Saturday, May 5, 2012

Las Vegas / Palm Desert: Friday, May 4 - Palm Desert

Despite our best efforts and plans, we did not get the early start from Las Vegas we had planned for, but oh well, we tried.  Our first stop after leaving Las Vegas were the factory outlets in Primm, Nevada which is right on California / Nevada border.  Val likes to stop there because there is a William-Sonoma Outlet store.  There are only seven of them in the US and the next closest one is in Texas.  After shopping and lunch, we were finally off to Doug and Ev's in Palm Desert.

There is no direct route from Las Vegas to Palm Desert so we decided to take a route through the Mojave National Preserve.  It was a lonely drive through that area, but quite interesting and if you like desert scenery, very beautiful.  We passed through the small (barely) towns of Cima, Kelso and Amboy before ending up in the larger town of Twenty-Nine Palms, which is the gateway to Joshua Tree National Park.  From there it was less than an hour's drive to Doug and Ev's condo in Palm Desert.

Doug and Ev are our good friends from Atascadero and they usually rent out their condo here in Palm Desert, but this weekend they were gracious enough to invite us.  We arrived around 4:00 and were welcomed by Doug and Ev with cold drinks and a beautiful balmy evening.  There condo is in a gated community and is a very beautiful spot.  The grounds are all kept up immaculately and there is a nice green belt that runs behind all of the houses.  There are also enough pools so that everyone has one very close by.  We sat out on the patio and talked for a while and then Doug barbecued some excellent porterhouse steaks for dinner which really hit the spot (much better than the steaks at the El Cortez).  After dinner we all went for walk and then more conversation.  It really feels like we are guests at a resort here. Thanks Doug and Ev!  The only downside is that Ev is getting over a bad cold and not feeling up to par, but she is being a real trooper and toughing it out.

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