Wonders of the West

We are so fortunate to be living out here in the high desert, in Pioneertown in the Pipes Canyon area, and to be living in the most amazing rental house while our house building is completed. The house sits in this amazing desert valley area, surrounded by Joshua Trees and a natural landscape of desert plants stretching out as far as you can see. There are neighbors, but they aren't close. The house is full of natural light. Ceiling fans and the occasional swamp cooler run keep the house cool even at this hottest time of the year. Inside the house it is shaded all the time, so it stays cool. And we have a back porch that is always shaded, welcoming you to sit outside, especially in the evenings as the sun starts setting. Out here in the high desert the sunsets are amazing. 

Life feels so much closer to nature and the environment, the elements, out here in the high desert. You tend to want to go to bed early and 6:30 am feels like sleeping in. It is so quiet. Most of the time you do not hear anything but the birds. Can I tell you how much I love that? How rare it is to find that in this day and age in the US? Even out in the mountains and the forests on the east coast I could often still hear traffic far away in the distance from some highway. But that is one of the beauties of the West, right? Its the last place of wide open spaces here in our beautiful country. You may know this, but you don't really feel it until you actually come here and spend time moving around these big, beautiful, desolate states - Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana parts of Colorado and California. 

As a life time east-coast resident, this has been such a beautiful new world out here. There is so, so much to explore. We lived in Utah for two years and barely scratched the surface of seeing the parks and wild lands there. I look forward to seeing all of it, spending the rest of my life seeing everything out here in Utah, Nevada and California and Arizona and other states. It is so funny that I was such the east coast person and now I find myself in this whole other world. I do love the east coast - so much beauty in those mid-Atlantic states and up into New England. I adore the landscapes of my home in Pennsylvania, and still have small dreams of a small farmhouse and farm out in the country or a cabin up in those gorgeous woods, but I can't really say I miss it back there. 

People are always asking me if I miss living in Washington, or miss the east coast, and without hesitation I can say no. I do not. I guess its because there is so much to see out here. I am too busy exploring and being in the now to miss my past.

Look out the Window

Every day out here in Pioneertown I see something beautiful. I am fortunate to work from home and my desk here in our cute little rental home looks out sliding glass doors onto a porch and into the desert. Occasionally I look up and a different, little surprise awaits me every day.

Yesterday I saw a road runner walking around the yard. I haven't seen many of them and usually if you do see them they are running madly across the road so you don't get much opportunity to really see them. This little guy was walking slowly around the yard giving me a chance to really watch him.

The day before that I was washing my face in the bathroom and I looked out the window to see a swarm of dragon flies. I don't know where they came from but for several hours that afternoon we had dragon flies everywhere around outside. It was amazing. I also saw a hummingbird.

Twice I've seen coyotes run through the back yard. Every morning and evening the yard is full of cottontail rabbits. The best is when they play with each other, hopping almost a foot off the ground and chasing each other. We have a number of scrub jays who hang out. And we have two quail families with rapidly growing young ones who noisily march around the yard mornings and evenings. Occasionally we see lizards and chipmunks. The desert is full of life.

Its a good reminder to stop what you are doing every once in awhile, get up and go look out the window. Even if you aren't sitting in the desert, or in nature, there is usually always something beautiful and interesting out your window.

Rancho Mirage

I visited Rancho Mirage yesterday for the first time. This Coachella Valley area includes a number of small cities that all flow together including Pam Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indio and Coachella. Its like this long swath of development in the middle of the desert. This area is only a short drive from our home in Pioneertown - about 30-40 miles.

What an odd place. Its this green oasis (just like a mirage I suppose) in the middle of the low desert. Streets are named after Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore and so on. It reminds me of the 70s - I guess because when I was a kid in the 70s those stars were still very much around. The place is full of beautifully manicured, and very green, streets,  massive gated communities, so many golf courses and country clubs (12 of them!), Indian casinos, and many, many, many doctors offices and hospitals. I saw endless dental and plastic surgery places and the Betty Ford Center. Its good to know that if I ever find myself with a substance abuse issue I can head on down to the BFC.

Lots of spas too, and you can get very good deals in the summer when its too hot for tourists. And the whole place is full of retirees. Its one big retirement party. Everywhere you go the place is full of people my parents' age. Yes of course there are young people in these areas, but you see a lot more elderly people than you in other places. Its just unusual.

As odd as this area is out here in the desert, I am grateful to have this area exist, and so close to our home. I wouldn't want to live down in there - too developed and too hot - but being able to easily access this area for shopping and restaurants and entertainment is a very nice perk to living out here.

Pioneertown has Pappy & Harriets, which is awesome, but sometimes you want some variety. Yucca Valley is a fairly big town, but it lacks a lot in the way of shopping. It is a very functional town. It has a decent grocery store (Vons), drug stores, a Home Depot, a Walmart, a movie theater, and a Starbucks. It has a number of fast food places and it has an Applebees (that apparently has a very active bar scene), but generally the eating out situation leaves a lot to be desired. We do have our favorite Mexican place, and there's always Ma Rouge (but not open for dinner), the Rib Co. has a decent italian place in the back, and there is a Subway, but it gets old fast. I like to cook and eat in so its ok, but sometimes you want to go to a nice restaurant or need to do more specialized shopping and the Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage area offers all of that. They have a Trader Joes! I was excited to learn that a Whole Foods is coming to Palm Desert in the Fall of 2013. That is a long way off, but it will be good to have that. Yes, WF is expensive, but I like to buy meat from there. Its nice to have options.

The Rancho Mirage area is not the best place to head to in the summer. Seriously it was 104 yesterday when we were there - which actually isn't bad given that I've heard about 118 degree temperatures down there of late. I listen to this classic rock station on the car radio that comes out of the Coachella Valley (one of the few radio stations I can get around here) and I love to hear the weather report. Its always talk about the temperatures down there in the valley being like 109 or something. It can be hot up here in the sun, but even here in the height of the summer heat its more like in the 90s. Our temperatures up here in the high desert are always 10-20+ degrees cooler than down in the valley.

Our trip there was a quick one to visit a bathroom and kitchen showroom - we have to decide on our bathroom plumbing valves for the house we are building - but we will be heading back there soon for some more home building and other shopping.

After the bathroom showroom visit, and full on jalapeño martinis and Hawaiian fusion food from a place called Roy's, followed by Ben & Jerry's milkshakes (which probably was an unnecessary and not so great idea), we headed back up to our home in the high desert, grateful for the drop in temperature as we climbed in elevation, and I caught this shot of the sun setting behind San Jacinto, the big mountain that sits over Palm Springs. Beautiful end to a nice little afternoon Byway adventure.