El Paseo

The fancy shops are found at the high end shopping district called El Paseo.  As it was Friday night we figured we would go over there and do some window shopping and take a look.  

It's an outdoor mall with beautiful palms, cacti, and water features.

These palm trees were all immaculately trimmed.

We couldn't believe it but the shops were closed, just some restaurants were open.  We met up with Brianna and Greg at Tommy Bahamas where they were just finishing dinner.  There was a comfy outdoor lounge there with cool misting sprays overhead and it was a great place to relax.

Ken double fisting Mojitos!

Ted double fisting chocolate caramel dessert!

It was our last night here and it was great to spend it together, tomorrow we all head home - the weather forecast shows rain showers for the Fraser Valley so it'll take awhile to adjust our body temperatures after being in the heat down here.

Evening

The day time hours are hot and we've been spending time at the pool to keep cool and in the evening it's still very warm but great for sitting on the patio. Last night was perfect for a stroll.

Views from our patio

Ted and Ken decided to stroll over to the closest green and practice their putting. 

The green is in front of a private residence which has it's own pool.

Later as dusk fell Ted and I walked over to the Cork Tree for a nightcap. It was still so warm we were ready for a cold drink by the time we got there!

The garden lighting there was beautiful - and check out these reptiles!

And on the walk home afterward we saw that bike lanes are also cart lanes

- only in Palm Springs. :)

Tennis

We walked over to the tennis courts in the morning to try and beat the heat of the day.  It seems that's almost impossible to do as I was sweating before we even started to play, I guess maybe you get acclimatized to it if you live here.

We had some pretty fancy footwork!

In the afternoon we spent some time poolside, did a little bit of local shopping and then headed out for dinner.  We stopped in at the Yard House on our way and the number of beer on tap was unreal!
 

The taps were on both sides and ran all the way to the back of this photo, with a break at mid-section so the bartenders could access both sides without having to go all the way down to the ends.
 

CHEERS!

Golf Gallery

Today we had a tee time for 2pm.  Ted, Ken and Shirley were looking forward to golfing, and I was to be Ted's caddy and cart driver.  I also managed to give Ted a few unsolicited tips from time to time.

Ted managed to land on his own little island in a sand trap

It's a beautiful course and was a fun afternoon but after five hours it was time for a cold drink!

Desert Falls Country Club

First Full Day

This morning we walked over to the golf course and tennis clubhouse to see what the local facilities were like, on the way we saw some pretty interesting vegetation.

Our villa, backing onto the golf course - beautiful.

 

Whoever heard of purple cactus??

 Biggest aloe vera plant ever!

Some sort of cactus

It was only ten o'clock and we were already hot by the time we walked about fifteen - twenty minutes or so.  After checking out the clubhouse it was time to head to the pool by our villa to cool off.

Shirley and I 

Ted totally relaxing

                                 Lazy days, what a life we have down here in the dunes...

Snap Decision

Palm Springs Baby!

Every once in a while (a very long while) Ted and I surprise even ourselves, and this is one of those times.  Normally I plan and research the heck out of everything well beforehand - not this time.  Shirley texted me Monday night telling me that they were going to Palm Springs on Saturday for a week and that we should join them.  After a short flurry of back and forth communication it was done, our flights were booked.  

Really cool restaurant with tons of character inside and out, the place was rock in'!

There was a live band there playing great music so Shirl and I danced off some calories in the hot sun!

After a great lunch we were off to Costco to stock the condo for the week, then check out the area.