I went to Palm Springs for the day last week, and it was awesome.
Palm Springs is about an hour and some change away from where I live, and the Sundstrom gals and I decided to go for the day. The weather was great and nothing was ultra-crowded. Not a bad way to end spring break. Paige and I have already been here once before, so there were some things we knew we wanted to revisit — some food places and the aerial tramway, in particular. While we were in town, we fooled around in a lot of the touristy shops and got some great sandwiches. Photo cred Paige.After lunch, we decided to go up to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. You have to go up a long windy road to get to it, and walk up a very steep incline from the parking lot to the base of the tramway. The ride (which costs about $25 roundtrip) is scary the first time you go. You’re up 2 1/2 miles in the air, and the tram tends to swing as it hits three or four checkpoints — but Paige and I are pros. Poor Noelle and Mama Sundstrom, but they made it. Photo cred Noelle. The view from the tram is incredible. You can see the Palm Springs windmill farm out in the distance and the town that seems miniature, which is both fascinating and disconcerting. Compared to PS’s triple digit temperatures, the San Jacinto Mountains are only about 60 to 70 degrees. When we were here last in September, it was a very welcome break from the sweltering heat. There were actually more people on the trails than last time, presumably because it is spring break season. The trails are very walkable and present some great photo opportunities, which I appreciate both as a Girl Scout dropout and Instagram user. Photo cred Noelle.Some of the white in this photo is snow, which was cool to see in the middle of this March heatwave. Paige and Noelle also totally climbed that big rock on the right bottom corner. They are master mountaineers.Up on the trail there’s a tree that someone named Jeff (it even has a plaque) and it smells strongly like butterscotch. This was one of many of the big beautiful trees not named Jeff, featuring Paige and Zoë. Photo cred Noelle.Runnin’ through the six with my woes. Photo cred Noelle.I couldn’t get over how beautiful the day was and the sheer greenness of the foliage, which was probably the universe’s way of saying “You deserve a great end of spring break surrounded by some of your favorite people and things.” Thanks, universe. Good company, a clear blue sky and fresh air are real gifts. And finally, the real reason (especially according to Paige) for the trip — a milkshake from Great Shakes, which has a solid 5-star Yelp review that is well-deserved. I picked salted caramel, which was an A+++++ choice. And yes, that is a mini donut hanging out on a boba straw. It’s okay to be jealous. I would be.
See you later, PS. Now, onto spring quarter.
Have you been to Palm Springs before? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
Zoë Lance. 