On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
I keep forgetting to remind you that we have only one more week’s worth of OTR posts after this week. I’m sure we’re all beyond distracted by the upcoming election.
FelonyGovt
My husband and I made a brief getaway roadtrip to Palm Springs, which is about 100 miles from Los Angeles. It’s a pretty desert town, surrounded by mountains, with a celebrated movie star past and a mid-century modern vibe.
Mountains and palm trees on a clear fall day, near the Palm Springs Museum of Art
The artist “Shag” is quintessential Palm Springs. He designed these street signs and has a large shop in town.
Colorful chairs at “Lulu’s” restaurant.
Another pretty Palm Springs scene.
Bougainvillea surrounds a small studio building on a mews in town.
Chris T.
I always thought Palm Springs looked pretty, but harsh (deserts tend to be that way) and every time I’ve been there it has been Too Hot. I always wonder how anyone lives there long term.
Benw
Very pretty! I love the desert in So Cal
p.a.
Beautiful, but uh-oh:
Where does Palm Springs California get its water from?
The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) relies on four sources of water to provide service to its customers: groundwater, recycled water, imported water from the State Water Project and the Colorado River via the Coachella Canal, a branch of the All-American Canal.
oatler
Bill Ogden produced a nice Palm Springs tourism poster complete with naked “local”.
Chris T.
@p.a.: Yes, it’s called “palm springs” because there are springs there that produce groundwater, fed by the mountains. They have quite limited output though.
WaterGirl
Thanks for the tour of Palm Springs. I just love bougainvillea.
Mustang Bobby
I have friends from Miami who retired to PS; it’s basically the same milieu but without the beach and the humidity. About 40 years ago I lived for a short time in Idyllwild, which is up on top of those mountains and about an hour’s drive down the road, changing in elevation from approx. 5,000 feet above sea level to below sea level in PS. It could be snowing up there and 80 in the valley. Fun fact: the highway from Idyllwild to PS is the road that had the car chase in the opening of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
jonas
@p.a.:
In Palm Springs proper, the water is virtually all from the aquifer formed by the San Andreas fault that runs along the valley north of the city and it’s a big one. There’s not really much agriculture to speak of in that part of the Coachella Valley that uses Colorado water — that’s further south in the Imperial Valley, which is 100% dependent on it.
jonas
Palm Springs is absolutely lovely between October and May, particularly with the snowy backdrop of Mt. San Jacinto, which is one of the most topographically prominent mountain peaks in North America. The rest of the year, it’s as hot as hades, but as they say, it’s a “dry” heat.
Yutsano
I’ve never been to Palm Springs, but I have been close. About 45 miles away is probably the most miserable military town I have ever seen: Twentynine Palms. Yeesh that place was bad. Two fast food joints, terrible houses, one bank, and no less than five car dealerships.
FelonyGovt
Good morning! Yes, it was in the 90’s while we were there, a bit surprising for late October!
jonas
Another fun fact about Palm Springs: most of the land in the city is owned by the Agua Caliente Indian tribe. Back in the day when the California Indians were nearly wiped out and a few survivors relegated to what was then thought to be worthless desert land, this group ended up with what would become some of the most valuable real estate in the West. They operate a big casino downtown and a bunch of other business ventures, golf courses, hotels, etc. in the area. They’re doing alright.
UncleEbeneezer
Never spent much time in PS but there is some really cool Mid-Century Modern architecture that we wouldn’t mind checking out at some point. There’s a killer motel that some friends of ours stay at whenever they go out there. I’ll try and get the name and drop it here in another comment.
UncleEbeneezer
@Yutsano: And a Robert Plant song!!
jackmac
I’m going to Palm Springs in a couple of weeks and can’t wait ! Thanks for the preview.
J R in WV
I had an internet friend and fellow rockhound who became an IT contractor, who moved to 29 Palms for IT work at the Marine base there — she was there for quite some time, then retired to a tiny mobile trailer and moved on, we know not where. Military towns are usually not really tourist attractions. At all.
Sierra Vista in SE AZ may be the only Army town that is actually a great small town, with historic Army Buffalo Soldier attractions to boot. It’s a very small base, tho, in terms of staffing.
jonas
@Yutsano:
You probably wouldn’t recognize it today. During the pandemic lockdowns, wealthy Angelenos were snapping up property and houses out there like crazy. Gentrified the shit out of the place.
Juice Box
@UncleEbeneezer: We stay at the Orbit Inn when we go, but it’s been a while. There are some other mid-mods as well. I would like to go for Modernism Week sometime.
Origuy
A little bit south of Palm Springs, in Palm Desert, is The Living Desert. It’s one of the best zoos in the country, focusing on desert and savannah animals and plants. There are also hiking trails into the backcountry.
FelonyGovt
@Juice Box: Modernism Week is fun! We have friends who exhibit at the big show there, and we went several years ago.
We wanted to use points for our trip and not spend too much. We found a surprisingly nice Best Western Plus motel on Indian Canyon Road.
Almost Retired
Beautiful photos! Heading out there after Thanksgiving for a weekend with old friends. Never get tired of Palm Springs! (but never go between April and September).
Martin
Not to harsh on the travel fun, but ProPublica has a nice profile on the water dynamics in the desert from Palm Springs to the east. There’s a real cost to maintaining cities like Palm Springs.
UncleEbeneezer
@Juice Box: I think it’s the Hideaway Hotel that our friends usually stay at and they love it.