Here are more photos I took in the southern California desert, south of Palm Springs and east of San Diego, in February 2002. The winter weather down there is pretty nice, but the average high temperature in the area in summertime is 40º to 41º Celsius (105ºF). The slideshow runs for two minutes.
I love this part of the country. Some spots are really spectacular, as is the blooming of the desert after the right amount of rain in the fall and winter.
ReplyDeleteOnce, the thermometer went as high as 122 degrees F (50 degrees C)! I am a lover of heat, but that was hot. We kept the temperature at 80 degrees F year round. As i said yesterday, that was my little paradise.
Do you remember what year it was when I was down there during the blooming of the desert? I can't remember, and I don't know if I took photos.
DeleteIt will be one of these four years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. But I’d say 1998. Remember, you came down to see us several times at different seasons. Can’t you check with my photos or are they mixed with yours? One year, Walt joined you and we went to get him in San Diego. Was it that time we went to Fonts Point near Borrego Springs? I have no way to check. Another year we went to the Living Desert (Museum) in Palm Desert. Another time, with Walt, we went to the Painted Canyon...
DeletePossibly, my 1998’s and 1999’s photos were my Kodak not yours.
In that dry climate, 80 degrees is definitely doable!
DeleteEnjoyed these photos. I would like all the sunshine of living in the desert and those flowers when they appeared.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is what Europeans think of, when they think of the U.S.?
ReplyDeleteJudy
It is hard to tell, but probably not. The first time I went down to the Salton Sea I was really surprised to find no trees to speak of and I hated it. Then I went back several years later and, for some unknown reason, it clicked, and I loved it. I spent there some of the best years of my life.
DeleteThe point is, there is nothing there! If you see what I mean.
Lots of beautiful pastels in those photos...the average high may be 105 in the summer, but that's factored in with the cool temperature at night. Daytime could be 118 or 120.
ReplyDeleteBlooming Ocotillo were to die for! My two years in Palm Desert were a wonderful time for me, too! Sunny days, lots of swimming and beautiful, calming vistas towards San Jacinto! Idyllwild to cool off! For the two years we were there we went to Borrego Hot Springs over Thanksgiving and wrote our Christmas cards. That is a location like none other that I have lived in. Joshua Tree Monument was a thrill as was the hike we took in the palm canyon where the movie, "Shang-ri-la" was filmed.
ReplyDeleteHello Mary,
DeleteSince you lived in Palm Desert, you probably know my favorite restaurant there, the Elephant’s Bar at San Luis Rey (Louis IX of France) and 111. and also the Living Desert on Portola. The Elephant’s Bar is no more. Too bad!
To go to Borrego Springs from Palm Desert, you probably went down 111 to Indio, then 86 to Salton City and then, IIRC S22 to BS. Not far from there, there is Fonts Point which is spectacular! In fact, the whole Anza-Borrego State Park is spectacular. I lived 15 years in Salton City!
My time in P.D. was pre-The Elephant's Bar: August 1969 - August 1971 when I moved to San Diego to attend the University after graduating from College of the Desert. We did enjoy Cielito Lindo's restaurant on Portola, however! Your restaurant sounded fantastic from the little I was able to find in my research, chm. We camped in that Anzo-Borreo State Park and enjoyed the heated hot pools. I knew from reading that you spent many years in the Salton Sea. My parents loved to come down to the desert and after heavy rains especially to see the desert in bloom. On one of my return visits in 1989 we toured the Living Desert which wasn't there during our earlier time there. One of my closest friends from elementary school now lives 1/2 her year there and the remainder here in Oregon. She and her husband have developed a subdivision below Mt. San Jacinto (I have only read about it and yet to return for a visit). Now that I am a pickleball fanatic, I would really enjoy spending some time during the rainy months back in the desert. Our club founder and many other friends do stay and play until our weather is warmer. At least we have desert memories, right?
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary for all this information. Memories! I do miss the desert. In a way, it’s like a drug once you’re hooked! Well it is not really a desert, but an arid region with beautiful vegetation if you care to look at it.
DeleteCorrection needed: I know you didn't spend time "IN" the Salton Sea!!! Poor grammar and I know better! Fun to get to 'know" you, chm. Another believer in 'desert life' is more than other's might think.
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