Trip to the Desert

For MLKDay, we decided last minute to go on a little overnight trip. Sunday night, we drove to Palm Desert (just 2 hours away) and stayed in a nice hotel. We played in the hot tub, ate lots of snacks, watched TV and played Dominion! The next morning, we ate the continental breakfast, which was the best ever. You ordered your food at the bar and the cook made whatever you wanted- eggs, pancakes, sausage. Tanner was a wonderful little guest in the hotel. He loved exploring all the drawers and cupboards, organizing all the towels and pillows and emptying all the tissues and toilet papers. Best part- we didn't have to clean it up.

 After breakfast, we went to Palm Springs to ride the special tram up San Jacinto Mtn. That was way more interesting than I anticipated. The tram rotates while you stand in it so you get a 360 degree view of everything. And it was a long ride- 10 minutes!

As soon as we got to the top and walked outside, Tanner started saying "snow!" (okay it was more like hhnow!) We had never taught him this word, so we were pretty surprised. He was definitely pointing at snow and was really excited about it. The only thing I can figure is that he learned it from Baby Einstein. He had been watching the one about seasons recently.

 It was a gorgeous day in the mountains. The snow was pretty icy, so we sat Tanner on a little slope and he slid down on his bum. He loved it! So we did that for a little while.

 When he touched the snow the first time he said "Hot" (but it really sounds like "hos, hos").

 We explored the lodge and visitors center. Then headed back down the mountain to go play in the sand. "San! San!" was the word of the afternoon. 

 We spent the late afternoon and sunset at Joshua Tree National Park. It was like being on a different planet. Kind of like a world made by Dr. Seuss. Apparently, Dr Seuss got inspiration from this area when he wrote about the Lorax tree! We really enjoyed the atmosphere and wish we had more time to explore the area.

For dinner, we ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant. The highlight was the mariachi singer that serenaded us all night long. After that, we drove home and got in bed before 11:00 pm. It was the perfect family trip to take our minds off of the stresses of work and school.