February already! More explorations of the Palm Springs area. Feb 1 - 3

Happy February 1st. 

In advance of the coming rain, we were treated to a fabulous sunrise this morning. I don't think we're going to get too much here in Coachella, but other areas close to Palm Springs is predicted to get quite a bit. The other suburbs west of us are handing out sandbags. Being that we're located at the bottom of the valley we should get quite a bit of run off I expect. Up on the top of Mt. Jacinto, accessible by the tram,  are expecting a foot of new snow.

Last night Ray covered up our bikes and put chairs away in preparation for the rain Thursday the rain came in at 10 am and continued for most of the day. Other than a quick run to Walmart, we spent the whole day inside.

Friday February 2nd. Happy Groundhog Day. Most of the varmets have predicted spring is coming, except our Marmot on Vancouver Island ... still hibernating (i.e. wouldn't wake up). lol

We woke to sunny clear skies as predicted. The rain is over! After doing some cleaning in the coach, Ray washed some windows while I did dishes, we were out the door at 9:30 am heading to La Quinta after we picked up some stuff I'd ordered on line from Walmart.

First up is Old Town La Quinta. 

Old Town was inspired by one man’s dream. After traveling throughout Europe and living in small coastal towns in Northern California, developer Wells Marvin moved to La Quinta with his family in 1997 to develop new homes. They brought with them a love of art and the California Renaissance architecture that defines the beauty of Santa Barbara, Carmel and the historic La Quinta Hotel and Resort.

With a commitment to the best of California craftsmanship and lifestyle, Wells spent seven years building Old Town. He created what has become La Quinta’s Main Street, a gathering place that reflects the romance and ambience of the promise that first inspired it.

So not really old .... but very picturesque.

Olive Oil Shop

We thought about going here for lunch, but they have a very limited menu.

So instead, we stopped at a cafe as Ray loves his baked item and coffee. This time he ordered a chocolate croissant and hot chocolate. 

After walking around for an hour it's time to go to the Civic Park, just around the corner.  A beautiful peaceful place to walk around.

Veterans Memorial

They had very fat looking carp. The signs say to not feed the wildlife but obviously people do as the ducks and carp come to where you stand.

Back in the car to check out La Quinta Resort and Club. This is where they filmed Season 16 of the Bachelorette in June 2020. They took over the whole resort for filming during Covid. "The show must go on" lol. They were able to quarantine everyone one including staff for 2 to 3 weeks before the show began so everyone would be safe.

Walter H. Morgan opens the La Quinta Hotel on 29 December 1926. Across 1,400 acres of land, the retreat features 20 guest casitas, an open-air glassed dining room and three courtyards. Morgan brings the golf industry to the Coachella Valley, and the hotel grounds include the area's first nine-hole course.

What a beautiful venue to stay at. The resort have casitas, suites and villas you can choose to stay in. They also have a great restaurant called Twenty6, where we chose to eat at.

After a great lunch of PEI Mussels for me and Ray's Mahi Mahi burger, we toured some of the grounds around the plaza.

The view of the restaurant we ate at.

We left the resort and it's off to Lake Cahuilla and check out their campsites for future reference. The lake did look down a bit and Ray didn't take any pictures so here are some from Google. They pretty much have the same rules as a State Park, with a 14 day stay limit and mostly power and water with a dump station. There are a couple of sites with sewer.

Quite a few sites that would fit us. A great restful place, but this campsite is so far from anything else you want to see.

On to our final destination, Shields Date Farm for Ray to get a date shake. We walked their gardens first. A beautiful oasis surrounded by the city.

Their restaurant

Besides different dates, they grow different varieties of grapefruit, lemons and oranges.

This shows the old ladders they used to access the dates. Now they use an "EZEE Lift".

Ray picked up his date shake just before he left to drink in the car. Time to go home. We were both pretty tired with all the walking we did. Back home for 3 and straight into the hot tub. Overnight the predicted winds came, but no problems as Ray'd prepped everything.

Saturday morning another gorgeous day in spite a a breeze. After regular morning stuff we headed out at 9:30 again to see the Cabot's Pueblo Museum in Desert Hotsprings. 

Cabot Yerxa was an adventurer, artist, and human rights advocate who built a Hopi-inspired pueblo out of reclaimed materials to highlight the culture and contributions of Native Americans.

A Hopi inspired Pueblo that is a unique treasure to the Coachella Valley, located in the heart of Desert Hot Springs. The Museum is close to Joshua Tree, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs. Built by Cabot Yerxa on property he homesteaded in 1913, he worked on the property until his death in 1965. Cabot journeyed through the desert; gathering reclaimed materials for 10 years; from as far east as the Salton Sea, north to Morongo Valley, south to Palm Springs and west to White Water. The structure is hand made, created from reclaimed and found objects. The Pueblo is four-stories, 5,000 square feet and includes 35 rooms, 150 windows and 65 doors. Visitors will notice many unique features: including windows and doors collected and reassembled from abandoned homesteads, old telephone poles, buck board wagon parts, and many other materials used creatively.

In May, 1917, Yerxa left the desert to join the Army during  He returned from World War 1 to the desert in 1937, and in 1939 began building a museum to house his collection of Native American and other artifacts. He fashioned the building as a Hopi Indian pueblo in honor of the Indian people, and he opened Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo in 1950. He operated it with his wife, Portia, until his death in 1965. Upon his death Portia returned to her native Texas and the structure was abandoned.

Yerxa's friend Cole Eyraud protected the settlement after his death and after it had been abandoned and vandalized. Eyraud and his family purchased the complex, restoring it and later donating it to the City of Desert Hot Springs.

Pretty cool place. We wandered around for an hour and a half, the first part being a self-guided audio tour through the inside of the pueblo.

This is the Trading Post and Gift shop where you pay and your tour begins. This building was originally the garage.

Audio Tour. 

The docent takes you into the "Water Gallery" and then hooks up your phone to their audio recording of the tour. Once you've listened to the information regarding how Cabot found both hot and cold aquifers you move onto the rest of the tour by yourself.

Ray and his doors'.

The small window in the door is for ventilation to help move the hot air up through the skinny staircases everywhere he built, so when you open the windows on the upper levels the heat could get out.

Cabot had quite a collection of native art.

The kitchen with a canopy over the sink to prevent the dust/dirt from the floor above from falling down when someone would walk on the floors.

Interesting elixers ... the quinine and strychnine dosage is a teaspoon three times a day!

Dining Room

Example of the skinny stairs, this one to his second wife, Portia's, private space. Their's even  a small kitchenette for Portia's to make her own tea.

A full bathroom including a huge blue tub, blue being her favourite colour.

French doors out to a private patio.

The last room, Cabot's space, the "Man Cave", where he would greet his guests including Native Americans. To make them feel comfortable the floors are dirt floor so Native Americans feel close to "Mother Earth".

The concrete tub would hold water so he could sprinkle the floor to keep the dust down.

The exit door.

Back outside the Pueblo, we wandered up to the Meditation Garden and up to the Well House where you get a view of the back of the Pueblo and Palm Springs in the distance.

Meditation Garden

The Well House

Back down the trail to wander through the other buildings.

The Tool House

The Barn

The Guild House

Cabot encouraged other artists to come, work and stay at the Pueblo. Two small apartments were available with roof decks for visiting artists, friends and family with spectacular views.

Waokiye was carved on site in 1978 by Peter Toth as part of his Trail of the Whispering Giants. Waokiye is 43 feet tall and carved from a fallen redwood tree and the feather is carved from an incense cedar tree. In the Lakota Sioux language, Waokiye is said to mean, "traditional helper".

The Gallery Room

It certainly is amazing what one person can achieve using nothing but recycled material. The only "new thing" he bought is the blue bathtub for his wife Portia.

Back in the car, we decided to take the back way home along Dillon Road. A very long up and down road over washes but peaceful. Back home at 12:30 in time for lunch. A quiet afternoon including a hot tub before making corned beef and cabbage dinner.