Visiting La Quinta

Believe it or not we didn't go skiing last weekend...  Instead, we did the opposite and headed south to visit Bob and Sherri in beautiful La Quinta, California.  A hop and skip from Palm Springs this town is a well manicured golfers paradise.  With over 130 courses to choose from it's no wonder that many retired folk have made a winter home for themselves in the sun.  "Feb-uly" was the new name we came up with for this mid-winter summer vacation.  Even though temperatures got into the 80's Zach and I were admittedly a little hesitant to slip on our flip flops, not sure if we should grab our coats or not.  But it didn't take too long before we were hot tubbing and swinging clubs with the rest of the locals.

We headed to Joshua Tree National Park for a day and toured the Dr. Seuss forest of strange ancient trees.  Some towering up to 40 feet high and ranging in age to 300 years old, the trees were unique in many aspects.  The park encompassed granite cliffs, rocks, and boulders, that any climber would be delighted to attempt and reminded me of the formations you might see in Arches Nation Park or Moab in Utah.   We took our time exploring on foot while trying to avoid the jumping cholla, a cactus that throws needles at you if you walk by too closely.  Never a dull moment!

Did I mention the fruit yet!?!  Delicious grapefruit, lemons, oranges, mandarin's growing everywhere like the Garden of Eden near the Lyle's house in La Quinta.  Zach and I found ourselves climbing in and out of trees in random places because it seemed too good to be true!

Another day we headed to a few different local outdoor markets, one in old town La Quinta, and another in  Palm Desert at the College of the Desert.  The latter market should probably be considered it's own city with the literally endless rows of tents selling any item you could imagine: socks, art, hats, purses, food, golf balls, toys, and yes cactus.  

On a couple of afternoons Zach and I had a chance to get lessons with a local golf celebrity, a.k.a. my dad. Very patient and obviously extremely knowledgeable in the sport we each were humbled to learn the seemingly simple yet very skilled art of golf.  At the end of our last lesson we made attempts to play the 12th hole with a large water obstacle and were thrilled when we eventually both made balls drop on the green.  No lack of audience as all the neighbors seemed to be enjoying the rookie entertainment for the first one, two, ok, maybe ten balls into the water.
 

Cooper, the cocker spaniel, was the golf cart mascot.  He did a great job defending it from any small dog who may be interested in joining our team.

Sushi, sole, Hawaiian Ono, and shrimp were some of the seafood delicacies we got to enjoy.  My favorite being a grilled lobster tail at the house courtesy of chef's Bob & Sherri.  Needless to say we weren't starving for good food :)

The last day in our desert vacation was spent hiking in the Indian Canyons just outside Palm Springs.  Palm tree's lined a rushing mountain stream that was melting below snow capped mountains.  Leave it to my husband to not miss a chance to point out the slopes that would be perfect for skiing if only they had about 4 feet of snow on them.  I was glad they didn't. 

And of course Valentine's Day was a special treat being with family!  That night we had a chance to see Ben and Jeannie who coincidentally were in La Quinta visiting friends.  Later we enjoyed a dinner at Arnold Palmer's restaurant with Bob, Sherri, and some of their close friends.  We are so lucky to be surrounded by such loving people :)

Thanks Bob & Sherri for treating us to a great weekend in paradise!