A great day on the road - always exciting with the ever changing landscape, climate, sights and scenery! More pics from "Through the windows....." Series!
Today we went from Visalia at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, down through the Central Valley on H99 - more productive farmland and primary industry; across H58 into the Mojave Desert to H247 and onto the beautiful desert oasis of Palm Springs. From there we headed home on H111, H86, H78, through historic Julien; H 67 and H5 brought us home to to Encinitas on the coast. Wonderful!
Love all the sizes, shapes, colours, textures, aromas, smells, sounds...............nature's canvas! Also interesting to see what our use, influence and impact has been on that canvas!
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| Heading south-east out of Bakersfield towards Bear and Black Mountains |
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| The Tehachapi Wind Farm spreads for miles and miles, crowning and crowding the rolling hills |
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| Look like alien metal soldiers on the march |
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Quite a sight coming through the hills and seeing hundreds of air craft lined up perfectly on the desert floor below.
The desert is actually two dry lakes - Rogers Lake and Rosamond Lake (there are many dry lakes in the Mojave desert)
The base is also used as the aeroplane "graveyard" |
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| Through the Lucerne Valley flanked by the impressive Granite Mountains |
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| Granite mining |
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| Climbing out of the Lucerne Valley and into the San Bernardino Mountains and State Park |
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| Mountain Bike season during the summer |
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| Snow Summit Resort |
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| Enjoying the mountain |
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| Great winter skiing! |
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| Lots of log cabins in town! |
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| The stunning lake is the focal point of this winter/summer playground |
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Playgrounds!
Snow Summit backdrops the lake |
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| Idyllic! |
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| Making the most of summer holidays and the great weather! |
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| Lovely walking trails around the lake |
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| Silver sunset! |
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| Morongo Casino and Spa - a tower in the desert |
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Nestled in a valley, backdropped and surrounded by mountains, Palm Springs makes a pretty picture with its Spanish style architecture and desert gardens and parks.
"Located in the Coachella Valley desert region, Palm Springs is sheltered by the San Bernardino Mountains to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south, by the San Jacinto Mountains to the west and by the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the east." - Wikipedia |
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| The Village Green and Heritage Centre |
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| Sonny Bono and his Star |
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| Cozy courtyards, great bars, cafes and reataurants |
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| Fun night at Ruby's Diner |
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Palm Springs and surrounding towns on H111 are popular holiday destinations and boast 36 Golf Courses and Country Clubs
Have a look at these stunning courses................................ |
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| Great shopping! Everything in this boutique was $16 - great styles and quality! |
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Plaza Theatre
Through the years it has played host to Bob Hope’s and Jack Benny’s radio show. Other performers, including Frank Sinatra, have given live performances here.
The Plaza Theatre opened in December 1936 with Greta Garbo in “Camille”.
Since 1991, it has been home to “The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies”, a vaudeville-style showcase of music and dance from the 1930’s to 1960’s, featuring famous guest stars.
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| Many sidewalk restaurants have cooling sprays. It was 104 degrees this particular day. |
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| Love the architecture and the colours used on the buildings |
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| Lots of these signs around town - interesting! |
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| Nice! |
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| The street art, sculptures and landscaping add to the aesthetics of Palm Springs |
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| The Star Regent Casino - for those that come to play in the desert |
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| Lots of hotels in town - all built in keeping with the desert environment |
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| The Pride of Barbados added splashes of beautiful colour to the manicured gardens / median strips along the streets |
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Quite a few streets are named after celebrities who have made Palm Springs their home.
Also saw "Bob Hope Drive" |
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| A housing estate along H111 heading towards Cathedral City |
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| Suburbia on H111 - Definitely an oasis! |
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| The Resort strip at Indian Wells on H111 |
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| Beautifully kept sidewalks and median strip gardens |
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| Visited this lovely Golf Club |
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| An appropriate welcome! |
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| Resort Accommodation |
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| The Club House |
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| Miles of plantations |
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| Care to shinny up these date palms and ladders to pick the dates? |
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| Turf farms in the desert - for all the golf courses? |
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Love this pic!
Title: "Lines" |
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| We followed the sea for a lot of miles - it's huge! |
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| Salton City |
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| Flat, flat, flat and sandy, sandy, sandy! |
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On and on and on!
Quite a few RV Parks along this road! Apparently people love to stay in the desert!
Also saw quite a few Wild Animal viewing platforms? |
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| Hot, hot, hot! |
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| Desert driving! |
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| Loved this desert landscape - strangely beautiful! |
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| Out of the desert and climbing the Vallecito Mountains to historic Julian |
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| Had to stop while these turkeys crossed the road at Banner |
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| The main street seems frozen in time! So much character! |
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| Julian is famous for its apple pies and cider |
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| Love how you can buy your apple pie through the drop down window in the shop window |
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| All home made! |
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| Enjoyed a great afternoon tea - with apple pie of course! |
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| Deliscious! |
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| Being an old gold mining town it has its Miner's Diner! |
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| There's the church, there's the steeple........ |
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| Very patriotic! |
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| Great posters in this interesting shop |
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Impressed with the main street in the town of Ramona - it was lined with gumtrees!
There are a lot of eucalyptus species growing in California - feel like you are in Australia some days!
So after 6 great days on the road we are almost back to the coast and our Encinitas base. Love road tripping the USA! Wonderful sights and experiences!
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