Palm Springs - Day 7 - Hiking and a Little Adventure

Our last full day in Palm Springs had arrived.  We decided that we were going to do a little hiking that morning.  After much debate about where to go hiking, shuffling through random printed internet papers, and then trying to figure out how to GPS a "hike a mountain location" we packed everyone into the car.  We did get lost and played follow the leader for awhile through town and out of town and back around again, but we did eventually find somewhere to hike.  It was beautiful and we really enjoyed it.  The kids did pretty well too.  We realized fairly quickly that our family was not in any kind of "hiking" shape.  We kept seeing older people walking by us and they had their walking sticks and said they had just finished a few miles and here we all were panting already after we had just started.  We did however really enjoy the hike and wished we had gotten up and moving in the mornings earlier and had gone on a few more during the week.
Here are some pictures from our hiking experience.

Once our successful hike was done we headed back to our house for lunch.  The afternoon plan was to split up since we all had different things we wanted to do.  Jeff and Tonah and the 2 boys were headed to her aunts for a visit since they lived a few hours away.  My mom and Dad and my 2 kids wanted to spend the last day at the house relaxing at the pool (and my kids wanted to swim the day away).  Landon and I had an adventure to go on.  A co-worker had told me about a few places he had went to when we was in California and they happened to be only an hour or so away from Palm Springs.  Landon and I grabbed my Iphone and his Ipod and we were off to our first destination - Salvation Mountain.  Out in the middle of nowhere is a man made painted mountain.  Landon and I had previously done some Google Searching to learn the history of the man who built this mountain and why he built it.  It is all very interesting.  As we pulled the car up (after stopping in a very small, strange town and asking directions cautiously) we were pretty much in awe.  It was hard to believe that one person built all of this and lived here.  Leonard King was no longer living at Salvation Mountain due to some health issues.  

Here are some pictures of our little excursion:

Back in the car Landon and I started heading back toward Palm Springs to our next destination - Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea.  According to what we read this is one of the poorest towns in California (or around the area).  There is a lot of history for both Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea.  Landon and I drove slowly through this run down town toward the lake.  Closer to the Salton Sea you can sea a large dike built of dirt.  We found a place to drive in closer and parked the car.  We walked over the dike and walked around for awhile.  You could see where houses used to be and other items from where a town was.  Everything now covered in salt from the water.  It was very interesting to see.

Here are some of our pictures from Bombay Beach:

It was time to head back to Palm Spring as it started to get dark outside as Landon and I left Bombay beach cautiously driving through the almost vacant town on the other side of the dike.  We had a nice drive back listening to music and chatting along the way.  When we arrived back in Palm Springs I needed to gas up the car so it was full for returning it the next morning.  We pulled into a gas station and I had noticed the gas price on the sign.  I jumped out filled up the car and was in a little sticker shock when I saw how much filling up the tank cost.  As we were driving away I started to freak out.  I thought maybe I had put diesel in instead of gas.  We started to Google what would happen if I actually did put in diesel.  I kept thinking the price for gas on the sign did not much what I put in, but I am not a dummy - I wouldn't put in diesel, but then I just couldn't be sure at that point.  Google told us we wouldn't make it very far if I had and we did make it back to the house.  I also kept thinking that I didn't get the insurance option when I rented my car for the week and could be in big trouble if I didn't make it to the airport the next morning for our flight home.  All did end up well, but I really still don't know if I did it or not?
Jeff and Tonah hit a ton of traffic on their way back to Palm Springs from her aunts house and we were all a little upset that Jeff wasn't there earlier for our last night of vacation.  (You can't have a good vacation without a little fighting and drama, right?!)  We let the kids do some night swimming because we knew they would probably miss having a private pool the most from this vacation.  We also decided to hit the hot tub after we put my kids to bed.  We had a few beers left to drink and we couldn't waste them!  Jeff and Tonah did arrive back safe and sound that night and Jeff joined us in the hot tub.  We had a blast visiting and talking and laughing.  It was a good way to end the vacation.

My dad after sitting poolside all day and then hot tub!
Yeah - me and Jeff are pretty proud.

We went to bed that night and in the morning we did some cleaning and had to head out.  We were the first to leave.  Our flight ended up getting delayed at the airport which was a bummer that we had to sit there for 2 extra hours.  That is not an easy task with 2 little kids winding down from vacation.  It all worked out fine and we cannot wait until our next big Dickhaus Family Vacation!