Microblog

We’re staying in a comfortable old one-star inn beside Joshua Tree National Park. Today we did a couple hikes. The turnaround for one was a mine that had been abandoned about 100 years ago. The other took us to this palm oasis, a striking sight after a dry, desert hike.

Walked over to Budget to pick up their smallest, cheapest car I’d reserved weeks ago. Along the way, nosed around City Hall, designed by Albert Frey (a theme this week), completed 1952. Budget only had a Ford Mustang convertible for us, no up-charge, which we accepted grudgingly.

We’ve caught glimpses of this house as we looked down from mountain trails. Local star-architect, Albert Frey, designed this gorgeous 800 square foot home in 1964 and lived here for 30 years. Today, we got a chance to go inside. Our rental apartment was designed by Frey in 1946.

Rode a city bus to Desert Memorial Park where, in 2019, California was the first state to dedicate a memorial to LGBTQ veterans. Until recently, the US military routinely discharged members for their sexual orientation.

Hiked in the mountains for a few hours, then walked down into Palm Springs for a late lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and beer.

It was time for another neighborhood walk in pursuit of the improbable. The Bridge of Thighs, as it’s known locally, connects two parts of a nudist resort. Canvas panels help passing motorists to keep their eyes on the road.

Filled our backpacks at a supermarket. Our urban hike for today.

A city bus dropped us off a few blocks from a trailhead. Walked back on a rugged trail in the San Jacinto mountains, 1,000 feet above Palm Springs.

Dwight jogged, I walked. Found a home on a half-block lot crammed with kitsch. Neighbors in this up-market, residential, Movie Colony neighborhood don’t appreciate this free expression. Frank Sinatra, who once lived in the next block, would surely have sent his boys round.

Our urban hike included a botanical garden founded by a Keystone Cop, and an architecture museum in a former bank. Important chairs, arranged chronologically, from the past century, included examples by Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen. Here, the drive-through window remains.

With the continuing heat wave, stayed in our neighborhood with ghosts of Hollywood legends. Elizabeth Taylor’s former home is two blocks away. Later, walked past Peter Lawford’s house where Marilyn Monroe met President Kennedy. Later still, Marilyn Monroe’s house, shown here.

View from the balcony of our rental apartment. Earlier we hiked uphill, but turned around with temperatures, unusually, in the 90’s. When the sun goes behind the mountain, the desert air is suddenly comfortable. Next week we’re promised daytime temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s.

An urban day. 4 miles round-hike to a supermarket to fill our backpacks, back to our rental apartment. Cooled off with beer and pizza at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Silently thought about juxtapositions of art pieces, as suggested by a curator on our last visit a few years ago.

I thought it was for real, and found the idea of tap dancing au naturel mildly disturbing. Dwight managed to assure me it was a joke.

Ready to doze off, Princess Leia headphones, en route to Palm Springs, hiking poles and boots stowed in the hold. Tomorrow we move. MSP–SLC–PSP

Paused my frigid Downtown walk for a moment of zen by a fireplace.