When I walked out early Saturday morning to take Molly and Rylie to the dog park, the first thing I noticed was all the snow high up on Mt. San Jacinto and Mt. San Gorgonio. There was a clear line of white stuff starting about half-way up the mountain all the way to the top. It sure looked nice and even better because it was far, far away.
Our first view of Mt. San Gorgonio on Saturday morning
Snow, to me, is always best viewed from far away. I was reminded of this when I came back after our dog park visit and saw some of the photos from back east in Connecticut and the other New England states. That was some snowstorm! From what I could tell, the worst of it seemed to be the thousands of homes left without power – over 600,000! Having no heat and no light in that stuff would be awful. I can’t even imagine being stuck in an RV in a situation like that.
Heading down the highway towards Yucca Valley
It made me feel lucky being here in Desert Hot Springs as all we had to deal with was the winds that were still blustery for most of the day. It was warm enough but the wind whistling down off the passes had a bit of a bite to it. Across the I-10 from Desert Hot Springs and down in the other desert cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio and La Quinta it was a different story – 70F and zero wind!!
A pretty good example of the mountains holding back the clouds
The main reason for that is south of I-10 which separates Desert Hot Springs from the other desert cities, they are pretty much in a high shell of mountain ranges, San Jacinto and Santa Rosa, which provide a perfect barrier from the winds that whistle through Banning Pass and right through Desert Hot Springs. Those mountain ranges plus Mt. San Gorgonio are also perfect ‘cloud blockers' for all of us here in the Coachella Valley.
Clouds all stacked up behind Mt. San Jacinto keeping us blue!!
It is a very common sight to see banks of clouds stacked up against these mountain ranges on the Los Angeles side of the mountains. The clouds seem to roll-up against the mountains and stay there. I guess that’s what accounts for Palm Springs’ average of 345 days of sunshine per year. For those who may wonder why we stay in Desert Hot Springs instead of on the south-side of I-10 where there is protection from the wind, the answer is simple – $$$$$$$$$!
RV Parks in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Indio, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta etc. charge as much as 3 times what a typical RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs would cost. We’re talking rates of $1,500 to $2,000 per month. That’s why Desert Hot Springs has so many RV Resorts situated on Dillon Rd. just north of the I-10 as they cater to folks like us who don’t mind the odd windy day here and there in exchange for a more reasonable monthly rate of $600 or so.
Paulette was feeling just a bit under the weather Saturday morning so we cancelled our normal garage sale foray. After a few hours she was beginning to feel a bit better and told me a visit to the Joshua Park Thrift Store up in Yucca Valley would no doubt cure her of her illness. Sounded good to me, so we leashed up the muttzo’s, hopped in the truck and took off. It turned out to be a beautiful drive as we had great views of Mt. San Gorgonio covered in snow.
Ending the day, as usual, at the dog park with friends
We got back to the Sands after lunch and spent most of the rest of the afternoon just reading and relaxing. I’m well into the Killing Lincoln book and like Rod said, it is an interesting and compelling read. After a homemade dinner of Spaghetti and meat sauce, we settled in to watch the movie Flight with Denzel Washington on Netflix. Paulette and I both gave it a 6 out of 10.
Have a great Sunday, and thanks again for visiting!
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