We finally made it to California!! Aaron, Andrew, and I finally made it to Desert Hot Springs (near Palm Springs). We got to see the RV resort where their parents have been working while Adam is on deployment in Afghanistan. Laura and Urijah came "down the valley" from 29 Palms.
Urijah takes turns riding with the boys.
My awesome sis-in-law!
U-Man wants to go "down the hole" (hill)
Up the sandy road from Buzzy and Carolyn's place is a little hill that I had to explore on the bike. This is the view from the top of one of the dunes.
I was hoping to climb further, but Indiana Jones had blocked off the path through the Crescent Moon.
To the Tramway we went! From around sea level to 8,000 feet in about 10 minutes.
A couple of times on the trip, the A's and I rode our bikes from the base of the valley up to the tramway take-off point. On 2 different rides, I logged almost 22 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain. This was the same road that the pro roadies climbed on Day 2 of the recent Tour de California. There were still "Nissan King of the Road" signage painted on the road. I wanted to stop and take a picture, but I was either going about 4 or 40 mph. Neither are very conducive for stopping to snap photos.
Picture from the tram-car.
Looking out over the rail at the top.
Good view of the Palm Springs below, and the road we climbed up on. Where the green line stops, the road turns back to the right out of sight below the mountain.
Me, Buzzy, Carolyn, Aaron, Andrew, Urijah, Laura
Andrew hopped the rail to pick up the "litter" below. He collected $7.10 I believe. Gas money.
This guy was upset that Andrew had robbed his retirement fund.
In the background are the mountains that hold the small town (pop. 350) of Idyllwild, where we were headed the next day to bike and hike. Beautiful.
Love these two.
Going back down the tram with the sun reflecting.
Getting ready to climb the road at sunset. The temperatures were pleasant, but it was almost dark when we descended. We ended up returning for our second day on the great training road 2 days later and road during the day. The temperature read 106 when we took off and supposedly hit 115. Saying it was hot was an understatement.
Tomorrow, off to Idyllwild!
