Palm Springs

We found cheap flight to Las Vegas so we flew out EARLY Friday morning, rented a car and headed for Palm Springs. We like to do kind of sweeping adventures when we are out West. We drove through the Mojave Desert and decided to stop for a hike. It was still early there and already in the 80s. It was a warm hike and once I felt good that no snakes would be joining us, it was lovely. 

He never stays on the trail

Views.

"Airplane mode"

I never knew a desert could be so lovely

We were blessed with some wind to keep us cool

This hill felt steeper in real life.Please notice the Joshua Tree on the right.

I really wanted to see some Joshua Trees because they are supposedly going extinct. I love trees and they did not disappoint. There were actually more around our hike than in the national park named for them.

We originally planned to spend the night near Joshua Tree National Park, but the town was kind of crappy and the hotel's pool was closed so we called an audible and drove on the Palm Springs early. We found an awesome hotel that had reward nights available so we stayed for free at a place overlooking the mountains with a functioning pool. The ability to be flexible due to having a rental car and a lot of hotel points is the best. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and the view)

 Girl, Wash Your Face was an awesome read. I cannot recommend it enough for women of all ages.

ELMER'S

Importantly, being in Palm Springs meant we could go to my favorite West Coast breakfast restaurant, Elmer's. It did not disappoint. We were only able to stay in the hotel outside of town for one night due to a concert going on nearby so we cashed in more rewards points and moved to the Hyatt Palm Springs for another free night of lodging. You guys, Jackson traveling for work makes us traveling for fun much less expensive!

I was bummed to leave our hotel outside of town because it had better views, but the Hyatt had bar service that served me ICED TEA and Jackson margaritas. This is the life. A pool with beverage service is my new favorite thing. I mean reading for fun, getting a tan and drinking an unsweetened iced tea? SOLD. 

This is the life.

Since the Hyatt was right in the thick of things, we parked our car in a free lot (thank you, Town of Palm Springs) and just walked to grab dinner. Walking to meals is one of my favorite things about vacations.

Petefish

Pizza in Palm Springs

We were screwed up by the 3 hour time difference so we kept going to bed super early. This meant we woke up and had the whole town to ourselves. We went for coffee at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (another one of my favorites) and then came back to the hotel for breakfast. We ate by the pool which was lovely and then snagged chairs for some morning sunning before we got on the road to head back to Las Vegas. It is about a four hour drive back through the desert to get to the Strip.

Jackson loves to take "hot dog leg" photos