2019 Jan 5 Palm Desert 3

Above are date palms.  This was just outside this store Shields Dates that sold dates.  This area of California sales $50,000 million of dates a year and 95% of all the dates sold in the U.S.  Most of the dates have to be hand picked as they mature.  Ladders are adjusted up and down on the trunks to help the pickers reach them.
Below is Bob Hope's former home.  29,000 sq. feet.  After he had it built, he and Delores felt it was too big, so bought a smaller home down in the city of Palm Springs, but the paparazzi  discovered it and would not leave them alone.   They ended up moving back up the hill.  It recently sold for just $9 million.  Needed a lot of updating and repairs.

One of Liberace's homes.  The piano mailbox was cute.

Mary Martin's home below.  Remember her from staring in Peter Pan?
Marilyn Monroe's many homes below.
Gene Autry's home below.  After his first wife died, Gene married a lady that was 30 years younger.  She was a banker, so together Gene and his wife invested in property around Palm Springs and became very wealthy.  Gene died in 1998 at 91 years.  His widow still lives here.
Below, one of Jay Leno's former homes.  There's the NBC peacock on the gate.
Wind turbine farm in the valley just west of Palm Springs.  There are over 3,000 wind turbines in this valley.  
Took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to 8500 feet.  Fun seeing the snow up there.  Kids were taking sleds and snow boards up on the tramway to use on the backside of this mountain.

Looking back east toward Palm Springs.
This is really an engineering marvel.  There are 5 towers that support this tramway.  Each tower was built on very rugged terrain.  Each tram rotates as it's moving up and down.

Helicopters were used extensively in building these towers hauling materials and workers up and down from the construction sites.

Last stop of the day was the Palm Springs Air Museum.
Cliff found another Vietnam helicopter pilot to chat with.  Lots of volunteers make this museum a really wonderful educational experience.

Below this C-47 flew with the British Air Force, Belgium Air Force, French Air Force, and Israeli Air Force.  Pretty impressive plane.
Cliff & I went to the Street Fest in downtown Palm Springs.  This is every Thursday night.  The crowds were immense.  This fancy Starbucks was just an example of the expensive stores in downtown Palm Springs.



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