Palm Springs 50th Birthday Bash

“Where do you want to celebrate your 50th, honey?”
“I don't care, as long as it's warm, sunny, and easy to get to.”
That is how we ended up in Palm Springs for an extended birthday getaway. 

My prior experience last year during the peak of summer felt a lot like melting on the surface of the sun. It was a short business trip, and I couldn't imagine finding joy in a place like this. Well, timing is everything, and the weather was splendid. We leave this go around scanning the Zillow listings for a place all our own…

Our plan was to combine a couples retreat with a family and friends affair. Nicole and I ventured down early Friday morning for a day to explore the downtown and the joys of doing nothing by the pool. 

We rented a perfect vacation home just outside of downtown. Over the years, the Palm Springs partying has become an issue, so we were under strict rules to avoid all amplified sound outside. Nicole was reiterated these regulations during a 40-minute mandatory discussion with the homeowner a week prior. Yup, a 40 minute pre-screen and enthusiastic orientation on every possible situation we might encounter. The home certainly fit the Palm Springs 60s vibe. 

I think we were kept from the most open secret on the planet. Within hours of our visit, it became clear that this is a wonderfully queer place on the planet. 

Nicole had put out an open call to anyone in the greater Western U.S. to join us if available. That afternoon, we were joined by Bryan & Marissa, and Nina & Steve for dinner at Johnny Costa’s. The food was meh, but the conversation was over-the-top hilarious. Who knew a conversation about Entenmann's donuts would be so memorable. 

Throughout dinner, we monitored the little dots on Google Maps showing the whereabouts of our children. We get so much joy knowing that we have raised three humans who can navigate their own way to nearly anywhere on the planet. By the time dinner was done, our kids were waiting curbside at the PSP Airport. 

Nicole's last trip to Joshua Tree National Park was 30 years ago and involved three college ladies freezing their butts off in a car because sleeping in a tent would be ridiculous. But misery often makes the best memories. (Assuming nobody is permanently damaged - physically and emotionally). 

This time around, the weather was perfect, and there was no intent to sleep under the stars. (Maybe next time. We do like the idea of stargazing in a dark night location).

Without fail, we are blown away by the variety of beauty in California. Ssshhhhh, let's keep this state a secret.  After a pleasant hike through Hidden Valley and an ascent to Keys View, we randomly stopped to commune with the Joshuas.

Have you ever asked a seriously stupid question and gotten a perfectly sarcastic response? Kudos to the Park Ranger… I asked him where we would find the most Joshua Trees in the park. Without hesitation, he circled the entire park. He was right, the park is aptly named.

 

We got back to the house with the Grindles already taking advantage of the pool. Chris showed up soon thereafter, and Rob & Dena rounded out the crew. Dinner was at The Thirsty Palms. Again, the food was meh, but the conversation didn't disappoint. So great to have so many great friends to celebrate with. Since we're all half-centenarians, the nighttime festivities were brief. 

Our intent on Sunday was to ride the Tram to the top of San Jacinto peak. Yet after a slow start and casual breakfast, that plan gave way to a leisurely stroll down the main strip in search of a truckers hat for Zane, followed by a much appreciated afternoon hanging out by the pool and learning how to play Cribbage. 

We reversed the flow, and followed our children's dots navigate the airports to get back home in time to get themselves to school on Monday. We're already several steps towards being empty nesters at this rate. Now we just have roommates who ask us to Zelle them money occasionally. 

In typical Long Family fashion, we squeezed in one last hike through a palm grove on Monday morning before catching our flight home. 

Other Random Thoughts…

We were slightly disappointed by the food, but that may be a function of proximity to the tourist strip. Further exploration is required.

Turo is a great way to rent a car. We had a very nice Land Rover for four days for the same price as a standard car from a rental company. We've done it a dozen times, and never an issue.

Despite the fact that Palm Springs is an opulent mecca of water-hungry golf courses, palm trees, and private pools in the middle of a desert, I was pleased to find out that it is sustainably fed by a naturally filling aquifer and mostly powered by wind energy. So I only feel kinda sad that humankind is destroying this part of our planet. 

This year represents a milestone on several fronts, so we plan to add a couple more entries as the year progresses. It's our 50th orbit around the sun, and our 25th spin as a married couple.

Whistler Blackcomb (BC, Canada)

For no other reason than to keep a habit going, I figured I would do a quick post of our latest “family” adventure… five days in Whistler, Canada. Full family affairs are getting harder and harder to pull off, so this time we are a four-pack (For some reason, UC Berkeley cannot seem to align their schedule with the Acalanes School District). 

Back in January, when the winter season in the Sierras still seemed pretty grim, we thought it best to find snow up north to play in for Spring Break. Back in 2011, Nicole and I spent a glorious long weekend in Whistler to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We told ourselves we would return someday. That’s how we ended up in Canada for the past five days. (Ironically, since January, the Sierras have seen another epic year of snow, and we flew away from two feet of fresh pow). 

Always cool to see snow in the coastal mountains of California

Our flight from SFO to Vancouver was mostly uneventful, but Bryce did manage to crash his in-seat entertainment center. He and Zane discovered a game called Ball Defender. It reminded me of a cross between Breakout and Jezz Ball (a game from my college days). After several rounds of losing in round 15, they found a strategy that made it impossible to lose, increasingly adding bouncing balls to the point where the computer struggled to calculate the geometry. Bryce’s terminal crashed, and Zane managed to get to level 81 as the plane touched down in Vancouver. Fastest three-hour flight ever. 

Customs is getting increasingly more automated. Not faster per se. Nicole struggled for 5 minutes trying to have the machine recognize her. It finally gave up and X-d her out. Ha!

Upon landing, Bryce, after seven years of world travel and never once making a suggestion to see or do anything, finally had a request! His friend recommended a hole-in-the-wall dumpling place in Vancouver and Bryce wanted to go. I didn’t care if it was one hour out of our way, we were going. As luck would have it, it was exactly on the route we had to take to get out of the city, it was definitely a hole-in-the-wall, and it was certainly very yummy. 

 

Our place in Whistler Village sat nestled by a glacial stream in the crook of the main road precisely equidistant from the Whistler and Blackcomb base lodges. We had easy walking access to everywhere we wanted to be. 

 

 

Day One:

Upon arrival, after seven weeks of feeling healthy with limited outside contact, Bryce somehow managed to come down with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Regrettably, this meant going to a foreign land, only to spend most of his time doing domestic activities (aka watching YouTube & playing on his Switch). Blurg. 

While Bryce hung back at the condo, Zane, Nicole, and I headed out for the day. We started by heading up the Whistler Gondola… Timeout ... Let me orient you on Whistler Blackcomb. The resort was once two separate resorts, each massive. Really massive. Our local mountain of Sugar Bowl would need to grow in height and width by 3x just to be as big as one resort. Now string the world's longest gondola between each peak, and you have a mega-resort that is hard to comprehend. One pass, two gi-normous resorts. Biggest ski resort in North America. 

 

After about a 15-minute gondola ride from the Whistler base we walk out onto a landing with a view onto a natural amphitheater blanketed in white that makes me feel insignificant yet energized at the same time. It’s crazy to think there is actually another third of the mountain still above us. Whistler was the site of the 2010 Olympics, and for good reason. 

The three of us strapped on our boards, plunged down our first run, and were quickly reminded that this place  has 5,000ft of vertical drop. We’re used to 1,500ft broken up into short 500ft sprints. Two lifts later and we crested Whistler Peak to take in the panoramic views of the British Columbian coastal mountain range. (Note, my unnatural desire to throw myself off deathly heights was in proper form on some of the lifts that seemed unnecessarily high off the ground). 

Perhaps the moving through 3,000ft of elevation change in 30 minute intervals took its toll on Nicole. Who knows. But something triggered a migraine and depressingly she had to head back home. The ride back down the gondola was a touch-and-go, mind-over-matter battle with nausea. Down to two on day one…

Zane and I took the Peak-2-Peak Gondola to check out Blackcomb for the afternoon. Mindblowing how big this place is.

 

Zane and I toughed out a T-Bar lift (not fun on Snowboards), then hiked up a peak from there. We found ourselves at the top of Blackcomb Glacier. 

Day Two:

While day one was a typical bluebird spring skiing day, day two was a stormy wet mess. We took advantage of being sequestered at basecamp with a leisurely pace of dining, shopping, and hanging out at the condo. 

 

One of Zane’s heroes is a YouTuber named Casey Willax. He chronicles his life riding all manner of boards: snowboards, surfboards, skateboards, and wakeboards. He is a beacon of positivity and wholesome good energy. As it turns out, he was spending his week in Whistler too, and sent an Instagram shoutout to have people ride with him! Despite the rain, Zane was determined to go riding that morning to see if he could find him. We convinced Zane otherwise (“It’s a huge mountain, the chances of bumping into him is highly unlikely. And it’s cold & wet.”). Later that morning, as we were bouncing between shops, through the drizzle, I spotted a shaggy blond fella eating a cup of yogurt at a picnic table under a makeshift hut. “Casey?” He looks up with a big smile. I guess the rain got the better of him too. So that is how Zane met his hero in a foreign land. 

Between bouts of rain / drizzle, I squeezed in a quick forest run. Beautiful. Found a lovely lake reminiscent of our Serene Lakes. 

 

Capped the day with a great Napoli-style pizza, complete with a pair of scissors. 

Day Three:

Rain at the base, translates to powder at the peak, 5 inches to be exact. The storm had passed and Day Three saw ideal conditions. We were not the only people waiting patiently to get back on the hill. For most of the morning, the sounds of mortar fire rattled the resort to trigger avalanches, consolidating everyone to a handful of lifts. 

Bryce battled through his health for a couple runs, but decided to call it an early day after a trip across the Peak-2-Peak. 

On Zane's bucket list is riding the Whistler Blackcomb terrain park. It's famous. The talent in the park was impressive, to say the least. But Zane held his own...

Wrap Up:

We are so privileged to be able to visit places like Whistler, and we hope to go back someday. (The ubiquitous images of Whistler Heli-Skiing adventures have me intrigued…)

We have found the world is generally built for groups of four; ski lifts are quad chairs, restaurant tables are square, back seats in cars are best for two, etc. So while this trip was “easier”, it was strange to go on a passport-requiring adventure without Yaeko. Assuredly there will be whole family adventures in the future, but we’re entering a new phase of life where we will be living vicariously through the adventures of others. (Yaeko is planning a three-week European jaunt in June with their friends!!!) We used to invoke the mantra, “This too shall pass,” when we were grinding through a tough patch. Yet as the years progress, this mantra is a reminder to embrace all the times we are together.

On the return, Bryce set the new record…

 

Bubblegum Ice Cream (Yuck), and a souvenir stuffed cow for Julia. Trip is officially a success for Zane.