Two Days in the Californian Desert
A trip to the West Coast of the United States wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a National Park. However, the purpose of this trip wasn’t really to go hiking in parks (even though I really enjoy doing that) because I was travelling solo and didn’t feel confortable enough driving and hiking by myself. I thus decided to visit major cities and urban areas for the most part. I still felt like I needed to get lost a bit though, and my best option from Los Angeles was definitely to head to Palm Springs, which is located in the Sonoran Desert, very close to the Mojave Desert.
*Warning: desert temperatures are like a million degrees, seriously. Bring lots of water and put on some sunscreen!!
Slab City
How to describe this place? I originally came here to visit the Salvation Mountain, which I will detail below. It took about 3 hours to get there from LA. Once I arrived, I noticed there was a small town called Slab City so I got curious and drove around a bit. Slab City is a town made with the remains of an old US marine base. It is occupied by RV owners and squatters, and its inhabitants have built house-like structures and decorations with various objects and scrap.
Salvation Mountain
At the entrance of Slab City is the now famous Salvation Mountain, a man-made place entirely painted by Leonard Knight and dedicated to Jesus. Now that he has passed away, many efforts are made to try and preserve this fragile environment made of more than half a million gallons of latex paint.
East Jesus
Shortly after I finished exploring the Salvation Mountain, I was about to head to Palm Springs, but I kept seeing signs of East Jesus. It caught my attention so I followed the signs. East Jesus is some sort of sculpture garden opened from dawn til dusk, 365 days a year. It is free to visit, but there is a big donation box right at the entrance to help preserve the place. All the art installations are basically made out of trash; objects that were once thrown away, and that are now given a second life. I highly encourage to go read about it and watch videos on their website.
Fun fact: even though you might think the name has a religious meaning, it has nothing to do with Jesus. It’s just a name that means the place is lost in the freakin middle of nowhere.
Once I left Slab City, I was hungry and decided to stop at California’s famous fast food chain: In-N-Out Burger. There is one in Thousand Palms, just a few minutes from Palm Springs.
Palm Springs
Palm Springs is a very popular weekend destination for people living in Los Angeles. It’s a 1.5-hour drive from LA and once you get there, you are totally disconnected from the craziness of the city. Palm Springs’ peak season is during Coachella Music Festival, although there are many events happening there all year round. In general, most people usually just visit to take some time off and relax. They either stay at one of the numerous beautiful hotels or rent a villa, and they enjoy time at the swimming pool.
Windmills
You can’t really miss them! There are several hundreds of them at the entrance of Palm Springs. Some of them don’t work anymore, but most of them still do. They’re all located so close to each other that it really gives a cool effect when you see them from the highway just before you enter the town.
Palm Springs Villas
One fun thing to do in Palm Springs is to just bike and/or drive around town, more particularly in the Southern part. Houses are absolutely stunning, and will definitely make you fantasize about your dream villa. Not very far from there, you will find the Saguaro Hotel, one of the very few hotels with a swimming pool that you can access for free :)
Azucar Restaurant
There are so many good restaurants to try out in Palm Springs. I kept reading tons of online reviews and recommendations, and I found it really hard to choose from all the beautiful places I came across. I was only staying there one night so I had to pick one. I decided to go to Azúcar at La Serena Villas because it seemed like it had the perfect combination of everything I like. The place has a stunning rooftop terrace, a swimming pool, beautiful interior design, they serve delicious food, signature cocktails, and the service I got was exceptional.
Joshua Tree National Park
My next day was all about Joshua Tree National Park. I couldn’t wait to get there and explore the amazing nature that can be found there; that not only includes the Joshua trees, but also different species of cacti, yucas, pines, and many more. It costs $25 USD to enter the park, and your ticket is valid for 7 consecutive days. It doesn’t take very long to drive through the park (1.5 hour). Most of the places worth visiting are located in the upper part of the park though. These include: Hidden Valley, Skull Rock, Arch Rock, Barker Dam and the Cholla Cactus Garden. My advice would be to enter by the North Entrance, and exit by the West Entrance.
Joshua Tree Acres
Probably one of the most unique places I’ve ever stayed at. This unique airstream resort is located in the middle of nowhere, near Joshua Tree. Its owners Andrew, Justine and Joseph have carefully renovated a few airstreams and transformed them into something magical. They’ve also arranged their little village with a lot of taste. There’s a cute common area with a kitchen, living room, dining room and bathroom. They also have a beautiful pool, outdoor shower and outdoor bathtub. If you get the chance to find a room available, it’s definitely something I would recommend doing. All their airstreams can be booked through Airbnb.
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