Day 26-June 20, 2016-Laundry, Mt. San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness Area, casino
Longest day of the year and the hottest…up to 126!!!
Yes, we forgot some other things so another trip to the RV, good thing it’s close. Caught up on some phone calls, e-mails, etc. in the morning. Did a couple of loads of laundry, it’s great having the washer/dryer right here. Because it’s so hot we went to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway today. The world’s largest revolving cable car, it took us up 8516’ to Ponderosa pines to the cooler temps (it was 71 when we got on the tram to return and still 118 at the bottom) of the arctic/alpine forest of the San Jacinto Mountains. We had to drive 3-1/2 miles up the beautiful Chino Mountains to the Valley Station where the tram leaves about every half hour. It only takes about 15 minutes to get to the Mountain Station at the top but the tram revolves twice during that time giving everybody wonderful views of the mountains below and it changes because it goes through 5 ecosystems on the way up from the Sonora Desert to the alpine forest. There are only three revolving trams in the world, one in Switzerland and the other in So. Africa but this is the largest at 18’ in diameter and 8’ high. The mountain station has two theaters where we saw films about how the tram was made and about the trails and wildlife here. Another floor has a restaurant and another a visitor center and gift store. This is the Mt. San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness Area. Outside there are terraces to take in the views, trails, and breathtaking scenery. And it’s so cool up here. In the winter you can rent snow shoes, skies and other gear for winter activities. We spent quite a bit of time walking around although I get loopy at high elevations and was a bit disoriented. On the way back the “conductor” told us the haze we’ve been seeing the past few days is smoke from the fires in the Los Angeles Forest about 93 miles west and we could really see and smell the smoke on the way down. He also said the airport is closed because the planes can’t keep up with the heat. Came back to the condo for dinner and, because we don’t know when to quit, we went to the Spa Resort Casino in downtown glitzy, ritzy Palm Springs. I had some luck, Harry not so much but between the two of us we came out a bit ahead. And we saw a beautiful strawberry full moon on the way home.