Rancho Las Palmas Marriott Resort & Spa Rancho Mirage

After several harassing knocks at the door (Hey – checkout is noon – its 9.30am so sod off) I got away from the hotel at a little after 10am. I had hoped for a return to the JT NP but when I saw that I had a 400+ mile drive and I wanted to ride the tramway up to San Jacinto I realised that was not going to happen.

So I got myself round to the tramway – which is basically a really big cable ...

... the S3 and TR6 are both small cars so I can manage. After and age of paperwork that required 25 signatures and a mini-lease agreement I went out to collect the chariot. OMG the correct expression would have been HOS (heap of sh*t) – I know this was cheap but the car was terrible. Small, filthy, stained and uncomfortable. My first instinct was to go back in and ask for another – but the lady serving me had had such a ...

... outlet mall wasn't quite what we were expecting. Looked around for parking for over an hour just for us to realize that we couldn't handle the madness! Mile-long lines coming out of every store that was just not worth the wait. Driving back, got stuck in traffic for an hour and then got lost coming home. Ahhhh! Tuesday night went over to yayas for authentic Mexican food! Tofu-tamales! So good, along ...

... desert dawn is deafening. How rare is it to hear nothing at all but your own heart beat? The presence of the moment is... well it just is. I love this about being on trails, being in the moment.
- We are scrambling up a steep and loose section of the mountain. We have climbed about 7,000 feet in the last five hours. I see footprints of other hikers, but I don't think this is the trail. I turn around and see the true trail below us. We are off the trail once ...

... be able to change color at his control. They had also had some kind of fire-art group come and set up all kids of displays that had a fire theme. Some you could even control shooting flames into the air!

The week before we went to Roger Cunningham's birthday and then Eric Koch's as well for a "try your costume" costume party. Lot's of fun this time of year.

Hope all are doing great and Leah sends greetings too!

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 ...

... absolutely beautiful.

We hang out as the sun sets listening to more Kirtan and sip a yerba mate. Looking forward to fancy yerba in Argentina. All weekend Mary prepares me for my trip informing me and sharing her stories. After her excitement and seeing/meeting people from all over the world here at Bahkti, I am officially ready for my travels. Peace USA! I'm OUT! Paz.

... to Los Angles go - so as we were enjoying the beach these massive trains flew past.

From Del Mar we went to the next town and had lunch and happened to come across some old London Buses which are used to take people to the Races. Paul took some pictures (of course) and had a little chat with the drivers.

We then took the back roads to Palm Springs rather than the motorway as we thought ...

... 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.

... about 7 hours, the food was terrible (what a surprise, we were back on American airlines), grey eggs, covered in what could only be described as an alfredo sauce... ICKY! Regardless... there was lots of reading, and some terrible movie, and a 3 hour layover, and then the 12 hour flight to LA, watched about 3 movies, slept, ate (or didn't) eat more terrible food. Made lots of fun of Beth for how bad her shoes stunk... its all love though ...