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A Few Days in Palm Springs

Palm Springs Activities

Hello, my Polite Travelers,

As an older couple, we often just want to relax and enjoy our favorite places at a leisurely pace. This was the case during our recent revisit to Palm Springs. For the most part, we explored downtown, stopping for coffee and chatting with the locals. Additionally, we embarked on a few other excellent adventures.

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

As a Smithsonian Affiliate, I found this museum to be outstanding.  This museum is a mixture of immersive video, sound, and visuals (including lifelike exhibits) to tell the story of America’s rich—and many times heart-wrenching—indigenous story. 

The permanent gallery begins with the 360-degree immersive video of the Agua Caliente “Creation & Migration” story.  The quality of their digital animation and sound is impressive—there’s even a screen on the floor.  I found their creation story to be fascinating.

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The second room, “Our Land,” contains a variety of exhibits that represent the Agua Caliente ancestral lands, sacred hot mineral spring, ceremonial practices, and artifacts.  There are also several audio-visual learning stations and a video room. 

The third room, Change, Adaptation, Self-Determination,” features a timeline of “notable events.”  These span the time from the occupation of Agua Caliente lands through the present time.

By the time I entered the fourth and final room, “Into The Future,” I was emotionally overwhelmed, but also in awe of the Agua Caliente’s strength, resilience, and forward thinking.  Most of this room features recently unearthed artifacts that demonstrate the people’s history.

My rating: a solid 5/5, a must-see.

Joshua Tree

Wow, simply wow, describes this region.  The mountains, hills, and vegetation are remarkable.  On my few drives through Arizona and through the Navajo Nation, I’ve seen similar mountains.  But the landscape of the Mohave Desert portion of this park is breathtaking and unique.  Most of the unique Joshua Trees and rocks (huge!) are in this portion of the park. 

We made the mistake of traveling through the entire park beginning at the west gate.   The park is split between the Mohave and Colorado deserts.   The Colorado desert portion is bleak—not worth the miles put on our vehicle.  The gate choice is great—West Gate, Park Boulevard.  Yet, if we had stayed on Park, which turns into Pinto Basin Road, and then turned left (north) onto Old Date Road leading to 29 Palms, it would have been much better.  This quirky town is known for its love of art.  Of course, one can begin their trip through the park in the town of 29 Palms. 

Palm Springs Museum

We’ve visited before and thoroughly enjoyed it.  This time, we roamed for three hours.  It was deliciously enchanting. 

Please read more about it from my last post.

Will We Return?

Absolutely!  I love the architecture, the landscape, and most of all, the people.

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