Our home base for the next two nights is a KOA outside of Palm Springs. It was very windy as we emerged from the mountains toward the city. Their is large area dense with wind turbines (one can pay to tour the wind turbines) so we assumed that winds are pretty common in the area. The next thing we noticed were lots of road side stands selling fruit and coconut drinks as well as other items.

Aerial Tramway

After our first night at the KOA we headed off into the city to do touristy things. The Aerial Tramway is definitely the top spot to hit in Palm Springs! After a quick pit stop at the visitor center, we made our way to the tramway station. It’s known as the world’s largest rotating tram car and spans over two and a half miles, providing amazing views of the stunning cliffs in Chino Canyon as we made our way up to the wilderness of Mt. San Jacinto State Park. The tram slowly rotates (only the floor moves so you can’t hold onto the railings) on the way up (and down) giving us a 360-degree view the entirety of the 10-minute ride.

Mountain Station

The tram pulls up at the Mountain Station, chilling out at 8,516 feet high. It was a toasty 80 degrees when we hopped on, but by the time we were dropped off, the air was a cool 50 degrees. Fortunately, we brought along jackets for our stay at the top. One could easily spend a day walking and hiking at the state park here, but we had planned to do other activities in Palm Springs, so we opted for lunch at the station restaurant and then a quick walk around before heading back down the mountain.

Palm Canyon Drive

The guide at the visitor’s center gave us directions to a free parking lot large enough for Usain, so we could enjoy the popular Palm Canyon Drive. This section is a one-way drive filled with shops and restaurants and the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

One “Hollywood star” sort of thing we witnessed was a photo shoot on a pickleball court. There was a makeup artist, cameraman, two lighting helpers and a director giving instructions like “get that ball higher in the air”. We didn’t recognize any of the “players” but their clothing and equipment were all clean and new.

Palm Springs Neighborhoods

Palm Springs has traditionally been a home to Hollywood stars because it was relatively close to their LA jobs, but not a big, crowded city. We wanted just a quick look at some of these nice neighborhoods. We saw Graceland in Memphis last fall, so we had to see the Presley house here as well. There are expensive cars in driveways and artistic doors when visible. Most street views are of shrubs and walls and gates.