 As much as my boyfriend, Nick Uhas, LOVES to plan ahead... when it comes to mini vacays, or BAE-cays as I call it, they tend to be last-minute and spontaneous. I had been throwing out the idea of a mini road trip to Palm Springs for months, but since Nick had never been before, he never showed too much interest. However, after our recent trip, Palm Springs is now one of his(our) new favorite getaway locations. THE SALTON SEA The spot that Nick was most curious to check out, was the Salton Sea. There's basically this extremely large body of water out past Palm Springs, which is 343 square miles and had us wondering why a ton of people don't go out there all the time. Well, we ventured out there and discovered... that it was pretty nasty. Along the edges the water was actually greenish-brownish colored foam, and all the way around the lake was a line of dead dried up fish. It smelled awful, and there were super aggressive beastly-sized horseflies. (Nick will explain them differently, I don't care.. they were mutants, and probably genetically effected by the water.) He can give you a bunch of other interesting facts about Salton Sea, and he's actually making a Nickipedia about it!  Don't be fooled by the picture, it definitely wasn't as pretty in person! Keep reading the post for outfit details! SALVATION MOUNTAIN On the south end of the Salton Sea in Niland, CA is the Salvation Mountain. It is an art installation covering a hill in the Colorado Desert near Slab City. This impressive piece of art was created by a local resident named Leonard Knight over the course of 28 years! Knight passed away only last year, in 2014! The mountain features murals painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses, little nooks and a even has a cave with every last inch covered with paint. Where we're going, we need roads... I forgot to mention earlier.. Nick wanted to drive my car out to Palm Springs since I don't know how to drive his stick shift car (in case anything happened and I needed to drive). Following Salvation Mountain, Nick decided he wanted to check out some mud volcanoes. You guys, we were basically OFF ROADING in my 5 series. There were no roads, and there were definitely paths that we drove on that didn't look like many other cars had driven on it before. Watch the video on my Facebook page! We'll never know if it was the cause (it probably was) of the flat driver's rear tire that we found the next morning on my car! THE AVALON HOTEL After our long day of exploring and adventuring, we finally headed back to Palm Springs to check in to our hotel! We stayed at The Avalon Hotel, formerly a Viceroy hotel. We loved it there! It was super boutique-y, with lots of little hidden nooks all around the property. The rooms were bungalow style, so it felt very private. The funniest moment was when we checked in to our room. Two employees at the front desk told us about their three pools and hot tubs, and kept emphasizing the fact that our room and one hidden hot tub was "VERY private". We get it. It's a good place to go and mess around. I loved the design of the rooms and pool areas, it was very bright and clean AND there was a giant orange tree above our room! Originally, when we booked the room we thought the $40 resort fee was outrageous and pointless. However, we discovered that it covered valet, internet AND bike rentals! Nick and I had been talking about going on a bike ride recently (since I'm a huge spin advocate), so we were really excited the next day to bike to and from breakfast! We'll definitely be back to the Avalon! MOUNT SAN JACINTO STATE PARK On Day 2 of our BAE-cation, after stopping in to an America's Tire Co. to replace my back tire which had been flat, we decided to take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to the top of the San Jacinto Mountains. It was AWESOME! A 12.5 minute 360-rotating tram ride takes you up 8,516 feet above mean sea level. I LOVED it because it was 30 degrees cooler at the top of the mountain, and I had been dying from the heat of Palm Springs that my Los Angeles born and raised soul was just not accustomed to. At the top of the mountain is a cafe, restaurant, bar, and over 54 miles of hiking trails! I had never been hiking in an environment like this. There was sort of a trail going, but it was basically a huge forest that you could easily get lost in. We took the "Desert View Trail" which takes you through 5 different notches which provide you with a great view point of all of Palm Springs and even all the way to the Salton Sea. At each notch, Nick, being the guy that he is, decided he HAD to go to the highest possible peak which meant that, unless I wanted to get grabbed by a bear or mountain lion, or abducted by Big Foot, I had to follow him up these huge boulders and rocks. I was basically rock climbing! This wasn't your average Hollywood Runyon or Malibu hike. I was using my hands and don't forget we were also over 8,000 feet up a mountain! If you follow me on Snapchat (KylieEricaMar) you would've seen it all. By the time you read this, it may be gone from my story.. but follow me anyway, because it's actually (usually) pretty entertaining! =) Also, we found Pride Rock. NANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA....... After our hike, it started to get really cold so we took the tram back down the mountain. Before we drove home, we stopped in to Rick's Desert Grill, a Cuban restaurant, which was super amazing and the employees were so nice! It was kind of the last little cherry-on-top to a wonderful getaway... our little BAE-cation. For more pics and moments, FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM!! @KylieEricaMar!!! Love my blog? Comment below, or tweet me @KylieEricaMar!! |
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