Day 3 Part 2 - Palm Springs

After the race we went back to Matt’s Granparent’s house and cleaned up. We knew I would be in trouble if I sat down for very long, so we quickly jumped back into the car and picked up my parents at their hotel.

Our original plan was to go for a hike. Matt remembered doing this hike as a kid and said it was easy and fun. We drove around until we found the road the hike was on. It (supposedly) led to a beautiful palm tree lined canyon. However, we got to the gate and found out that it cost $8 per PERSON to go in the canyon. There was a line of cars we had to wait in. While waiting we decided it probably wasn’t worth $32 to walk around for an hour, so we turned the car around and headed to downtown Palm Springs.

We decided to just wander around the city and see what was going on. I was feeling pretty good, but I could tell my legs were sore and that it was going to take a while to get them totally up and moving. The other thing I observed during our walk was that it was really warm. It was probably about 80 degrees, and I was seeking shade! I reminded myself what I was coming home to, and it made it easier to just enjoy the heat.

We stopped and looked in a few stores, but mostly we were just trying to keep moving. As we continued to walk past restaurants and cafes we realized that we hadn’t had lunch, or anything to eat really, since the race. We decided take a short break at a cute little Mexican restaurant.

Unfortunately, it had the SLOWEST service I have had for a long time. We sat there for what seemed like forever until we even placed our order. By then I was almost full from chips and salsa (at least the salsa was spicy!). We finally ordered and ate and then sat waiting for the waiter to come back with the bill. This is when we realized that our car was about to hit the limit on where it was parked, so Matt and I hurried down the street while my parents stayed behind to pay. We made it back to the car before any tickets showed up on the windshield, which is good. Then we circled around and picked up my parents. They went back to their hotel to swim and relax. We went back to Matt’s grandparent’s house and napped.

That evening we were invited to dinner with Tom and Mary (Mary is Matt’s Grandpa’s Sister). Mom and Dad were invited too, so we picked them up and drove out to Tom and Mary’s house. There were a lot of people at dinner, and we had a good time talking and eating. It was getting a little bit harder for me to walk at this point, but we were still having fun. Matt’s Grandpa was bragging about us to everyone there, saying that we had finished the race. That felt pretty good (yes, I am vain).

But soon we had to leave and get back to pack and sleep. We had to wake up early the next day for the drive home.

Coming Soon – Day 4, the LONG drive