"I'm Thirsty!"; Palm Springs; 02.12.11

Road Trip!

B and I love road trips.  Tico loves road trips.  We all love road trips.  And what a great day to have one, on a varying 70-80 degree weather.  B decided to check out a seminar at a local hotel in Palm Springs today.  So Tico and I decided to tag along.  The drive took us a little less than 2 hours; since we took the 91 and the 60 to cut through the 10 freeway's usual weekend mess.

There was a dog park called Palm Springs Dog Park behind the local airport.  It's address is 222 Civic Drive North, Palm Springs, CA  92262.  To get there, get off the 10 freeway to the first 111 exit.  10 miles down the road, make a left on Tahquitz Canyon, and left on Civic Drive a few miles of that. 

This park is a mixture of good and bad for me.
The good:
It's extremely fenced.  The fences are high, and there's a handful of entrances just for the large dog park alone.  The small dog park is just right next to us; and it's about a 1/4 the size of the large one.  The total acreage is about 1.6 acre, a perfect park to play fetch with.  The fence is nice, but it definitely needs a nice coat of paint.  You can also check out the aircrafts from the neighboring airport across the street from the park.  There are two water fountains in the large dog park, as well as there are pretty pooper scoopers at every turn, and the trash bins are very pretty and clean, it has a cover, the outside is made of wood, and the inside is lined with pretty trash bags.  By far the prettiest public park dog park trash bins I've ever seen.  Parking is aplenty, and benches and chairs and tables and awnings galore; so anyone can find a spot to hang out, get out of the sun, and watch your dog roam around the park and be sociable and all that fun stuff.

The bad for me: My dog is not sociable.  He works alone.  His intention is to catch the ball, and keep it in his mouth for as long as he could.  He could fit three.  He'd try to fit more if he could.  So for a while, there were about a dozen and a half of people just hanging out on their own, sitting down while their dogs are either socializing or are seated around them on the side, to try to catch some shades as well.  So for a huge park, I feel kind of odd to be the only one going back and forth in the middle of the park picking up balls for Tico to play with.  I feel odd, considering I'm also the only one ethnic-looking person in the pool of white local residents watching me run around like a crazy asian person.  And I've noticed some people whisper that "my dog drools.  Gross".  Um, my dog drools because he's had quite a workout fetching balls, and he drank a lot of water because of it, and because it's 80 degrees.  If you try to make your dog workout, this will happen too.  Instead of just sitting in the corner with your dog on your side. 

So after an hour of this, Tico and I decided to do some roaming around in Downtown Palm Springs.  I think the main artery could be on N. Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon.  Then you just go up and down the N. Palm Canyon Drive.  There's great restaurants and shops for every budget, with designers like Trina Turk, and the cheap shops like Lush Boutique which is more my "style", aka budget.  Popular Restaurants that I noticed are La Casuelas, and Kaiser Grille.  There's a little Thai restaurant and a restaurant called Zen that I wouldn't mind checking out next time.  There was a bike event today, and so some parts of the streets are coned off.  There's a Dog Guide Team in blue that came in and out of the local business called Guide Dog of the Desert. They have the most adorable dogs in there that are being trained to be guides.  So if you happen to be in the area, do check them out.            

After an hour or so of this, we decide to head towards Rancho Mirage  On our way there, we spotted a small local fair; so we checked out the artwork, and see if there's anything we could get for a nice price.  I definitely would not mind finding a nice necklace that is unique; but nothing that I could find that was in my price range; so after a lemonade for me and a water for Tico, off we go.

The River At Rancho Mirage is one of my favorite destination places in the Palm Desert.  It's an open air, beautiful shopping and dining place.  They have a Cheesecake Factory (like!), Flemings (love!), PF Chang's, Babe's BBQ, and the Yard House (need!).  I love Yard House and their chocolate-raspberry beer.  Yum.  But since Tico is not old enough to drive, no Yard House for me today.  There's also a Baja Fresh and Starbucks that offers seating tables for everyone.  Almost everyone seated today had their dogs with them.  It's too hot to be in Palm Springs, and they wanted to air out their dogs and get some shade and cappuccino at the same time.  There was a girl scout cookie drive today, and all the girls came around to pet Tico.  The lady in charge of the drive came up to me, and asked me flat out if I am a full-time resident in the area.  I said no, we're visiting, and she said good, because she lives there full time now, and she had to give her dog away knowing the dog will be miserable because of the heat, especially in the summer. I felt bad for her.

I do agee with her.  Palm Springs is not a place for some dogs to be in, especially my dog.  He can't stand the heat.  I wil be more inclined to get a vacation house in Big Bear, before we'll consider Palm Springs because of Tico.  And Tico loves the snow.  A nice cabin with a large yard will be heaven for us.

Sitting just outside the Yard House' main entrance, I overheard a meeting of some girls who are getting together for a bachelorette weekend.  I thought Palm Springs can be a great alternative for a Vegas B-weekend.  I will keep that in mind for the next girlfriend to marry.  But then again, any excuse to get away with the girls is always nice.

We also found a park next to the Palm Springs Art Museum.  The address to the museum is 101 N. Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA.  It is just north of Tahquitz Canyon, behind the N. Palm Canyon Drive.  I wouldn't mind checking out this museum without Tico, to check out their Modern Sculpture and Desert Paintings collection.  In the meantime, Tico and I just enjoyed the day hanging out at the pretty, grassy park across the street, with me reading the latest Travel and Leisure magazine, and daydreaming about some far off places and donning Ivanka Trump's attire between airport travels, and getting a facial while some European lady tries to massage my ugly, stanky feet.  Tico on the other hand, is just chill-axing.  He's probably also dreaming about some gourmet doggie biscuits while being pedi-pawed.  I can only assume.   

We got home at around 7 pm, and we still need to stop by our neighbor George and Yaya's baby shower.  The baby is going to be their 6th daughter. 

"I'm thirsty", or "turssty", is a famous line by Rosie Perez in the movie "White Men Can't Jump".  The movie starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes playing basketball and hustling local basketball players for money.  The scene is about Rosie telling Woody's character that she's thirsty, and Woody does not get that she meant she does not need him to get her a glass of water, but to sympathize with her instead.  So they bantered back and forth, with him telling her that "if he tells someone he's thirsty, it means if others can offer him water".  But she retorts that if he loves her enough, he would get the hint to sympathize with her dry-mouthedness.  Ah, the magic of being in a relationship.  My husband is also still trying to figure me out.

B always tell me that I remind him of Rosie Perez, especially from the movie "Pineapple Express" because I am short, and I have dark hair, and I get feisty, and I talk with accent and make silly gestures.  I am a little flattered, considering Rosie is a cute little thing.  Too bad I don't see her much on theaters anymore, but I really enjoyed her in the 90's.

Palm Springs residents are predominantly white folk retirees, mixed with gay and lesbians, second homes to some Hollywood types, and visited by tourists, especially Los Angeles natives for a romantic weekend of spa, golf, and ski/sun.  The aerial tramway ride to the slopes is a must-see during the winter; where you can see all of Palm Springs and its 10 million golf courses, and with the white snow on your feet, it makes you feel like you're walking on heaven.