Tag: Los Angeles

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram

Over the hills east of Los Angeles about two hours way by car, there lies a dessert valley that first got discovered by the stars of the golden age of movies. They built houses out there, and soon the valley became populated with tennis courts, golf courses, casinos, and polo grounds. It was a paradise surrounded by large granite mountains that protected the valley from harsh weather, and the prying eyes of the metropolis just 120 miles away. Way back in 1935 an electrical engineer named Francis Freeman Crocker proposed to build a tram up one of the mountains so people could explore the wilderness that sat on top of the rocky peak. It wasn’t until 1963 that his dream became a reality and it has since then been one of the larger tourist sights in the valley bringing thousands of people a day to ride up to the top and wander around through the beauty of nature that is possessed there.

The tram itself is the largest rotating aerial tram in the world, and the two and a half mile voyage to the top of the mountain takes about ten minutes to complete as the room they put you in rotates around so you can view all of the wonders that come with this spectacular spot. It is a crowded car where they put up to eighty people into it. Despite the numbers, it is still not as claustrophobic as you would think, and if you sit a little back away from the window, you can find a rail to lean against that will rotate with the room so you will not feel as if the room is rotating with you.

The ride is worth it because it does take you up to an amazing view of the valley below. From up there you can look out of the wilderness that sprawls out on top of the mountain or turn around the other way and see Palm Springs, La Quinta, and Indio as it spreads out on the dessert floor. Also if you look close enough, you can pick out the San Andreas fault as it threatens to split California in two. It is also a great way to escape the heat from the city as it can be over ten degrees cooler on the top even to the point of collecting snow on a few of the winter days.

As I looked over the valley, I couldn’t help but to think about how beautiful it would be looking at it when it was night and all of the city lights were on. There is an option with the tram to take it up there during the night time and have a meal at the restaurant that is on the top so you can look at the night lights. If you are thinking about doing this, keep in mind that it can be very expensive as an adult ticket costs at the time of the writing of this blog, 43 dollars per person and only offers a cafeteria style kind of meal. This does not include parking that you will need to get up to the tram, and that is an extra 15 dollars per vehicle. You can still get a reservation at the restaurant on top of the mountain but that is also expensive, and will require a ticket to go up the tram which is at 37 dollars per adult.

Just know that it does cost some money to take the tram up to the top, but once there there are many hiking opportunities. There is a three-quarter of a mile nature hike that is rather easy and takes you to some pretty spots. Or you could take the mile and a half trip out to the dessert viewing point, and for the very adventurous person, you could take the twelve hour hike that will take you past the campgrounds and deep into the wilderness. It can get cold up there which is a dramatic shift from the dessert floor where we originally started from, so if you do plan on doing some hiking, I recommend that you bring layers of clothes with you to make the adjustments needed depending on the changing weather.

It is a great day trip to take if you find yourself in the Coachella Valley. I spent a good four or five hours there, and did not really look into the museums that were at both the bottom and top levels of the tram. There is of course shopping there as well as a fifteen-minute informative movie that is shown at regular intervals. You have plenty of options of things to do, and all of them make for the perfect day up top of San Jacinto Peak.

Until next time, enjoy those little gems wherever you may find them.

Moving a Dog to Peru

Meet Zoey. I have talked about her before. She is my puppers. We rescued her while living in Jordan, and though she drives me crazy from time to time, I love her to death, and would do anything for her. When I found a new job across the world in Peru, I was definitely going to take her with me, but the logistics of taking a dog from one part of the world to another is a crazy endeavor of paperwork, muscle and stress. In the end though, it is worth the effort to know that she will be with me on this new adventure in a new country.

Let’s get one thing straight, Zoey has a pretty easy life even though she might tell you differently. She was picked up on the side of the road in the dessert on the way to the Dead Sea from Amman. Afterwards, she was given a home where she had all the toys she could want, never had to hunt for her food, or look for a fluffy place to rest her head when she was tired. Despite all this, she has still only know a dessert world where there are few trees, hot sun beating down, and a city landscape. Going across the world has been an eye-opening experience for her. For the first time in her life, she has seen big bodies of water, squirrels, horses, and deer, and trees so numerous that they cover a whole area that the humans call forests.

All of these new experiences have been a little stressful for her. She does not always know what to make of them, and as soon as she starts to feel comfortable in a place, we uproot and get her on the move again. You see, we couldn’t make a direct flight from Jordan to Peru. We had about a month lay-over in the United States, and to get her into this country was a little bit of a challenge. The United States currently has ban on dogs coming from Jordan because of a couple of cases of rabies a few years back. Basically it takes about six months to collect all the paperwork necessary to fly a dog into the United States from Jordan, and then you have to schedule an appointment with the CDC to get another health check before they officially allow the dog into the country.

Airlines are also fun to work with. They each have their own requirements and weight allowance. It requires just as much wrangling to get a dog into the cargo hold and even then, it is not always a given they will get to go. They will have to be there during a certain time of the year because they will not allow the dog to fly if it is too hot or too cold outside. In each case, it might cause the dog severe discomfort while sitting on the tarmac because they will not be able to turn on the climate control until they are up in the air. Luckily this was never a problem for us as we found the perfect time to get her into the plane, and the plane into the air.

We tried to limit the amount of time that Zoey had to spend in the air, and we definitely wanted to limit the amount of layovers that she might have to endure. The best way to do this was to fly in and out of L.A. even though she would be staying in Oregon the whole time she was in the United States. In order to make this happen, we had to take the long drive between the two states twice. It wasn’t ideal, but it was easier for Zoey to understand what was going on rather than having her trapped in a dark tiny crate for many long hours without us being able to explain why she was in it.

It also gave us the added bonus of being able to see a little more of the United States on a road trip. It has been a long time since I have been on an American road trip, and I enjoy the feel of the open road. This is not necessarily the same for a dog who has to find themselves cramped in the back seat with a collection of all of our stuff that we are bringing with us to Lima on our move there. Still, I was amazed at well Zoey did on the trip. She chilled out in the back seat and got up to watch the scenery as it passed by. It helped that we did the drive through California which offers a lot to look at.

But after a couple of nights in hotels that we fancier than what we usually stayed in because we wanted to make sure that there was enough space for Zoey, it was tine to pack everything up and head to the airport. That final jump over to our new life was exciting for us, but trying to explain to Zoey how much she would love the new experience was still difficult for us to do. I always wondered what was going through her mind at this moment. Did she think that she was heading back to Jordan to her home, or was she still confused as to what actually was going on?

Whatever she was thinking, the reality is she eventually got on that flight, and made it all the way to her new life in Peru. It was stressful for her and us, and there was quite an adventure along the way, but we are safe and sound now. She has taken the last week exploring her new surroundings and getting comfortable as so have we. I can’t wait to see where it leads all of us, and I am sure that Zoey agrees.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to keeping you updated with our new adventure.