring fast from the journey. Unfortunately me and the ****-Nav had a few more problems. To be clear this was a different Sat Nav from the ones used previously but you know they all talk to each other. What I learnt from this trip was ...

After a long couple months of grueling school, it was nice to take a little vacay with the family to palm springs. The Marriott desert springs is a gorgeous hotel on the golf course with ample room space and stunning views of the mountains. It's the 5th day of our trip and so far it's been very nice and relaxing. We've gone shopping quite a bit that I'm a little worried about how I'm going to bring everything ...

-It's about 4:30 AM. Martin Schatz and I are buzzing off of a potent brew of coffee his grandma made us. We have began our hike an hour and a half ago and have been charging up a mountainside in the dark to what would turn out to be the beginning of a 22 mile hike. The trail is known as the Cactus to Clouds which is claimed to be in the top five hardest day hikes in the lower 48 states. It connects the desert floor which is 200 feet above sea level with San ...

So Leah and I made it out to California last week and attended Festival 8 for Phish's Halloween weekend.

I've been to one of the previous 7 festivals and they've played 5 Halloween shows. This is their first Halloween festival and my first holiday experience. The best part of the evening is when they cover another band's entire album, taking it on as a "musical costume". This time was The Rolling Stone's Exile on Main ...

We have arrived in Palm Springs.

We spent the day shopping at the Desert Hills Outlet Center on the way here. It definitely lives up to its name of being a "premium" outlet. They had the standard designer fare, with great discounts. However, they just did not seem to have enough regular stuff. I was looking for some sports wear for ...

... outside world in over two weeks, so after a quick trip to the movie store, we made some phone calls home and settled in to watch "Choke," a movie based on the book Kirby just read. Jen and I didn't make it through and retired early to prepare for our day at Joshua Tree Desert. We awoke to a FEAST of homemade cheese sauce, potato bites, ham scramble, english muffins and infinite coffee. Kirby and Harry had started cooking from the moment that they had woken up and we made ...

... animals
running onto the street. We took the palm springs aerial tram up onto
the mountains. The 10 minute ride gives you amazing vies of the
mountains. It is a very pretty place to see and our last stop. I loved
our time here in California and there are many memories we will take
back with us.

Leg one of the trip completed. After the seven hour drive down the majesty, complexity, and ever-changing ephemeral dynamic beauty that is the I-5, I arrived in the brown-smothered hole of decay that is Southern California. Perhaps that's a bit harsh. It's good to be home. I only have the ability to berate Southern California because it's where I grew up. I cannot think of a ...

Day 1 (Wed, Jun 9, 2004) Thank goodness it's not too long of a drive from home. Had the flu for several days (since the Saturday before when we had a huge 2-part party for DS's birthday and a graduation party for SS). Not a pleasant trip. Since I was still suffering from the flu a little, sitting through graduation was tough, but I did it. It was quite ...