Palm Springs lives up to the hype. As an east coast person, I had only really learned about the famous Palm Springs through TV and movies. Glamorous, wealthy, fabulous. Perfect weather. Perfect tans. Perfect teeth. Everywhere perfect. That can’t be real. Surely.

Nope. It’s real. Palm Springs is all that. Sure, it has some flaws as all cities do, but this particular slice of the country is clean, tidy, well manicured, and lots of really nice people who know exactly how good they have it.

We really loved staying in the mid century resort-turned-condos. Ocotillo Lodge is something special. Once the home of Gene Autrey, this showcase of 1950s architecture and flare made this stay feel even more fabulous. While it was a full work week and a half for Larry, he’s keeping east coast time so we had the afternoons and evenings as well as the weekend to really enjoy our environment. I had the keyhole shaped swimming pool to myself every morning for my laps. Together we went to the art museum, the air museum, the aerial tram, the Village Fest, and enjoyed dinner out twice. We sampled the local famous dates in a variety of forms. And, as detailed in the post before this, we took a weekend to explore Joshua Tree National Park.

Suffice it to say, I am smitten with this little paradise valley. It is a place like no other, and I hope I get to return someday.