Escaping from the Canadian Winter, Margo and I recently spent some time in southern California, mostly in Palm Springs and the surrounding area which forms the Coachella Valley. This is the first in a series of articles about this delightful region to which we will certainly return in the future.
The Coachella is an extension of the Sonoran desert, stretching about 45 miles (72 km) northward from the Salton Sea to the San Bernardino mountains. About 15 miles (24 km) wide, it is bounded by mountains on both sides, some as high as
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its location
The northern end of the Valley (Palm Springs) is about 120 miles (200 km)...
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The photos that follow give a general glimpse of the Valley’s...
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... eight contiguous communities
Driving south-eastward along California highway 111, you pass...
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...desert, mountains,
... and intensely blue skies. It seems that the sun always shines...
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... the San Andreas Fault
This is the best known of several west coast “fault lines” –...
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... smoke trees
They are small trees or large shrubs whose foliage is white and almost...
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... ultra-posh resorts
Of course they are gated and guarded. This photo gives just a small...
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... golf courses
There are well over 100 courses of the highest caliber, most belonging to...
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... swimming pools
open almost year-round. There are literally thousands of them. This one is at...
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... outdoor festivals
It seems that there is an open-air festival somewhere in one of the...
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... interesting specialized museums
This is the entrance to the Palm Springs Air Museum at the airport, which...
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... rare and exotic exhibitions
This is a 1931 Cord, seen at the Rancho Mirage Concours. There were...
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... brilliant bougainvilleas
We were struck by the miles and miles of hedges and local plantings of this...
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... ornamental street plantings
There were lots of tasteful examples at street corners and at...
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... unusual but tasteful decor
There are hundreds of varieties of palm trees in the world, and we must have...
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... a love of brilliant colours
You won’t find drab works in the dozens of private galleries and...
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... hummingbirds
They are everywhere. One “adopted” us, and returned several times a...
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... California wines
California wines are among the world’s finest, and the major...
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... an impressive wild animal park
This is a map of the Living Desert Park, on the outskirts of Desert...
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... majestic wild life
This photo was taken, hand-held, with a 200 mm telephoto at the Living...
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... and some unfriendly critters
We never did see any rattlesnakes, scorpions or venomous spiders, though.
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... Santa Ana winds
These winds blow occasionally at speeds up to 90 mph (150 kph), for hours on...
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... windmill farms
At the north end of the Valley is the San Gorgonio Pass, which is one of the...
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... unique attractions
The world’s largest revolving gondola, the Aerial Tramway takes...
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North America
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