Palm Springs, California (March 26-29)

I was so excited about this trip, and I still look back at it and am so glad I decided to go with Tres on it! Palm Springs was a work trip for Tres and one of those that I tagged along on. It was an Athletic Championships event, which is the company Tres used to work for with some of his closest friends. Since they were all there, I knew it would be a blast! We got in late on Thursday just in time for dinner with the crew and a walk around the ever-interesting Palm Springs. This small city is something else. If I had to sum it up in words, those words would be: gorgeous, hot, money, and gay. The city is tiny but the sight of it will knock you off your feet – it’s beautiful, and could best be described as a “beach-looking town in the middle of the desert.” Only… there is no beach, but there are lots of Palm trees and more sun than any one person could ever take in – it hardly EVER rains there! A lot of older-aged movie stars vacationed and had homes here – Elvis and Pricilla and Frank Sinatra – just to name a few.

Tres and me mid-air!

Waving!

Tres had to work all weekend, so we set aside Friday for a day of fun and an experience I had wanted to have my whole life – a hot air balloon ride! To take the balloon ride, we had to drive an hour out of the way to Temecula (Wine Valley) California, but every minute of our early-morning was worth it! We had to wake up at like 6:30 to make sure we were in Temecula before 8:00, which is when they start balloon rides. They prefer to do them early in the morning when the wind is just right, and I was not going to argue with what kept our balloon in the air! We got lucky and only had to ride with two people, who both ended up being really cool. They were a couple from California, and what do you know?! The guy ended up prosing to his girlfriend in the air with Tres and I to witness. Poor Tres… as Queen once said, “Pressure pushing down on me… no man asked for.” Haha… just kidding, but the funny thing is when we got back to Palm Springs, all of our friends claimed they had bets we would get engaged on the balloon ride. We were like, “Nope, but the couple with us sure did!”… AWKWARD!

At the Winery!

Back to the balloon ride… it was truly one great experience of a lifetime. I had always wanted to go on one, and I am not really sure why because I am terrified of heights. My favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz though, and if Dorothy got to ride on one, then so was I! Seeing it be blown up was a show in itself… we could not get over how big it was, but actually going on it was even more amazing! We saw miles of beautiful scenery. When we got to the highest point though, I lost it. I didn’t want anyone to know how scared I was, so I kept quiet and closed by eyes, but I was shaking uncontrollably and Tres eventually noticed. So did our balloon pilot, so he made me put my back up against the basket, saying that having something touch you when you are high usually makes you feel more safe. It helped, but the fact that we started getting lower helped a lot more! Once we came down, we toasted our air-journey with champagne and congratulated the newly engaged couple! Tres and I spent the day in the wine country, what our pilot called a “little Napa Valley.” We spent most of the day at Wilson Creek Winery where we did a wine tasting and had lunch. We also discovered the best tasting champagne ever, Almond Champagne. We bought five bottles of it along with some wine and headed back to Palm Springs!

Hanging with friends

The rest of the trip consisted of Tres working all day and me laying out at the pool and taking in the unique city. I went for a few jogs, ate breakfast and lunch by myself, and waited on Tres to get done working. Then at night, we would hang out with all of our friends who were also there for work. I fell in complete love with this area of California. Sun to me equals happiness, so I can’t imagine a depressed person living here! I told Tres it had been awhile since I had completely fell in love with a city I visited, but I honestly think I could live in Palm Springs (well, maybe if it were located in the South :)