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Traffic was bad, even though it was 12 noon on a Thursday. What used to be carpool lanes are now toll lanes. I stopped at Carl's Jr. for lunch, I remember them having a good chicken sandwich, but marvelled at the fact that nobody was in there at lunch rush time. When I placed my order I found out why...two sandwiches and two fries, no drinks, came to $32. My chicken also tasted lunch-meat-y. Never eating there again.

We drove to Tahquitz Canyon, which is a restricted access nature trail. Unfortunately we had arrived at 3:30 exactly, which is the time they stop allowing people into the park. The gates close at five and too many people were overestimating their hiking abilities, and so closing at 3:30 leaves people plenty of time to return to their cars. They wouldn't even let us venture past the visitor center's gate. Still, we explored the area around the visitor's center and the parking lot, enjoying the quiet, flowers, greenery, and birds. Had some visits from a rock wren and a black throated sparrow, heard canyon wrens, and spied lizards darting among the rocks.

One of the park employees mentioned a Prescott Preserve a mile away that was open 24 hours a day, so we drove there. It was a trail along the main wash and wasn't very interesting, but we saw a lot of bunnies and some birds. Then we went into Palm Springs downtown for dinner. There was some kind of street festival so we parked in a structure and made our way along Palm Springs Canyon, which was closed to traffic but had vendor booths. We headed to the Coachella Valley Brewing Company and shared a salad that had grilled chicken, fruit, goat cheese and pecans. I had a very hoppy beer.

I've always been curious about "the springs" in the desert. Most of them are tapped and operated by fancy expensive resort hotels, but I found a place that was a bit out of the way but had good reviews. Sam's Family Hot Springs Resort and RV Park. All of the cheaper hotels near the highway had one star reviews mentioning drug activity and bedbugs, so I bit the bullet and got this more expensive room. It was very nice, decorated desert style with terracotta colors, indian baskets and pillows. The main attraction are the pools. They had a normal large chlorinated pool, a couple of large round chlorinated pools, and the hot springs pools, which were emptied and cleaned daily, then refilled with unchlorinated hot mineral water. They weren't as hot as the sento baths in Japan, state law caps the temp at 140f. Access was controlled and you had to either be a guest or purchase a day pass to use the pools. Inside the pool area were also grassy picnic grounds and a wildlife pond with a few ducks.
Unfortunately we arrived at 8:30 and the pools close at 9pm during the week, so no time to soak.

Friday we were up early to go get pancakes in Palm Desert, then headed to the Living Desert zoo, one of my favorite places. Some things were the same but a lot has changed. I think the zoo has more money than they know what to do with. They had a new splash pad, some kind of maze, a bunch of new buildings for animal care, a huge new cafe right next to the bighorn exhibit, and more. Lots of changes in the African area, the leopard passed away and that space now houses a family of monkeys. The leopard area was never good because people would not stop letting their small children bang on the glass and tease the leopard into pouncing at the glass. There was also a private attached room where special events could be booked for a more intimate leopard experience, I think you could have dinner and listen to an expert talk about wildlife? That area is all open now, with benches before the glass and a volunteer making sure people behave themselves.
Other changes in Africa: The striped hyenas are gone and vultures are in their place. The petting kraal is torn up and getting refurbished, one of the gift shop/cafe buildings is closed and being remodeled.

We shared a caprese salad at the bighorn cafe and ate outside, watching the sheep. Then we walked to the entrance of the nature trail and headed out into the desert. It wasn't a superbloom but there were quite a few flowers. A pair of roadrunners trotted off into the distance. Pink flowers covered a nearby windblown sand dune. We saw lizards, ants, and a striking red and black beetle. At one point we came near some underground water because a huge vine had spread and covered hundreds of bushes and plants. It had extremely tiny flowers but because there were millions of them, the smell was amazing and sweet. We did the "adventure loop" trail which was a mile and a half. I pointed out animal tracks, mice, jerboas and even a snake. I would have loved to see a gila or chuckwallas, but we weren't lucky that way. I did see a ladder-backed woodpecker and was trying to get a photo, but flies were biting my ankles and I had to keep moving.

We left the trail and continued on through the zoo, the deeper you go the more like the "old" zoo it becomes. Quiet, tranquil spots with different themed desert gardens, pretty blooming cactus, and birds. We heard but did not see quail. We entered Eagle Canyon and a lot of the indoor exhibits are empty, no more egyptian spiny mice and the naked mole rats now have a larger place near the new Australia area. I remember when Eagle Canyon was the exciting new expansion for the zoo, and it looks like they are getting ready to refurb it. The aviary there is also somewhat empty looking. We did get to see the cougars getting a snack, that was interesting. The bobcats were also getting some enrichment, meat-scented bubbles were blown into their enclosure.

Getting tired and footsore by that point, we hurried past the coyotes, the coati, and finally entered the newest Australian exhibit, which is a huge netted space with free-roaming rock wallabies and green budgies. It was nice to see the budgies exploring the entire space, and even landing on the ground to forage. I remember when they first arrived they stayed clustered up all on one tree branch.

Out through the gift shop and Sam got a shirt and a sticker. Overall a great day, but I could have done without the giant animatronic pollinators; especially the loud noises they made.

I was craving steak so we went to Outback for dinner. I was holding my breath hoping they hadn't gone downhill like Carl's Jr, but they were as good as I remembered. Nice small sirloin steak for not too much money, and good salads. Sam had their mac and cheese with steamed broccoli. No booze because I had a headache from too much bright light.

We made the long-ish drive back to our hotel room and I finally got to soak in the hot springs.

The next morning we slept in a little, I gave up trying to catch the desert sunset. My insomnia and hip pain is getting to be really disruptive, waking up every day at 4am despite how tired I am or how much physical activity I had the day before. I was awake for at least an hour before getting back to sleep again. It would be nice if there was a place to get some breakfast nearby, but the resort doesn't have a restaurant. We checked out and drove to downtown Desert Hot Springs, finding a cute, small, old place for breakfast. Then we drove not to Tahquitz, but a place I'd never been but always meant to check out...Indian Canyon. Because it was a holiday it was crowded and the parking lots were full, so we had to go back into town and wait a while to try again. We found an espresso shop and I was able to get some good caffeine, and made a note that the headache finally went away once I had a double dose. I doodled a bit and Sam studied for an exam.

A while later we drove and parked in the overflow lot of Indian Canyon. I was dismayed to find out that they had no water where we could fill our bottles, so we bought water and Gatorade. Their snack bar wasn't very well stocked either, but we each had a boiled egg and Sam had a small package of nuts and a string cheese. Once you get down into the canyon, which isn't too steep a trail, it's nice and flat and we walked as far as we could. It's cool and shady down in the canyon so you don't even need sunblock, and I barely needed my hat. I set a timer to get us back to our car before the gate closed. Beautiful rock formations, pink barrel cactuses, mineral water seeping out of the ground, hundreds of palm trees growing into each other, a unique and special place. Surprisingly there were a lot of robins feeding on the palm fruit, and I also saw a few monarch butterflies up in the canopy.

Then a beautiful drive along the base of the mountains towards home. I saw the same Motel 6 and what used to be Sambo's, the very first place I stayed and ate at when I was a small child visiting Palm Springs for the very first time. After we crossed the Banning-Beaumont pass, I saw a bright orange dot ascending in the sky, "Is that a rocket?" and it was! For the next 15-20 minutes we enjoyed a front row seat of a rocket launch and stage separation while driving along the freeway.
I have a bunch of map pins at Chinese restaurants in San Gabriel Valley, so we stopped at Chengdu Taste for dinner. I hadn't realized that everything on the menu looked super spicy, so the waiter said what we could order "mild" and I got toothpick lamb which was top rated. It was still incredibly spicy, but it was so delicious that Sam and I ate it anyway, laughing at my red face and streaming eyes. We had plenty of steamed rice to eat, along with cold water and hot tea to drink. I discovered that if you drink hot tea, the heat from the lamb will go away but it goes away in an EXPLOSION of heat before dying away. I should have ordered something else to go with it, but it was very busy and people were waiting for tables to empty so we filled up on rice and it was fine. Next time I'll try some of those braised greens.

Even if the desert wasn't that hot, we felt the heat anyway. =)
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13 days in Japan! I researched for months. ( Read more... )
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Since I was a kid, growing up in Los Angeles in the 70's there was a favorite cake from a local bakery, La Mousse. It's a dark chocolate mousse "cake" (no actual cake) on a chocolate graham cracker crumb crust, topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings. Every slice was pre-cut and topped with a solid dark chocolate leaf. Our family would have this at least once a year for birthdays, mostly for my birthday since I'm the chocolate fiend.

https://www.lamoussedesserts.com/shop/index.php?main_page=about_us

I was delighted to learn that the La Mousse bakery is still around and still making the same cakes. Or...is it the same? Not quite the same. We picked one up for mom's birthday. Delight turned to disappointment when I tasted the modern "original" chocolate la mousse cake. I swear they're using a different type of chocolate. It has a more artificial tasting sweetener, maybe it's vanillin instead of vanilla? Does it have more fillers and less pure chocolate? I took one bite of the solid chocolate leaf and put down the rest.

Today, at the grocery store I regularly shop at, there are two types of chocolate chips for baking. The cheaper one and the other. The ingredients read the same, but they are not the same. The cheaper one has that artificial flavor that I hate. People like to bag on Hershey's as being junky chocolate, and I agree it's not Guittard or Cadbury's, but their semisweet chips and milk kisses are what I grew up with. They don't have that fakey flavor that the other chips do. (Let's not talk about the bars, which yes, they can be junky)

I don't understand how the chocolates can taste different if the ingredients on the label are exactly the same. But my palate is not fooled. I'm disappointed in the downfall of La Mousse.
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I went to Telegraph Cove for whale watching, but the resort was expensive so I only stayed for 2 nights. ( Read more... )
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MEXICO December 2023

( Read more... )
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I did the thing I've been wanting to do for awhile. I packed a bag, locked up my apartment, took the Seabus across Vancouver Harbor and hopped on a cruise ship.
( Read more... )
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Photos will be on Flickr, eventually. I need to organize them into albums, when I am finished,the link will be here.
( Read more... )

October

Oct. 1st, 2017 04:34 pm
tcreynolds: (autumn)
Finally, the humidity has gone away and we have fall temps again. Did a little cleaning, pulled the Autumn box out of the closet. Put up some halloween decorations. Thinking about Inktober, probably won't participate.

Grandad's clock is acting weird, stopping and then starting up again. Guess I'll call the repair guy.

Squished bugs on the front of my car are awful to remove. My poor front fender is so trashed, with all the chips, cracks, scratches. L.A. drivers park by braille, and Virginia drivers smash their doors into my car.
Why did auto manufacturers decide to cover bumpers in painted plastic? What a nuisance. Bring back steel bumpers.

I shook a bottle of scratch remover without realizing the bottle had split open at the bottom, showering myself in paste.

Tried to remove some melted black crayon that got all over the back seat. Grrr. Gonna need to call a pro on that one.

For my birthday I want to get my car detailed and a rear spoiler... wait, that's a waste of money. It'd be just my luck that I spend a couple hundred making the body look nice, and then the waterpump or something goes out. The waterpump is overdue for replacement. I'm also giving the brakes and motor mounts the hairy eye. They don't feel right.

So that's been my Sunday.
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I swear I am going to finish this Florida trip report real soon! In the meantime, here's one of my favorite days. ( Read more... )
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A lot of fun ( Read more... )
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For the first half of the year, I continued working for an animation studio, working on a Netflix special of LalaLoopsie. (Scheduled to air this year.)

I worked with clients old and new, working on character designs, storyboards and animation.

In January I attended Further Confusion, always a good time to catch up with bay area friends and draw lots of cartoons.

In April I flew from Los Angeles to Lexington, KY., to join my daughter and husband for a spring break roadtrip to Myrtle Beach SC, Asheville NC and Gatlinburg, TN.

In May I went to Tiki Caliente, a tiki con in Palm Springs. I got to attend a wonderful seminar on rum punches, and soaking in the pool and hot tub.

In June my husband and daughter flew out to L.A., and the adults attend Califur to draw more cartoons.

Best thing: Brian getting full-time employment, with the same company that he worked for 5 years ago, the same supervisor, higher salary, back in Charlottesville.

We pick up Brian in Reno, NV, and we all (including parrot) drive across the country together, seeing the tallgrass prairie, shooting stars, pronghorn antelope, Aspen and the Rockies, and the volcanic plains and copper mines of Nevada.

We move into a nice new rental townhouse, all our little family living together again. It's not the little house in the country that I want, but it has good schools for our daughter, which is the priority.

Sam is able to get braces, attend TaeKwonDo, Children's Choir, and joins Girl Scouts.

In December, Sam and I fly to L.A. for Christmas. We fly back with our cat, Tikka, who is settling in nicely, probably very happy to not have to interact with mom's crazy cat anymore.

In 2017: Becoming much more politically active, drawing more, finishing old art projects, getting medical treatment and therapy to continue self-improvement, getting reading glasses, learning ToonBoom, saving money for a trip to AFRICA in 2019.
tcreynolds: (seattle dreams)
just keep swimming

just keep swimming

Toot-zopia

Mar. 8th, 2016 11:56 am
tcreynolds: (summer)
Zootopia was great, no spoilers but they went to some dark places that I was really happy to see.

I'm tired of important story punches always being watered down to ineffectiveness. Things I never thought I'd see in a Disney film ( spoilers )

10/10 would see again. I hope it makes a gazillion dollars and spawns loads of sequels and TV shows.
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