Monday, December 3, 2007

A Visit to the Desert


This past week, the weather was fantastic for this time of year. Late November can be iffy...by that I mean chilly. But, it was perfect tennis weather until the end of the week when the badly needed rain fell for one day and night.

Fortunately, we had done most of the things on our agenda before the rain storm hit toward the end of the week. After being so close for so many years, we finally visited The Living Desert. It was so interesting seeing giraffe, zebra, ostrich, and other animals roaming around. There was a very impressive train display...the longest model train trestle in the world. We took a walk through the botanical gardens. The whole experience would be great for kids.

One of the things I always look forward to doing when visiting Palm Desert is the College of the Desert Street Fair on the weekends. The day after the storm was the only day I had to go shopping there, and the wind (which almost always follows the rain) was enough to send the vendors packing up as I arrived mid morning. The last time we visited in the spring, I found a beautiful piece of art in red stained glass that I had hoped to use in the set design of my latest play, House of Yes. It didn't work out for the set, but I was delighted to display it over the bar in our family room.

With all the shops on El Paseo (the equivalent of Beverly Hill's Rodeo Drive), I really didn't feel too deprived in skipping the fair this time around. However, we still couldn't resist stopping on the way home at the outlet stores in Cabazon. I was surprised to see more upscale stores since we last were there. St. John, Donna Karan, Ellen Tracy, Geoffrey Beane, Calvin Klein and others are there now as well as the usual anchors, Eddie Bauer, Dockers and Mikasa.
One could easily spend the entire day if you have the stamina going from store to store.

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