After spending a day touring the breathtaking beaches of Southern California from Laguna to La Jolla, and two days going through wine country, we’re heading to the desert (in a rented car rather than on a horse with no name). I’m not really a desert guy. I get that a lot of folks love it, and I’m going to give this a go so I can definitively rule it in or out, but I find the monochromatic color scheme of the areas nature has forsaken depressing. It’s taxing rather than rejuvenating. Still, thoroughness requires a fair trail. Not to mention, the median ages of some of these communities is much higher than the California state average, which is not exactly ideal for raising kids. Ever onward …
We left Temecula and headed for Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and the surrounding area. As we drove out of town, the landscape began to change …
The mountains began to break up from large, solid pieces of land into collections of big, then smaller, rocks …
We began passing through towns that were a far cry from the beauty we had seen on the trip thus far. Trailer parks, run down schools, houses that barely looked like they could stand … all surrounded by these majestic mountains that looked pretty but hardly supported any life compared to their more fertile counterparts along the coast. There was one town, Winchester, where these children were playing at an outdoor school and it struck me how different their odds of success will be because of the conditions in which they are being raised versus families only 40-60 miles to the West. They might as well be continents apart. And it’s not because of the lack of opportunity, it’s because of the skill set with which they are being inculcated; the beliefs about how the world works, how capital formation works; etc. It upset me.
The depressed areas gave into less depressed, old, rust-belt-like towns that looked like they were 20-25 years behind the rest of the country; the capital expenditure budget dried up and everything needing new paint. Double-stacked train cars barreled through the area alongside huge windmill farms.
And then it was all gone … everything had faded away, only the mountains and sand remained.
Until, twenty minutes and several turns later, you find yourself surrounded by lush green trees, flowers, and fountains thank to the magic of science, agriculture, and irrigation. We spent a couple of hours driving through the Rancho Mirage / Cathedral City / Palm Springs / Palm Desert area. At one point, we stopped off at a Costco and I picked up Timothy Geithner’s book Stress Test, about his time as the head of the Treasury Department.
Geithner is a much better writer (or, perhaps, has a ghostwriter?) than speaker. The book is going to be enjoyable.
We checked into the hotel, which is right off downtown Palm Springs so we could walk around and get a feel for the community.
The view from our balcony looking over downtown Palm Springs …
The view from the other direction of our balcony looking over downtown Palm Springs …
Walking around downtown Palm Springs …
The road texture is interesting here …
We’re going to grab a bite to eat at a famous pizza place called Bill’s Pizza Palm Springs. We haven’t eaten in what seems like forever so we’re both starving and hoping it lives up to the hype.
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Reader Comments (10)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Niket Dhruv
May 21, 2014
Such Raw & Breathtaking pictures..Sheer delight for the eyes.It reminds me of olden days when life was so simple..Thanks for sharing.
Joshua Kennon
May 21, 2014
Replying to Niket Dhruv
It definitely felt like we went back in time, especially in the tiny communities out in the middle of nowhere on the drive here. I always wonder what leads someone to live in a place like that. How did they end up there? Why did they decide to stay? How did they meet their spouse? How do they make money? You see it in the Western side of Kansas on the drive to Colorado, too, nearer to my home back in the Midwest. You can go a hundred miles and maybe only spot a handful of houses on the side of the road. How, exactly, did the person end up in that spot and what keeps them from relocating?
You also will travel all that way and suddenly come upon a McDonald's in the middle of nowhere and realize they are still generating six or seven figures of revenue, which astounds me. You never see any customers, yet they have to exist.
joe pierson
May 21, 2014
Replying to Joshua Kennon
"what keeps them from relocating"
Family. I'm stuck where I live because of family.
Niket Dhruv
May 21, 2014
Replying to Joshua Kennon
Joshua,
Firstly It made me really happy to see the 1st ever reply from you on my comments 🙂 Appreciate it..
Being on the subject, I feel it just depends upon the person,their preferences and the way the see the world.
Giving an example, I come from Mumbai - India which is supposed to be one of the most densely populated city on the planet earth.( it is somewhat similar to New York )
People work like machine & life becomes too materialistic and practical maybe highest cost of living is the main culprit for it.
On the contrary when i imagine life in a small village / farm it gives me an amazing positive feeling.
Imagine very few machines,growing your own food in farms means : 1. No need to go to the gym haha 🙂 2.Pure organic food free from any chemicals / preservatives, living so close with your family day in and day out enjoying the small pleasures of life.( enjoying farming the way you enjoy cooking,breathing pure air and living in the arms of mother nature.In india its amazing to go to villages with no sky scrapers and see beautiful blue skies & stars in the night)
I would love to be at such place and do research just the way i have learnt from you the way Warren Buffet went to small town of Omaha away from New York 🙂
In India MNC's like Coke,Pepsi,Unilver etc have started accepting that people living in the Rural areas have very high disposable income so even if people may or may not find water but they will surely find all their products like you found a Mac Donald. One of the main reason if cheap land and very low cost of living ( It is rightly said the best thing comes free or we can say cheap 🙂 )
Thanks,
Niket
Niket Dhruv
May 21, 2014
Replying to Joshua Kennon
PS : Mumbai - India is the most densely populated city on the planet earth : Rank No. 1. Mumbai, India: The city has a population density of 29,650 residents per square kilometer. (Thinkstock/Thomas Brown)
Richard
May 21, 2014
Replying to Joshua Kennon
It makes you think about people who traveled to California back when they couldn't take a car or a train... the desert areas must have seemed like a gigantic barrier keeping them out. Though the under-developed coast wouldn't have been the same as it is today either. The depiction in Ask the Dust is interesting (I have only seen the movie so far).
Ben
May 21, 2014
Wow! Look at the palm trees...amazing how tall they are. Don't see that in the Midwest. Thanks for all the pictures Joshua. Makes me want to go travel. Have you been taking pictures with a smartphone? Camera? iPad?
When you travel do you have much interruption with your business back home? Or does it run pretty efficiently on it's own with good management in place? Just curious how you manage it.
Joshua Kennon
May 21, 2014
Replying to Ben
1. It's a Samsung Galaxy camera running Android. I think this is the model. It has Dropbox installed so when I come back to the MacBook, the photos are there for me to review without having to manually transfer them.
2. Depends on the activity. Some of them are completely automated with software and scripts so all that is required is an Internet connection every few days. Those that aren't, Aaron handles that stuff. I was told we had to wait an hour this morning before we left the hotel because there are some phone calls he needs to make to double check certain things were getting done. For me, there's no difference at all. I can read anywhere and my job is 90% reading and making decisions.
mikecrosby
May 21, 2014
My wife and I will be driving from SoCal to New Hampshire this summer. I miss the trees, where my wife will complain that there are too many. I'm glad you're enjoying your Southern California visit.
peter gryphon
May 21, 2014
Replying to mikecrosby
Oh New Hampshire. The sweet smell of balsams in the great north woods in summer, or the sugar maples set afire come October. I'll be missing my home-state from Henderson NV for a few years while my wife attends med school, but at least I won't have to shovel heat.