Palm Springs!

Ryan had a conference in Rancho Mirage (a city within the Palm Springs umbrella) and I tagged along for what I thought was going to be a few days in the hot sun warmed desert. Too bad it turned out to be SUPER windy and pretty cold.

Making the best of it, we set out to check out the sights of Palm Springs and take part of some of the conference's planned activities.

Tuesday morning, we drove into the historic part of Palm Springs, stopped for breakfast, and headed over to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. $22.25 gets you a ticket for a 10 minute ride that begins at the Valley Station at 2,643 ft and stops at the mountain station at 8,516 ft above sea level.

Once at the top, we entered Mount San Jacinto State Park and checked out the views and walked part of some of the trails.

(The start...the parking lot)

(Half way up...here is a view of the other tram going down)

(Its a lot colder at the top! It was 41 degrees!)

(The new tram car with the rotating floor that was installed in 2001)

(The original tram car that was installed when it opened in 1963)

Leaving the tramway, we headed back to the hotel, stopped for lunch, and made it back in time to catch the start of our windfarm tour.

(Me, the wind, and some wind turbines)

Wednesday afternoon...the wind hadn't let down AT ALL. If anything, I think it got worse. Of course, that's the day of our Jeep Tour of the San Andreas Fault. The Jeeps picked us up at the hotel and we rode them for the 30 minute (or so) ride out to the desert and faultline. Yes, it was SUPER windy and cold.

(Me at the bottom)

(Ryan at the top)