Posts tagged: Travel Palm Springs

Flawless green lawns, vivid crayon-coloured annuals, miniature potted palms and manicured golf courses all exist on land that was once desert scrub. Nutmeg disgusted with her golf game and not a dedicated shopper decided that it would be time well spent to understand more about their natural surroundings.

Good news – she found Desert Adventures. Not knowing much about the company she asked Kimberly Nilsson one of the co-owners for a bit of background.
(more…)

Recipes & Travel:
California Travel Guides, Jeep Tours Palm Desert, Things to do in Palm Desert, Travel Palm Springs

El Paseo in Palm Desert, California gets high marks from well-heeled fashionistas for its array of retail stores. Like “sister” streets around the world iconic, exclusive, name-brand boutiques grace the roadway where gleaming automobiles some more expensive than the average house, are parked close by. It is so customary to see fancy cars that a roaring motor is hardly extraordinary – until there are 300 of them!

(more…)

Recipes & Travel:
California Travel Guides, car cruise nights el paseo california, Things to do in Palm Desert, Travel Palm Springs

Before you let your mind get too far with that, it is the name of a HIKE!
Nutmeg is terrified of snakes and a good girl scout, so there is no way she is going hiking alone.  The Bump and Grind hike is different, it is like going to the gym outside.  You park in a very urban setting, right behind Target and basically follow the crowd.  It is a very good workout, 2 miles up and about 750 feet of elevation gain.  The path is wide so you can easily pass slower walkers and you can see the snakes if they are on the trail (thankfully none in sight).  Like every hike in the desert make sure to take water, a hat, sunglasses, wear sunscreen and do not wear white shorts (no one should).  Other than a decent workout, the people watching is certainly lots of fun.
Here is Nutmeg’s association of hikers on the trail to the cars parked…

Recipes & Travel:
Bump and Grind Trail, Palm Springs Hiking Trails, Things to do in Palm Desert, Travel Palm Springs

Nutmeg was curious, in December she and Ginger had fresh squeezed orange juice every morning from the tree outside the door in Palm Desert.  However, in June no decent oranges, lemons or grapefruits for any juice.  The trees are still very healthy and there are signs of fruit to come, although not anytime soon…
So Nutmeg wondered: do the trees only bare fruit once a year? The answer is yes, unfortunately.
Is California really the place for citrus?  The answer is yes although it is not the leader in US production.  The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes monthly results and forecasts by state and by type of produce; oranges “non-Valencia”, oranges “Valencia”, grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos, lemons etc.  Florida by far has the largest production (131 million boxes – forecast for 2010), followed by California (59 million), Texas (1,6 million) and Arizona weighs in with some minor production.  Total US production forecast for 2010 is 192 million boxes. Interesting to…

Recipes & Travel:
California Citrus, California Travel Guides, Food Nutritional Facts, Travel Palm Springs

Nutmeg could not be happier to discover some coffee options in the land of Starbucks.  The alternative coffee-house options much like really good restaurant options in Palm Springs, Palm Desert and most of Riverside County are limited.  There are of course the ubiquitous Starbucks outlets in almost every second strip mall.  However, as you may have gathered that is almost the land of last resort for Nutmeg.  (more…)

Recipes & Travel:
Koffi Palm Springs, palm desert coffee shops, Palm Desert Restaurants, Things to do in Palm Desert, Travel Palm Springs