Garden and canyons in Palm Springs

[london1967]

My second day in Palm Springs didn’t start well, as I had one of my 'episodes' in the morning just after getting up: temporary hearing loss followed by vertigo and vomiting. So we shelved the planned trip to the Joshua Tree National Park and sat by the pool until about 2 pm when I started to feel better.
I was lucky that it was a mild attack and it was on a day where we could swap plans and didn’t have to travel.

In the afternoon, we went to the nearby Moorten Botanical Garden, which was established in 1939 by the Moorten family who still own it. The garden specialises in cacti and other desert plants, which are divided according to the desert of origin. It was an enjoyable visit.































As I felt so much better, we decided to drive on to the Indian Canyons, which are part of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. They are oases in the middle of the desert where thanks to the presence of water California Fan Palms (the only palm tree species native to California) and birds abound.







We had a couple of nice walks in Palms Canyon, one down to the canyon floor











and one to a small waterfall.









We stopped at the Andreas Canyon on the way out.











I really enjoyed watching the hummingbirds at the ‘feeding stations’ near the visitor centre (I know that they are commonplace in the US – indeed we saw them in San Diego and Phoenix too – but I had never seen them out of captivity and I was thrilled.)



















After getting back to the resort, we went out into town catching the Palm Springs "Buzz" free trolley service. On Thursday evening the 'VillageFest' is on, a street fair with food, art, crafts spreading down the main street for several blocks.
It was rather busy everywhere but we managed, after a wait, to get a table at Bill's Pizza: we loved the pizza. We had a 18" one: half Chicken Alfredo (Adrian's choice) and half Northern Italian.

Comments

[tbrough.livejournal.com]

If you get a chance, try Sherman's Deli. Good food and nice portions. I'm lad you enjoyed Village Fest, it's one of our favorite things to do in Palm Springs.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation but sadly we've been in back in London over 2 weeks now.
Hopefully another time!

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

More wonderful photos! One stands out to me ... the close up of the cactus!

I want a close of Adrian's shorts! I can't quite see the pattern.

HUGS!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Neil. Hugs back!

It's a floral pattern!

Sol Invictus

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

The cactus botanical garden has a smiling Sol Invictus at its entrance. He's the reason that Christians observe the "sabbath" on SUNday.

Chuck

Re: Sol Invictus

[london1967.livejournal.com]

That smiling sun doesn't look very Roman to me!

[bobalone.livejournal.com]

The canyons are fascinating: thanks for posting such excellent photos of the rocks, trees and cacti. The pizza, which Adrian showed on Facebook as well, looks delicious. I didn't know there is a local bus in Palm Springs; maybe I'll be able to go there some time after all. I'm glad your episode was short, and left without repercussions.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Bob!
I hope you too are having fun in San Diego!

Re the Palm Springs bus, it only runs Thu-Sun
http://new.buzzps.com/