Nadines Travel Blog

  Bump and Grind Trail is a good trail for hiking, a great workout, and views.  I am not responsible for the name of the trail.  The paths are narrow in places and this is why it may have received its name?  We took the trail slowly due to Darren's knee but young people were jogging up and running down the trails.  Part of me was "Way to go girl or Wow look at that".  The other part of me wanted to trip them. This Corvette was blocking the trailhead to the Bump and Grind. Golf Courses are in contrast to the brown desert rock. Snow-capped mountains in the background as you ascend Bump and Grind Trail. There are some steep elevation areas which get your heart pumping.  Many people were on the trail but most were coming down as we were hiking up.  We started at about 1;00 pm and the weather was perfect, it wasn't super hot and there was a nice breeze when you weren't in a trough or canyon.  The views are great along the hike, including greater P...

 If you have never been to Palm Springs, then it is time that you checked it out.  We have been here at least 6 times and we have stayed in different cities in the Greater Palm Springs area each time.  There are 9 cities that make up this area.  We liked each one of them. The views of the snow-capped mountains are breathtaking.   If you look at the photo to the right more carefully, you can see the windmills that create energy for the Palm Springs area. Palm Springs arguably has the prettiest bougainvillea plants anywhere in the world.  The plants, flowers and cactuses make this desert area very pretty. There is tons of shopping and Outlets in this area if you are into binge shopping, you can shop till you drop. There are countless things to do here.  It is a mecca for hiking trails, climbers and joggers because there is no snow except at about 8000 feet up in the mountains.  There are hot springs to visit and soak in.   Joshua Tree...

Tahquitz Canyon was a great one-and-a-half-hour hike that leads you up into the canyon. This Canyon is on the Agua Calienti Reservation land so there is a cost and it is $15 per adult.  We had $2.50 off each of us, because we went to another trail on reservation land, so they gave us the discount. A good view of Palm Springs even at the bottom of the Canyon.  If you look you can see thousands of Palm trees There is free parking and a Visitor Center where you can watch a quick little movie about theTahquitz legend.  There is a small gift shop and this is where the bathrooms are located.  You have to have 16 oz of water per person on you or they won't let you up into the canyon.  You can buy water there for $2 per bottle.   The rocks and the boulders here are sublime and I stopped numerous times just to stare at these gigantic things.   There are ancient irrigation systems up in this Canyon that the Agua Calienti used. There is a lot of history...

Desert Oasis Resort is a small spread-out resort with a couple of pools for the hot sun.  The buildings are two stories, without elevators.  It backs onto a golf course and has mountain views which are stunning in the morning, noon and dusk.  I phoned two days before check-in to let them know that we would be arriving a day late due to our cross-over of the two timeshares and I took this opportunity to ask for a second-floor unit and a view.  I actually got it which was very nice.  Looking at parking lots off of your balcony is not that relaxing.  This was our view below. Their weekly activities schedule is very heavy on the craft-making side of things.  If you're into crafts, that's fine but if you're more on the sporty side, or want blackjack or poker, those things do not exist on this activity schedule, like they normally would on the recreation side of timeshare activities. Roses were blooming here in December and they were gorgeous and smelled bea...

Today we drove back up to Coachella Preserve to do the McCallum Trail because it is supposed to be the most picturesque Oasis in the Palm Springs area.  We had driven up on Monday and the park was unfortunately closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  On Wednesday, we were expecting it to be open.  Unfortunately, it was closed again due to staff shortages, thank you covid. All of the cars were parked on the side of the road instead of in the parking lot because the gate was closed but everyone still went into the Preserve, including us.  There is a trail to San Andreas Fault and we started off with that one and then the trail was lost so we are not even sure if we ended up finishing that trail or not. Then we went the opposite way and did the McCallum Trail even though Simone Pond and the Oasis is closed.   When it's closed it actually has chicken wire up surrounding the entire Oasis, so you can't get in.  This was disappointing. If you continue on the trail, t her...