Girls Weekend in Palm Springs

A couple of months ago Shana, Heidi and I were lamenting the fact that Heidi is moving away after she graduates and planned a couple of girls weekends for before she leaves. This past weekend was our weekend in Palm Springs. We were originally planning on leaving on Friday night, but it was Ryan's karaoke birthday party that night so we decided to stay for it. The party was great and I did so much singing that I had much less voice by the end of the night. Due to a late night Friday night we didn't get off to an early start Saturday though.

We ended up leaving about 11:00 to drive out to Palm Springs. We actually ended up staying in Banning because there was a golf tournament in Palm Springs and all the hotels were full there. Shana and I drove out together and then Heidi drove as well because she was heading to Utah after this weekend. We met up at the hotel in Banning about 1:00 to check in and plan our weekend. Part of what made it a great weekend was that we didn't really plan much before we went. We had a place to stay and that was about it.

We drove in to Palm Springs and walked around the downtown area. We got some lunch at this Mexican place that was pretty good. It wasn't as warm as we thought it was going to be, so we decided not to spend time by the pool, but to go on a hike. We got to the base of the hike and the ranger told us that they weren't letting anyone out on the trail because it was past 3:00 and we wouldn't get back before it got dark. Lame.

The hike was out. So we did what any girls would do who saw a huge outlet mall on the way in...check it out. We spent a couple of hours there and found some great deals. We all tried to exercise self-restraint and were fairly successful. After a long shopping excursion we got some dinner and took it back to the hotel room, ate and then went out to the hot tub. For some reason our card wouldn't open the door, so rather than asking the hotel staff for help Shana just climbed over the fence and let us in. The hot tub was just what we needed and afterward we were so relaxed that we just chilled and fell asleep.

Sunday morning we got up and went to church in Desert Hot Springs. After church we were driving around and decided to take this little road out to see all these windmills.



We took some great pictures and changed out of our church clothes. Then we headed back to the hike we were going to take the day before. We got there and the person at the desk rudely informed us that it was going to be $12.50 per person to hike this 2 mile hike. We thought this was pretty steep and decided to take the free trail that was right by the other trail. We climbed up the hills and got a good view of Palm Springs. It really is amazing how many palm trees there are there. We were taking a bunch of pictures and we saw this rock that was above the trail. Shana said someone should go up there and we would take pictures. Heidi was wearing flip flops so she was out, so I volunteered to go up. I was climbing up the rock when all of a sudden the piece I was standing on decided it no longer wanted to be connected to the rest of the rock and took me down with it. I did a nice 360 turn as I was falling and landed on the trail, thankfully not falling down the rest of the mountain. But I ended up with scrapes on all of my limbs with my left lower leg taking the brunt of the fall. Combined with the soccer bruises from earlier this week, I kind of look like a mess. After that our hike was over and we hiked back down to the car and went to CVS to get something to clean my wounds with. Thankfully with some ice, ibuprofen, and bandages I'm as good as new.












After our hike it was time to part ways. Heidi went off to Utah and Shana and I drove out to Redlands to visit with my aunt and uncle and cousins. I didn't realize how close they were to Palm Springs. Next time we're totally staying in the guest house. It was so much fun just hanging out with family and friends out there. My aunt, always ready to play matchmaker, has all but set Shana up on a date with my cousin's friend. She even talked to him on the phone while we were there. It was just a end to a wonderful weekend. Now if only I can get the swelling to go down in my leg so I can walk normally again!