A Three Month Smoko: Back to the Desert

After the altitude and solitude of Mammoth lakes, I drove south to Palm Springs. Yes, I drove. The roads were long, wide and smooth. I leave the city driving to Carmen, but grew to love driving the country roads or freeways inter-state. Cruise control rocks!
The last time we were in PS was after we first arrived, if you recall. This time we didnt have the 118F heat to contend with. This time it was a balmy 97F (about 30C). I had booked us into a flash hotel and spa in the desert city of La Quinta. This place had free breakfast, free happy hour each night complete with free snacks, a pool and fitness room.
We took advantage of all of these less the pool. I had gotten a bit too much sun by the pool in Mammoth, so was still glowing in the dark, and in no state to scare the locals. It was still too hot anyway, even at 9pm.
The aim of being here this time was to decompress further after our whistle-stop tour so far. Visiting and staying with friends or family is great, but is taxing. So is checking in and out of hotels every few days. It was also to be close to Carmen's Brother, so we could visit one more time, which we did. It was good to see them again and share a few laughs over a great lunch.
This time round we didn't go up the aerial tramway again due to high winds. This time I picked one of the local canyons to explore. Being on Indian land, they are managed by the local tribe of the Agua Caliente Indians. It was quite something to be out in the desert in 100F heat, yet be cool under the shade of centuries-old palm trees in an oasis! Very cool. Literally.
We spent a few hours there, then headed back to PS. Carmen even managed to get me into another spa for a couples massage. My masseuse must have trained for WWF, because she had some killer moves that made me wince! Not sure if it felt "relaxing", but I can still walk, which is good.