all the desert fun we could handle

with one full day to spend in palm springs, we decided to make the most of it.  we'd bought tickets for the aerial tramway, which i was looking forward to since i'd never been before.

on a recommendation from the old lady and her special friend (who are frequent p.s. visitors as his dad lives in the area), we headed to koffi to grab our morning caffeine and some sandwiches to take with us for our afternoon adventure.  i already knew i wanted to try the red velvet latte, which was just as delicious as the old lady had promised it would be.  we were parked next to this guy, who was super friendly and sweet.

and then it was time to make our way to the tram station.

i kind of forgot that i don't do all that well with really high elevations.  huh.  doesn't seem like something one would forget, but it is me so...yeah.  anyway, so far so good.

we'd managed to arrive right at 11:00, which was the time on our ticket.  but we were chastised by the ticket taking lady, who told us that we should have arrived 15 minutes early and directed us to the line of shame to wait for the next tram.  harsh.  it wasn't a very long wait though, and we were boarding the tram in no time.

the floor in the tram rotated a full 360 degrees, so that you'd get to see every angle throughout the 10-minute ride up the mountain.  and we saw snow!

when we got up to the station, we headed to the gift shop to see if we could find something to carry our lunch in.  we hadn't done a great job of planning ahead and didn't grab one of the bazillion backpacks we have at home, but luckily we found a basic drawstring one here for like $8.

then it was time to head outside and do a little hiking.  it was a little chilly - somewhere around 45 degrees or so - but it was beautiful up there, and once we got going we warmed up pretty quickly.

we found snow, and i was apparently really happy to sit on a rock.

many selfies were taken.

i don't remember what he was pointing out here, but i'm sure it was something cool.

and then i guess i thought it was a great idea to climb up onto this giant fallen tree trunk and pose for a picture.

the hub propped his phone up in a hollow tree to get this shot of us on the bridge.

we found a picnic table near the ranger station to sit and eat our lunch.  the wraps we'd picked up at koffi were surprisingly tasty, which was good since we were hungry by then.

and then it was time to climb back up the hill to get back to the tram station.  you can see how happy i was about that.

once i'd had a chance to catch my breath, we climbed up a little further to the top of the building and past the currently-closed restaurant so we could see the view from up there.

and then it was time to head back down the mountain.

the hub indulged my request to find the starbucks reserve cafe in palm springs, which turned out not to be very far away.  we passed this photo op, which i guess i was supposed to go and stand in so i could be the "I."  oops.

it was a very fancy starbucks.  i'd hoped to find some fun exclusive cups in there, but it was not to be.  that's okay.  i settled for the reserve exclusive cold brew malt that came in a reusable cup, while the hub opted for a matcha iced tea.

back at the hotel, we had time for a nice nap before heading out again for dinner.  the hub had woken up before me and gone out to the fire pit to enjoy a cigar and a drink from the bar, which overlooked the 24-hour pool.

del rey, the restaurant we'd chosen for dinner, was located in the villa royale hotel just a few minutes away.  it was super cute, and now we can't wait for another opportunity to head out to the desert so we can stay here.

it was a tapas-style menu, with lots of small plates to nibble and share.  we ordered everything that caught our eye, and it was all delicious.

it was a really lovely day spent together, and i think we squeezed in as much as we possibly could in the time we had.  and between the hiking and all the food, we pretty much passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillows.  pretty awesome.