Our Last Rides in Palm Desert

March 20, 2022 to March 21, 2022

The final ride was special

On the pentultimate ride in Palm Desert we started out by picking up our new piece of art. We did it by bike. I have a bit of a bike bag fetish it seems, and I have many ways to carry things on my bike. One of my favourites came with me to Palm Desert. It is the bag I used to carry marking and other paper work back and forth from school in my teaching days. Since we only took one picture of this ride I am treating you to a photo of my bag.

I have been retired ten years, and this bag is bulletproof. A rubber bottom so you can set it down anywhere. It clips on and off my rear rack with ease, and looks as good as it did the day I bought it.

I am much fonder than Keith of this bag. He thinks it is heavy - it isn’t. It is the U lock I routinely carry in it that is heavy. I have even used it on overnight trips. It fit our artwork beautifully. I laugh at our exit from the artist’s studio. She and I really connected, and we kept chatting…and chatting. Keith started to laugh and took my ponytail and gave it a gentle tug. Otherwise we might still be there. We had a concert to attend!

So off we went to another concert at the park. This group featured covers of songs from the fifties and we really enjoyed it. It was so special to be sitting on the grass with friends in the sunshine listening to music. Especially when you know it is cold and raining at home, and the whole trip was so unexpected. We felt incredibly fortunate.

On the ride home I did stop and take one picture. This was randomly planted at the side of the road.

I am going to miss this. One of the pieces of trivia I love knowing is that bougainvillea is named after Admiral Louis de Bougainville.

Our final ride was absolutely wonderful. We put all the best bits of the desert together and headed out to enjoy them. I was admiring the architecture and door colours again. It was the perfect temperature. The sky was gloriously blue, and since it may be awhile before we come this way again we made the most of it.

A cow in front of a house in Indian Wells.

We carried on to the La Quinta Resort. We had bypassed it on our way to SilverRock and I really wanted to see it before we left. It is such a charming place. We stopped for cold drinks and to take in the atmosphere. I highly recommend it.

They even had a lovely bicycle to admire. Champagne was also available if you were so inclined.

On the spin home we stopped to admire the huge properties on Lake La Quinta. A man made lake of course, with boats and mansions. This looked pretty posh. We had to admire it all from the other side of the fence of course. It was fun to admire though.

We can see the appeal of waterfront property for sure, but it does seem a bit odd in the middle of a desert in a drought stricken state.

So it was back to the hotel for packing and planning. A decision had been made with the generous help of Scott Anderson. We emailed him the day before he and Rachael left for Europe. Not great timing on our part. I suspect he had more important things to do but he kindly replied and helped us decide. We are off to Paso Robles!

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 385 km (239 miles)

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