November 5, 2007

Morning, and we couldn’t bear to leave! It’d been too much fun and we both love the desert. It turns out every place I’d said I wanted to live that weekend, like Morongo Valley, was on the San Andreas Fault Line. Apparently, Morongo Valley is the fault line!

To delay our return Shane and I drove up the mountains behind Palm Springs to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains, part of the San Bernardino National Forest. That drive, and the drive through Joshua Tree National Park, are just about the most sublime landscapes I have ever seen. We kept stopping at lookouts along the way and all I could think was, ‘I never want to go home!’ (Yeah, me and Judy Garland. I know.)

Return we did, however, heading back into LA’s smog and our cheesy Century Blvd Hotel (the glam LA Adventurer!) where we always stay because it’s cheap cheap cheap and also near the airport, so it’s easy to get out quick! And because 9 o’clock in LA is actually midnight in Toronto, Shane treated me to a birthday dinner at the Golden Bull Restaurant (again, at Max’s directive!) down the Pacific Coast Highway past the Santa Monica Pier where we sat rehashing the weekend. If we had to go home, at least we’d leave on a high note. I will remember this trip as being one of the best in a long time.