Saturday, February 23, 2013

Palm Springs Tramway Ride


Friday February 22nd
We got over to Gary and Jane's condo about 11 and sat outside near the pool for long enough to make my scalp pink.  We decided to take the tram ride up the mountain just outside of Palm Springs.  First we did a tour of the downtown area and stopped for lunch at a Mexican Restaurant by the name of Consuela' s.  We had a good lunch and I thought the prices were pretty reasonable considering we were in downtown Palm Springs.
The Palm Springs tramway is outside of town a couple miles, mostly uphill since the base station is at 2600 feet and the valley floor is less than 600 feet.  The Tram rises almost 6000 feet to near the top of San Jacinto Mountain.  The actual peak of San Jacinto Mountain is a couple of miles away and is over 10,800 feet.  The area at the top of the tram is part of a State Park.  The view is pretty terrific and according to the guides, on a clear day you can see Mt. Charleston, over 200 miles away on the N side of Las Vegas.  I may have seen it but I would not have been able to identify it.  Gary and Cathey and I went up, but heights make Jane nervous so she stayed at the base station and read a book.  We stayed up there a couple of hours, looking at the views and watching movies about the construction of the tram.  It was dark by the time we got off the mountain and we returned to Gary and Jane's condo.  They fixed a nice supper of grilled chicken and Johnsonville brats!  

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