Somethings never change

I'm sitting at the dining room table, gazing out the sun-splashed plantation shutters of our condo that overlooks the Rancho Mirage golf course. It's 4pm; time for a little white wine.




Our street in Ranch Mirage (circa 2012)



Golf carts are swerving in-and-out of skinny palm trees; a golfer in knee-length shorts is taking her swing. And my two angels are fast asleep after an afternoon at the pool across the street.



Some places never change. Palm Desert is one of those. Sure it has grown and the people who came through 50 years ago may not recognize the new streets, the rows of new houses that are ever-bigger than the next, and the chain restaurants that have popped up.

Yet the flavor of this place is reminiscent of the 1970s when Palm Desert was officially incorporated. There's an enviable balance of ritz and modesty. Our condo has all the amenities of the 21st century but retains the feeling that it had when I came to Palm Springs as a kid (and my parents as kids too).

Our family had a place at Bermuda Dunes where the Bob Hope Classic was played for many years. My friends and I tooled around in the golf cart, drove up to the clubhouse to order bottomless Shirley Temples, and swam all day long. We sat at my grandma's table eating fresh fruit in the mornings and made my uncles scour the areas behind the drapes for crickets before we'd cross the threshold to teh outdoors.

It was wonderful last year when my Uncle Butch followed a family tradition and played in the Classic as did my grandfather. Here's the then-and-now!



This year, the Classic was renamed to Humana-something.... Anyhow, I guess somethings change. Yet others don't.

In Rancho Mirage, as elsewhere, the pools are too many to count but they aren't huge, aquatic parks that have been updated with Vegas-like cabanas, slides, and wave pools. Their intention is still simple and relaxed. They are average-sized. The lounge chairs don't have padding on them (like they would at a Vegas resort). And of course, we had a ball today with Maddi floating across the pool, going "all the way under," and jumping off the side into my arms. The no frills lifestyle suits us!

This was Lizzie's first trip to the pool - she didn't actually go in of course, but she was there with us! Maddi and I played with the floaties (lucky gal she is to have a mom who dons a swimsuit seven weeks after having a baby).



Yesterday, we brunched at the Desert Willows Country Club/Golf Course, which was one of the first "major" courses in early 2000 that launched another building boom wave in Palm Desert. It was a gorgeous 80 degree day, and a little Road Runner stopped by to say hi while we had breakfast. Of course, I couldn't help myself but get a picture of this matchy-matchy couple in orange tops. They even blended in with the restaurant linens.

Finally, I wanted to through in some evidence of little Elizabeth's development. Here she is raising her head high!! Go Lizzie, go!