Tomorrow (7/24/10) Martina McBride will take the stage to share her unique Country Western songbook with fans. The place will be packed and it will be hard to get tickets at such a late date. But upcoming summer headliners include REO Speedwagon (7/30/10), Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band (8/5/10), Ted Nugent (8/13/10), bad boy Billy Idol (8/20/10) and Huey Lewis & The News (8/27/10).

The fall kicks off with Celtic Women (9/3/10) followed by a diverse schedule that hold promise for all types of music lovers including Hall & Oates (10/2/10), Bill Engvall (11/12/10), and The Andy Williams Christmas Show (12/21/10).

For a complete concert schedule visit www.HotwaterCasino.com/TheShow or call the box office at 800-585-3737 and plan your next concert get-away today.

RM

As we toured the brand new facility Anne told me about the Centers founder, Earl Greif, a Holocaust survivor. Following World War 11 Earl moved to the United States where he became a very successful businessman. Now retried and living in Rancho Mirage, Earl is passionate about educating young people on the topic of tolerance. He spearheaded the effort to raise money and build the Tolerance Education Center. He and his wife contributed significantly to make his vision a reality.

Anne shared with me the moving exhibits that Earl personally conceived and arranged. They address intolerance in its many forms. The Holocaust is addressed but so is the discrimination and persecution of African Americans, Gays and Lesbians, Native Americans and other groups. Bigotry in all it forms touches all of us and though it can be hard to face the facts the Tolerance Education Center makes the experience profound, moving and worthwhile.

The Tolerance Education Center features a research center where the public is provided the opportunity to delve deeper into the topic of hatred and intolerance. The Center presents an ongoing film program in the Center’s jewel of a theater. Experiencing a film at the Center is a great way to escape the summer’s mid-day heat and experience how film makers from around the world have addressed the topic of intolerance. On the day that I visited the Center, two Holocaust survivors were at the Center to attend a screening. Anne Philips introduced me to the elderly couple. I was deeply moved.

RM

Active, engaged, smart, successful and happy defines the Rancho Mirage attitude and vibe of the residents. Mustn’t forget generous! The Children’s Museum of the Desert is a perfect example of the largess of the residents. The Annenberg’s gave the land; Gerald and Betty Ford lent their name and wrote a check and many others followed suit resulting in a jewel of a playhouse for kids.

So if the residents are all geezers where do the kids come from that can be seen romping at the Children’s Museum? Truth is many successful young professionals live and are raising their families in Rancho Mirage. The Valley has seen a recent surge of growth in young families, with the average age of residents dropping in the last 10 years from 55 to 35 years old. One of the best grammar schools in the Valley is tucked back in a quiet neighborhood in our City. The most esteemed K – 12 private school in the region, Marywood Palm Valley School, with 500 students enrolled, is located here. In the very near future a sprawling public high school will be built in north-west Rancho Mirage. Kids do exist in significant numbers in our town.

Yet at the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert kids come from all over the Palm Springs Valley, Southern California and beyond. It’s easy to see why! The beautiful 18,000 square foot complex was designed by the renowned firm MGA Partners that specializes in interactive museums. Fun is waiting at every turn. Exhibits, designed by Hands On! Inc., that engage children in interactive investigation and learning, through fun, fill a huge galley. Mazes, brain twisters, play rooms and so much more make a happy day of exploration for little ones. Painting a Volkswagen, making a pizza, role playing cashier at a grocery store all add up to a happy time for toddlers to first graders.

In addition to the permanent exhibits the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert presents, through out the year in the multi purpose Dinah Shore Center, a host of classes for grammar school aged children. An outdoor amphitheater, garden and play area is the setting for concerts and family fun days.

RM

The Fun Team at The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Villas offers a free program featuring arts and crafts sessions, pool games, golf contests, pool slide competitions and family fun bingo nights. A newly implemented Name that Tune competition is widely popular with kids and adults vying to demonstrate who’s the smartest when it comes to rock and roll tunes from the 60’s forward. You’ll be amazed to learn that your kids know more about music from your youth than you do!

On holiday weekends, The Westin sets up a poolside DJ and a swinging pool party keeps the place hopping and the fun non stop. Also poolside, on Friday evenings, splish splash movie bashes are presented. These dive-in movie events are very popular with guests of all ages. Cap the evening off with a watermelon eating contest. No boredom here – family fun is guaranteed!

The Kidtopia program at Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa offers morning, afternoon and evening sessions for kids. This “camp” structure is popular with kids and their parents as it is possible for both to go their separate ways and have an enjoyable time. Parents can relax at Spa Las Palmas or go shopping at The River knowing that their children are completely supervised. Kidtopia morning session starts at 9:00 AM and continues until 4:00 PM. There is also an evening program from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Fun and educational programs that include scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, nature hikes, cooking, story telling, games and more make for happy times for kids ages 4 – 12. There is a fee for the Kidtopia program which includes snacks and lunches. Reservations are recommended.

Also this summer, children 12 and younger receive, when checking into a participating Rancho Mirage resort, a Family Fun Passport that provides free admission to The Living Desert, The Children’s Discovery Museum and the Palm Springs Art Museum. Plus, kids eat free from the children’s menus at eleven Rancho Mirage restaurants. So what’s keeping you? Pack the swim-suits, jump into the car and get your summer fun started today!

RM

During the month of June Smoketrees shed their mousy personalities and come out in an extravagant but elusive blaze. What’s unique about these extraordinary trees are their masses of pale purple flowers share the same color value as the plant’s pale whitish-green leaves so that optically, the tree when in full bloom, looks like a wisp of smoke, a ghost, a desert phantom. A sight to behold!

The Smoketree can be found in great number at Joshua Tree National Park and in and around all the cities in the Palm Springs Valley. They require a lot of water for a desert plant so they are generally found in washes where they catch the run-off from our few winter storms. These unique plants are also called Indiobush, Corona de Cristo and Smokethorn dalea. Their scientific name is Psorothamnus spinosus. Look for them. A Smoketree sighting is an experience unique to the deserts of the Southwest.

RM

Ensconced in a cozy booth we noted the restrained decor, lovely verdant garden atrium that the dinning areas surround, and most of all the aromas of the exquisite Thai cuisine wafting through the dining rooms. Dinner for us is always serious business so ordering commenced immediately and with Lucky’s advice we started with an order of Poh Piah Sod – fresh spring rolls with a delicious peanut flavored dipping sauce. We dove into a second starter – Plar Goong – the minute it arrived at the table, relishing the combination of smoky bar-b-qued shrimp tossed in a crunchy red and white cabbage slaw and topped with a delicate, spicy Thai dressing. Yum!

A bottle of chilled Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc arrived just as Lucky delivered a plate of bite-sized surprises. Star Bangkok’s comprised of corn kernels, chicken and crispy tapioca bits snuggled into tiny silver paper cups topped with cucumber sauce that would make a king give up his throne for more. Pretty on the plate but these “Stars” didn’t have a chance with our crew.

Yum Goon Chiang – Thai sausage salad with cucumbers and shallots tossed in a sweet lemon dressing was a unanimous choice for our next round when Lucky told us that he personally drives to Los Angeles to select the sausages from elderly ladies that make them “like at home”. Love those elderly ladies!

To cap our culinary adventure the next and last savory was a Gang Gai, a spicy green chicken curry infused with bamboo shoots and fresh basil, cooked and served in a hulled coconut. Lucky showed us how to scoop the soft and meaty coconut flesh onto the top of the curry making a delicious and unique condiment. You would have thought we hadn’t eaten in a week. The curry and its container disappeared in a flash.

Lucky Teachanarong and his beautiful wife Jan are extraordinary people. For five years they have been the primary patrons for a grammar school north east of Bangkok. One hundred and eighty children ages 3 to 12 years of age benefit from their compassion and generosity. Annually Lucky and Jan host a benefit dinner at their Rancho Mirage restaurant for their school in Thailand. In 2010 the event raised $72,000.

Lucky told us about the vegetable garden, fish ponds and the chickens that the children care for; providing two meals a day for the youngsters and their teachers. The formal educational curriculum is so advanced that one of the graduates of the school was among 12 children in the nation to be selected for a full scholarship at a prestigious nearby high school.

Of course the school has up to date computers and equipment. The building would win an architectural prize in the U.S. Ask Lucky to show you his pictures. Listen to his story. It is inspiring. When Lucky talks about the school, and the children that benefit from the education it provides, he lights up like a beacon. Reba and I were ready to volunteer on the spot.

You can support Lucky and his school by making a check out to Lucky’s School Foundation and mailing it to Lucky Teachanarong, 71151 Patricia Park Place, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270.

RM

Two premium outlets can be found side by side. Cabazon Outlets and Desert Hills Premium Outlets. Both reflect the genius of today’s entrepreneurial American Indians who are getting even where it works – in the pocket book. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians have turned a wind swept pass that connects the desert to the Inland Empire into a dazzling destination comprised of a high rise casino, luxe resort, fine dining, world class shopping and fun kitschy nods to the past involving date shakes and life size dinosaurs. You gotta check it out.

Cabazon Outlets is the smaller of the two shopping destinations but not at all the least interesting. Here outlets for Le Creuset and Crate and Barrel feature their last year’s lines at huge reductions. Foodies will have to restrain themselves. The Brighton outlet store is where men can find a winning gift for their wives while Puma, adidas, Rip Curl and the Oakley Vault have the loot that will make junior smile the next time a gift is required – ALL AT HUGE REDUCTIONS!

Next door – no need to move the car – is the mega Desert Hills Premium Outlets. “Premium” is the give away about this shopper’s paradise featuring over 130 top-of-the-line designer and name brand outlets. Think Ferragamo scarves, Prada pant suits, Jimmy Chou shoes, Diane Van Furstenberg dresses, Giorgio Armani evening wear, Zegna suits, Dior handbags and the list goes on and on. Forget Rodeo Drive this is where die hard shoppers can be found accessing all the couture they desire for dimes on the dollar. I got to admit I had fun and though it’s June I took care of all my holiday shopping for the year. Now the challenge is where to stash the loot where my wife Reba – who has the nose of a bloodhound – won’t find it. Surprise at my home takes the skill of a jewel thief combined with the stealth of a ninja.

Both Outlets are open seven days a week from 10 AM until 8 PM. Both have additional discount programs worth checking out at their concierge offices or online. On July 4th each year Desert Hills Premium Outlets pulls out all the stops with a blowout summer sale offering a 25% – 65% extra savings on top of the every day savings at all their stores. I imagine that this event is for the most stalwart of shoppers.

RM

You’re relaxed. You have a smile on your face. You’ve played golf, slept in, luxuriated at a spa and enjoyed some great dinners with your significant other. Now it’s time to return to reality. But your sedan has been sitting out-of-doors and Mother Nature has left her calling card on the windshield. You can’t go back to town without looking as good as you feel. Since your wheels are an extension of your So. Cal. self, get to Elephant Car Wash for a little sprucing up.

The pink elephant sign has been a Rancho Mirage landmark since 1966. Some folks feel that the sign is our City’s only heritage landmark. For me it’s just fun and where I head to get my black wheels a weekly spit polish.

Owner Randy Barnes can be found working the check-in line and ensuring that all the customers are greeted and treated like a million bucks – after all this is Rancho Mirage – Playground of the Presidents. Bentleys, Land Rovers, BMW’s and Rolls Royce’s vie for Randy and his diligent team’s attention. Gleaming is the order of the day. The beautiful Lorraine Barnes might ring you up and try to talk you into purchasing a license plate frame glistening with a surround of Swarovski crystals – pink ones!

No plastic bristle brushes here. Elephant Car Wash uses only high-tech hybrid blend cloths that gently envelope your auto while high-pressure water streams chase every trace of desert dust away. This system guarantees a minimal risk of scratching. Then a swarm of folks hand wipes every drop of water and shines your car back to glory. In minutes you’re behind the wheel ready to face a return to reality.

The Elephant Car Wash is located at 71490 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage. You can’t miss the pink elephant sign.

RM

Tee shirts, board shorts, flip flops, movies in the afternoon (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a wow yesterday), top down on the car at night, white wine and salads and a little color on the skin. Love summer. But just as easterners flee winter’s bite to Florida, desert rats also occasionally need a little relief from the soaring thermostat. As the crow flies we can find it only 15 miles away. But by car it’s 47 miles and 5000 feet up into the alpine world of Idyllwild.

Here times stands still. A-frame houses nestle amongst the pine trees. Tie-dyed tee shirts, paint spattered Levis and Birkenstocks can be seen on natives looping along the main thoroughfare. Galleries are brimming with hand-made accessories, paintings and sculptures. Restaurants, lining the main drag, serve scrumptious fare with lots of vegetarian choices. A Zen retreat center and monastery is tucked back in the woods. The Idyllwild Arts Academy has attracted the best of the best of our high schoolers for a world-renowned summer program that has launched the careers of many American artistic luminaries.

It’s always at least 30 degrees cooler than the desert floor in Idyllwild.

When my friend Barbara called to ask if I’d like to join a group of Living Desert volunteers for a day hike near Idyllwild I jumped at the chance. Barbara and her cohort strive to be prepared for any question thrown at them by visitors to the Living Desert. They work hard to bone up on the flora and fauna of the region and deserts around the world. But not all is hard work. This group knows how to have fun while learning.

I lolled in the back seat of Barbara’s car half listening and staring out the window at the landscape spinning by while she and a friend chatted. We zipped from the desert floor in Palm Desert up Highway 74 passing a wild scape of house sized boulders into chaparral and in no time entered the forest and then the limits of Idyllwild.

Here, at a cafe, we met up with a gang of thirteen and our guides for the day, Dave and Sue Valentino. Central casting couldn’t identify two better-looking guides; nor more equipped ones. Both Dave and Sue are un-paid helpers, who have “done it all” volunteer-wise, and now through seniority and interest have settled on their specialty at our premier desert attraction – the Living Desert. Dave shows off the predator birds to visitors and Sue heads a group that works on an enrichment program for the animals. They hand craft sculptures, filled with treats and surprises. These assemblages, designed to be destroyed, are left in the animals enclosures to the delight of all. You might happen on a zebra encountering and destroying art at the Living Desert.

In caravan, we drove along Highway 74 to Sanders Meadow Drive (careful there are two intersections with the same name) and within minutes we were parked at the trail head for the Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail. This is an easy 2 1/2 mile, slightly up hill hike, through a pine forest. Sheer rock mountain peeks loom ahead and glorious views of the valley floor below can be enjoyed from every turn.

We headed out in single file; Dave in the front and Sue bringing up the rear. Slowly we snaked past groves of red trunked Manzanita laced with pink bell blooms. A cluster of coral colored snow flowers on our left jolted us into realizing that here it was just barely spring and on the other side of the mountain and straight down 10,000 feet it was already sizzling summer. Cool in the shade, but sweaters came off as we climbed. The western side of Mount San Jacinto remained cloud shrouded otherwise blue skies prevailed. Lupine only days away from full glory lined the pathway. A cluster of larkspur poked their purple pride heavenward.

Rat-a-tat, rat-at-tat, rat-a-tat-tat rang through the forest. Fifteen sets of eyes right and up and there working a mighty skeletal Jeffery Pine were a dozen Hairy Woodpeckers stashing conifer seeds in the trunk of the giant. Red patches on the backs of their heads flashed as the descent of peckers raced at their task as if winter might start tomorrow.

Smell a Jeffery Pine and it herbal fragrance will seduce but, as Dave wryly pointed out, its best to whiff high on the tree because if you stoop down and sniff at the base of the trunk the fragrance might be more German Sheppard than herbal. Dogs walk this trail a lot and unfortunately their owners do not obey the leash requirements.

The canyon narrows. Pines clasp boulders in their roots. The sound of rushing water. A stream is crossed, stone to stone. Woops – one foot wet. We arrive at the half way point. Snacks come out. We sample dates offered by a thoughtful fellow hiker. Mouths filled with a delicious sweet meaty flavor, we perch on rocks happily munching away while surveying the distant valley.

Behind us a car pulls up! Out hops a man and a woman. The trunk is popped. He slings a loaded backpack on his shoulders, kisses the woman good bye and disappears on a trail across the road. Dave suggests that the hiker will spend the Memorial Day weekend in the high country, descend on Sunday via the tram to Palm Springs where the woman will most likely welcome him with a kiss and return him to civilization.

We are wimps! The spell is broken. We stream back down the trail talking the entire way about favorite restaurants in L.A. Hop in the cars and within minutes we’re devouring scrumptious lunches on the patio of Restaurant Gastrognome. My grilled zucchini sandwich was gone in a flash. Take that Mr. Backpacker.

RM

Go to http://www.towncrier.com/ for information about Idyllwild. Philip Ferranti’s best selling book 140 Great Hikes in and Near Palm Springs is the definitive source of information about hiking in and around the Palm Springs Valley. The book can be found at Boarders at The River in Rancho Mirage.

Rancho Mirage resorts are offering some of the best rates ever. Mid-week rates are a steal! Plus upon check-in at five participating resorts kids, twelve and younger, receive a Family Fun Passport that provides them with free breakfasts at participating resorts, free admissions to three top regional attractions and free meals at eleven Rancho Mirage restaurants. You save a bundle while having a blast.

Some of the best swimming pools in the desert can be found at Rancho Mirage resorts. More aquatic attractions than pools your children will love the carefree fun of swimming all afternoon long. So choose one of the following Family Fun participating resorts and book your room now:

- Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
- Agua Caliente Casino Resort & Spa
- The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Country Inn & Suites by Carlson
- The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Villas

RM

Many corporate executives and entertainment executives retire in Rancho Mirage. Eventually they move on to the big retirement destination in the sky leaving behind vast homes filled with furnishings, accessories, art and clothing all with a resort vibe that might not be to the liking of their kids residing in Minneapolis. And so the call is made to the consignment store and often everything – lock, stock and barrel – is carted off for resale. Treasures and deals lure antique dealers from throughout the Southwest to scout these shops.

Your first stop might be J&J Consignments & Heirlooms. Open 10 – 5, seven days a week, this decade old wear house sized complex is jam-packed with finds. In the main showroom a mass of living room furniture is displayed beautifully in groupings. Accessories abound. Just yesterday, preparing for this article, I stopped by and spotted a fist sized hand carved turquoise Tibetan foo dog sculpture – can’t get it out of my mind. There are rooms dedicated to beds and side tables, mirrors and dining tables and fine art -19th Century erotic Japanese wood cuts populated the walls of the art space yesterday. An abundant selection of fine garden furniture and accessories are always on hand. In the back, a wear house is devoted to what might be described as the more worn furniture and accessories but one man’s junk is another treasure, and Reba I have carted home many a piece from this space. Here you will find a mass of linens – some very fine European table cloths and napkins. Cases of costume jewelry, crystal, china, travel curios, ethnic bric-a-brac, books and more make this hoard a must stop shopping experience. Make sure you say hello to Bluez a beautiful tri color collie that regally greets guest as they enter J&J’s. Don’t fail to chat with owner Jerry Effron, who hails from Chicago and has a sense of humor as dry as the desert we inhabit.

Driving east from J&J’s you find on the north side of Highway 111 the massive Cargo Furnishings & Consignment housed in what used to be a grocery store and open weekdays from 10 AM – 5 PM and weekends from Noon – 5 PM.

At Cargo the passwords are OVERSIZED and exotic. Patti Bonadonna and her team strive to keep the selection unique. Furnishing a resort home in the desert does not require the same restraint as when selecting furniture for a manse in Pasadena – to say the least! The second hand selection here proves that at least some of our residents let down some of their corporate reserve and really enjoyed their later years. African head dresses, fragments of Chinese buildings, massive doors from South America turned into coffee tables, inlaid Italian marble tables that would have thrilled Mark Anthony all add up to a fascinating melange. BIG mirrors, HUGE dining ensembles perfect for an Arabian with a harem, interesting and sometimes kooky side chairs that would add zip to any room, wardrobes that could house the Pope’s ensembles. Imagine Vegas gone ethnic. But not all is way out – my L.A based architect friend found a beautiful dark brown leather sectional sofa here that would look perfect in a Dwell Magazine layout – and without a scuff on it – for $1600. Same sofa new in L.A was priced at $6K! There’s a room of couture that’s really fun – mostly ladies ensembles but guys will find a small rack to peruse. This place is fun.

Nearby find the Collectors Corner managed by an auxiliary of the Eisenhower Medical Center. Furniture, accessories and some clothing make up the inventory that trend to be a bit conservative. Same is true for the inventory at the Cellar Door run by an auxiliary of Saint Margaret’s church and school. Both are worth a quick look-see as you never know what the day’s donations might yield an intrepid shopper. Remember wealthy ladies from the mid last century had great costume jewelry that’s now all the rage. It flows through these outlets like lava.

While were discussing used and second hand, Re Deux on Highway 111 near The River specializes in designer label clothing and accessories for women. My wife Reba and her girl friends love the place.

RM

See if you agree with my check list of requirements for a fun family get-away:

Day 2

Day 3

Summer time is POOL TIME! Floating on my back with the night stars blazing overhead, the moon rising over the distant mountains and a gentle breeze swaying the palm tree fronds is heaven for this swimmer. Warm water and warm air; no chilly wind triggering a towel grabbing run for the showers here.

First stop on our pool tour is Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa. A pool or an oasis? You decide if the Resort Casino’s intriguing call to action is an oasis or a pool. Let’s see: Fifty thousand square feet of water and poolside luxury that would capture Julius Caesar’s attention. Eight cabanas equipped with phones, TVs, misters, ceiling fans, mini fridges. Two of the cabanas have their own private jetted spas reserved for high rollers in need of a little rejuvenation before hitting the tables again. With a pair of board shorts and time to chill, Caesar might have neglected Cleo. Come on Julius, Cleo can chill, let’s grab a beer at the full service wet bar.

Nearby find The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa and next door The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Villas. Both resorts share a myriad of amenities and both boost multiple beautiful swimming holes. The main Las Brisas Pool at The Westin Resort & Spa has a free form shape and is surrounded by fabulous lush landscaping and cabanas that can be reserved for a family home base or a romantic pool-side couples retreat. A sixty foot waterslide delights kids while their parents cozy into the two spas. Average pool temperature is a refreshing 82 degrees. Full bar service is available from the palapa-styled pool bar – keep ‘em coming! The La Paloma Pool is reserved only for adults and the Las Hadas Pool is tucked deep in the complex for the most reserved sun worshipers who cherish nothing more than poolside solitude with a good book.

SPLASHTOPIA! At the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa the notion of pool has been taken to the galactic level. Almost two acres of aquatic fun and thrills for youngsters and their folks include a 425 foot lazy river, two 100 foot waterslides that spin down a Matterhorn styled peak with a Jacuzzi sidecar, a sandy beach area for tots, water play zones with fountains and water sprinklers and a huge – did I say huge – swimming pool. Splash Grill serves up all the noshes and drinks you crave. Reserve a chaise or a cabana and settle in for a day or a week of perfect fun in the sun. If quiet calm without the squeal of kiddies is what you need your choice should be the Tranquility Pool. Here only adults can gather and swim and read and think and whisper sweet nothings into their partners ear. Better yet, for total tranquility, after a treatment at Spa Las Palmas settle into a chaise at the Spa Pool and laze the day away.

There’s big pool at the Hilton Garden Inn and a smaller dip at The County Inn & Suites by Carlson.

RM

I quickened my pace on the mile stretch from my home on Country Club Drive to Highway 111. A few trucks raced by carrying contractors to work, but otherwise the only stirring was in the gate-houses of exclusive communities where night watchmen filled out their reports, ending their shifts. I glanced down a side lane to see if the Secret Service is still securing the home of President Ford. Betty resides there. As always I silently sent her my best wishes. The road dips down into the Whitewater Wash. The air cooled considerably. Lush green fairways extend both east and west at the bottom of the wash. A narrow channel of water reflected the moonlight creating a silver ribbon that one morning captured for me a glimpse of coyotes jumping the stream and heading home from a night skulking around the homes of millionaires. Just before turning east, I passed Thunderbird Country Club that provided the inspiration for the moniker of the classic Ford automobile. In the 1960’s it was at Thunderbird that the likes of Lucy, the Marx Brothers and Frank Sinatra partied the nights away out of the Hollywood media limelight.

A two mile stretch along Highway 111 took me by the Rancho Mirage Public Library, the desert’s cultural center, where on any given day free lectures and concerts are presented. And where Carol Channing is sometimes seen checking out the latest best seller. I passed Desert European Motorcars, the number one Bentley outlet in the United States, as always, tried to decide if I like the white or silver blue model. In high gear I sped by Lord Fletcher’s, Wally’s Desert Turtle and Crosby’s, three of Rancho Mirage;s favorite fine dining establishments. Passing through The River, Rancho Mirage’s city square, I waved to the hard working guy that cleans the water ways meandering through the property. Stopped at Starbucks and ordered a coffee to go. Then, at a slower pace, sipping my coffee and with the sunshine now sparkling on the snow capped San Jacinto Mountain, I headed north on Bob Hope Drive for my last mile home stretch.

Each morning the moon, the sunrise and my five miles help me remember how lucky I am to live in Rancho Mirage located in the heart of the exquisite Palm Springs Valley. Plus a five mile walk burns over 350 calories erasing evidence of the previous night’s two glasses of wine!

RM

The ride of a lifetime. From desert floor to the top of Mount San Jacinto the incline steeps 10,834 feet straight up. The “Jig-Back Tramway” ascends the granite cliffs from the Valley Station at 2,643 feet to the Mountain Station at 8,516 feet in 10 spectacular rotating up, up and up minutes.

Step into the Swiss manufactured, 80 passenger car. You are surrounded by glass. An operator greets you and with a touch of a button the climb begins. Breathe deeply. You’re about to experience heaven and earth.

And up. Sycamore, cottonwood, elder and wild grape crowd the narrow canyon. Metamorphic rock channels a gurgling stream via a verdant cienega to the desert aquifer. Birds lark in the shrubbery below. Look sharp. Desert Big Horn Sheep populate these lush parts.

And up. Fractured granite formations jag through scrub oak and mountain mahogany. Here spot mountain lions lairs and the home of their prey the California Mule Deer. The vista of the Valley floor opens and widens. Forty miles away the Salton Sea glints in the desert sun. Tower three looms and passing, causes the car to sway slightly. Passengers gasp. The operator smiles. Teenagers giggle nervously and chatter. Glancing into each others eyes, lovers lean into one another; now alert to an experience they will remember.

And up. The granite core of San Jacinto cliffs straight up right outside the car’s windows. Turrets of solid rock. Scattered big cone pines, pinyon pines, scrub oak cling to rocky crags. A California grey squirrel dives into space. A hawk jets past. On the Mojave side of the car the vista widens. Arizona. Infinity.

And up. Upthrusted and freeze-fractured granite towers envelope the car now dwarfed by the enormity of the scape. Chill on sun-burnt skin. Goosebumps. The massive rock face speeding by is only meters away. And up at what seems to be a progressively faster rate. And up where only birds can thrive and up to where Valkyries reside.

Now docked and heading to the bar.

RM

I’m writing poolside. Stretched out on a chaise lounge with my lap top, a glass of iced tea and K. D. Lang on disk crooning in the background. There’s a dusting of snow on Mount San Jacinto. The palm trees in the foreground are glistening in the morning light and swaying ever so slightly in the gentle breeze. The temperature is in the mid 70’s and my only worry is keeping the shadow of palm tree from blocking my sun. My sister in Raleigh North Carolina is house-bound with sleet and freezing winds whipping around her home. Her daughter in Buffalo, New York snow bound and has been for days. Ah winter in Rancho Mirage!

RM

Next stop could be Bing Crosby’s Restaurant & Piano Bar where from 6:30 PM on live music is performed seven night a week and local lounge lizards imbibe, munch on superb yummies from the bar menu and sashay around the postage stamp sized floor to Crosby tunes and newer numbers. Look for the King of Swing Johnny Meza and his Trio on Wednesday evenings and on Fridays from 10PM until 1AM D.J. Bradley Ryan caps the week with the top 40 from the 70’s and 80’s. Beware of Bentley fender benders in the parking lot!

Swing by The River from 6 – 9 PM every Saturday evening for Dancing Under The Stars in the open air amphitheater. Here’s a chance to boogie with the natives and afterward grab a bite at one of the terrific restaurants encircling the dance pavilion. You might try Fleming’s for chops and fine wine pairings, or the Yard House for their gigantic beer on tap selection, casual fare and sports on the tube, P.F. Chang’s for family style Chinese, The Cheesecake Factory for salads, sandwiches and casual dining or Piero’s Acqua Pazza for contemporary California bistro dining.

Then head to the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa - night life central in the Palm Springs Valley. Here gaming galore opportunities await in a gleaming new casino resort. Get your game on or check out what’s happening at The Lounge where an eclectic mix of live music and side-splitting comedy acts are presented in a sleek hot spot that delivers high-energy entertainment without a cover charge. Check out the schedule for THE SHOW where international headliners perform year round. Pollstar Magazine nominated THE SHOW as “Best New Major Concert Venue in 2009.” You’ll see why at this spectacular concert venue when you get your tickets for upcoming concerts featuring Cheap Trick, Tony Bennett, Martin Short, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper, Gabriel Iglesias, Reba McEntire, Jay Leno, Julio Iglesias and more and more and more.

Carambas Musicantina is your late night Rancho Mirage hot spot. From 10PM – 2 PM every Friday and Saturday nights a Latin Dance Club unfolds at Las Casueles Nuevas. One dance floor features Salsa and a second a mix of Cumbias, Reggaetons and other Latin beats. So dress to impress and get out there with an attitude. Caramba!

RM

Just so you know – I’m crazy about museums. Make a point to stop in at any museum I encounter and I’ve encountered a lot in all corners of the world. For fourteen years of my career I was the director of a contemporary art museum. OK, OK – full disclosure – I have a masters degree in painting, maintain a studio and I’m married to an artist.

So you can imagine my delight when I first walked into the Palm Springs Art Museum and discovered what a cool place it is. Housed in an art brut masterpiece by E. Stewart Williams the 150,000 square foot complex presents a rich diversity of temporary exhibitions and collections that focus primarily on international modern and contemporary art. Your Dog by Yoshitomo Nara looms in the lobby and immediately you know you’re in for a treat. Highlights include the beautifully installed contemporary glass collection that includes dazzling works by Karen LaMonte, Lynda Benglis, Claire Falkenstein and of course the ubiquitous Dale Chihuly. The contemporary art collection awes with recent acquisitions that any museum would covet including signature works by Anselm Kiefer, Nam June Paik, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Teresita Fernandez, Antony Gormley and many other firebrands that mix beautifully with pieces by such giants as Warhol, Johns, Stella, Rauschenberg and Rosenquist. Search for a fabulous Llyn Foulkes work somewhat miscast in the Western Art collection. California blue-chippers abound in the vast collection that rotated on display, including eye popping examples of Robert Bechtle, Robert Arneson, Nathan Oliveira, Viola Frey, Stephen De Staebler, Manuel Neri and on and on and on… And then there’s a rich vein of California modernists to explore that predate the euphoric 60s, 70s and 80s that includes excellent examples of paintings by Lee Mullican, Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg.

The museum’s large sculpture collection can be enjoyed in a stunning desert garden as well as strategically positioned throughout the complex. Search for an amusing Duane Hanson and at the opposite end of the esthetic spectrum a heroic Mark Di Suvero. American Western Art, a Mexican and Latin American collection, a huge collection of American Photography, a Mesoamerican collection all add to a wonderful mix to discover, ponder and enjoy. The American Modern Architecture collection boasts the Albert Frey and E. Stewart Williams archives.

The Annenberg Theater at the museum hops with sophisticated performance art programs. Lectures and symposiums pack the house. There are classes and exhibition tours for all age groups. The shop is fun and the cafe yum. The opening parties are mobbed. It’s a not-to-be-missed scene and a fave TOP SPOT of the desert cool crowd.

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For ladies the ground zero of golf attire can be found at The Rancho Las Palmas Shopping Center. Here is the international headquarters for Lady Golf Sportswear – Where Luxurious Fashions are Part of the Game. And they are! Limos have been known to pull up, blinds drawn on the store front and the front door locked so that the veiled wives of sheiks can shop ’til they drop. You’ll see why when you check out the lines that include Armani, Escada, SanSoleil, Walter Genuin, Sesto Meucci of Florence and so much more. Golf bags, accessories, body coolers – everything a lady needs to gain the advantage have been carefully selected by owner Karen who is often on hand to assist customers. High style reigns at Lady Golf so don’t expect to emerge in some beige ensemble that will allow you to slink around the course unnoticed.

At the Pete Dye Golf Shop at The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa a vast array of goods can be had to help give your game an edge. Gentlemen: check out the Adidas and Cutter & Buck gear. Step up to Greg Norman’s line or Tommy Bahama’s latest. Ladies: sample Greg Norman or the Adidas line and also try sliding into E.P. Pro and Lija to get the perfect look for the Pete Dye Resort Course right outside the door of the Pro Shop.

Numerous shopping opportunities are available for golfers at Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa. Adjacent to the resort lobby, check out the Boutique where Tommy Bahama rules for men; there are hats galore for the ladies and Ray Ban sunglasses for both. Don’t forget to swing into the Spa Shop on the opposite side of the lobby for your skin care and sun screen products. Top choices would be Babor or Peter Thomas Roth that ladies can tuck into a Brighton fanny pack picked up at the Boutique. Then at the Pro Shop at the Rancho Las Palmas Country Club ladies have large lines of Greg Norman, Nike, E.P. Pro to select from. Men can outfit in Greg Norman, Nike and Cutter & Buck. Don’t miss the selection of Oakley sunglasses! And take a moment to scan the many small golf accessory gifts that make perfect thank-you dashes for your Rancho Mirage host and hostess.

Now that you’re looking like a pro – get out there and show us what you’ve got!

RM

One hundred percent of the proceeds from advance ticket sales will be donated to charity. Tickets and can be ordered online at http://www.kncgolf.com/. When ordering tickets online, purchasers will be asked to designate a charity to receive the proceeds from the sale. Currently, more than 40 charities have signed up to participate in the program.

The tickets are priced at $25 for any one-day ticket (valid Tuesday to Sunday of Tournament Week) and $100 for a weeklong ticket. This year’s tournament is set for Monday, March 29, through Sunday, April 4. Admission to Mission Hills Country Club on March 29 is free (practice rounds only).

When purchasing online, customers can print their tickets at home, arrange for pick-up at Will Call, or have the tickets shipped to them. Tickets will also be sold at the gate each day for $35 (any one-day ticket) and $125 (weeklong ticket).

The tournament’s popular Kraft Pavilion Passes, which are not part of the charity program, are also being offered this year. The Kraft Pavilion overlooks the 18th green of the Dinah Shore Tournament Course and Champions Lake and features premier seating, food and beverage service from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. as well as on- site parking. The Kraft Pavilion is open Thursday through Sunday of Tournament Week.

To order Pavilion Passes or for additional tournament information, visit http://www.kncgolf.com/ or call the Kraft Nabisco Championship Tournament Office at 760/324-4546.

Also back by popular demand this year are a number of special ticket options. Active members of the military will receive free admission at the gate with military identification. Children 17 and under are free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. College students with valid student identification and seniors 65 years and older can purchase an any-day grounds ticket for $30 or a weeklong ticket for $115.

Tickets through the Integrated Wealth Management TICKETS Fore CHARITY program are available online through April 4. In addition, tickets will be on sale through Tournament Week at Lumpy’s in Cathedral City and La Quinta. Rancho Mirage residents can purchase discount tickets at City Hall until Friday, April 2, and at the Rancho Mirage Library through Sunday, April 4.

RM

Since the beginning of time, long before Hollywood discovered the desert, a thriving community of people lived in the vicinity of what we know today as Palm Springs. Snow melt from the Santa Rosa and Santa Jacinto Mountains feed gushing streams that in turn nourish lush palm oasis at the foot of the mountains. In and around these oasis people, known as the Cahuilla, sustained a rich and harmonious life that lasted for a millennium before the era of resorts that now flourish in the Palm Springs Valley.

Today the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians work and live through-out the Valley. Many are the regions most powerful and prosperous leaders. Gleaming new resorts such at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage employs hundreds of workers and fuels the economy of the region. Bond ratings, marketing strategies and setting world-class hospitality standards occupy many whose grandparents lived in a very different world. A world still revered by today’s tribe members and a world that you can experience.

The instant you drive through the gate of The Indian Canyons you know you have entered a sacred place. Just minutes from lively downtown Palm Springs, this place is serene and abundant with the desert’s finest attributes. Vast numbers of Washingtonia Fan Palm Trees form the largest indigenous palm oasis in North America. Gurgling icy brooks course around giant boulders and through rocky crevices creating lush cool retreats from the desert’s glare before disappearing deep into the desert’s aquifer. Wildlife is abundant. Hummingbirds can be sighted at every turn. Lizards and small rodents leave their tracks in the dusty paths. Beware of rattlers! Scat along the trails reminds an alert hiker that larger mammals such as the Big Horn Sheep and an occasional Mountain Lion still roam these parts. In spring the desert blooms and as far as the eye can see a brilliant yellow halo floats over silver grey bushes. The purple snow-capped mountains rise in the background.

Well marked trails through Andreas Canyon, Fern Canyon, Murray Canyon and Palm Canyon provide advanced hikers and easy walkers a wealth of experiences. Nearby, through a separate gated entrance, Tahquitz Canyon can be accessed where a beautiful 60 foot seasonal falls, petroglyphs and ancient irrigation systems can be pondered. Ranger talks and guided walks provide excellent understanding of the ecosystems and the people who made this paradise home.

The Indian Canyons provide 21st century road weary voyagers with a perfect setting and experience to reconnect with something greater and lasting and beautiful.

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Balmy weather, palm trees glistening, snow capped mountain peeks in the distance, and gorgeous young lady golfers driving down immaculately maintained fairways playing some of the best golf in the world – what more could you ask for!

This year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship tournament plays out March 29 – April 4 at the renowned Mission Hills County Club in Rancho Mirage, home to the Tournament for 39 years. You can buy tickets at www.KNCgolf.com and join the gallery.

Or you could use one of the following HOT TIPS to have an experience of a lifetime.

RM

Anytime there’s a cheetah involved I’m there. Loved these streamlined felines ever since I first experienced them in Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital. They’d leap up and loll on the hoods of cars. Pressing their faces against windshields their purring would rattle the glass and something primeval, deep in my bones.

Now I can get my big cat fix at The Living Desert located in the heart of the Palm Springs Valley only minutes from luxurious Rancho Mirage resorts. This magnificent wildlife and botanical garden sprawls over 1200 acres of desert gardens at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains. When exploring the park by foot or tram the impression is that you are as far away from civilization as the Serengeti. From savanna to a dark cool palm oasis, vast cacti collections and an amazing array of flora from Madagascar, this is an A + experience for desert plant lovers. Carefully positioned, almost hidden, in the landscape are animal enclosures that are about the best this wild animal park enthusiast has ever seen.

Giraffes float across a vast enclosure with the Santa Rosa Mountains and the snow capped Mount San Jacinto looming in the far distance. Not a fence in sight between the giraffes and the mountains – you could be observing them on the plains surrounding Kilimanjaro. Yet here you can line up at 10 AM daily and feed them “giraffe biscuits”. Long dark tongues delicately swipe the biscuits from your extended palm. A Massai would swoon.

Hyenas, javelinas, badgers, ibis, addax, meerkats, slender-horned gazelles, wolves, coyotes, camels, bat-eared fox and so many other denizens of the world’s deserts populate every turn. The biggest warthog ever! Peninsular bighorn sheep are hunkered among the boulders on a mountain side and a sighting is reward for standing still in the quiet calm of the park and panning until Eureka! A butterfly pavilion! Walk-through aviaries are filled with native birds. The list of delights is endless without even mentioning the cats.

The Cats! The mix of felines from the deserts of the globe include bobcats, mountain lions, caracals, Arabian wild cats, sand cats, leopards, and of course the cheetahs. Make sure you explore the WaTuTu Village because at the very back of the compound is a lair with two magnificent Amur leopards who haughtily skulk around their enclosure passing within inches of your nose. Don’t miss the Arabian wild cats. They appear to be ordinary house pets but these kitties would be thrilled to take off a finger if you tried to tickle their ears.

The cheetahs languish in the shade of an acacia tree. Blink and they vanish reappearing only if their hauteur is placated by a mood shift as elusive as a breeze.

RM

They know how to rub away the throb of aching muscles, relieve the tensions of work and for a heavenly hour or two, ease the cares of the world. We seldom remember the names of our massage therapist and yet they immediately have an intimate association with our bodies and our personal foibles. An experienced therapist can tell a lot about what you’ve been up to so relax and allow the transgressions of your hectic 21st century life to be smoothed away.

Sunstone the Spa is a sleek gleamingly new retreat poolside at the skyscraper Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa. To get your groove back you might request the Sundance Sugar Scrub followed by a Garnet Calming Massage. A Balancing Shirodara treatment promises to stimulate insight and wisdom. Sounds like something we all need. Among the many offerings for men is an 80 minute Head to Toe that includes a massage, scalp treatment and salt foot exfoliation. Sunstone also houses a full service salon, private relaxing pools, luxe lounges and a shop featuring an array of unique skin care products.

The Spa at Mission Hills is nestled on the grounds of The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa. An exotic Spanish-Moorish architectural ambience sets the tone for this sanctuary where clients are invited to lose themselves in “delightful treatments designed to renew mind and spirit”. Start out with a Coconut Bath to nourish and hydrate your skin, then enjoy a Brown Sugar Body Treatment to exfoliate and stimulate cellular renewal and cap your stay with a San Jacinto Massage conceived to promote overall well being. The Spa at Mission Hills also provides a full-service beauty salon with hair, makeup, and nail services. A retail shop lets you take a little bit of the spa away with you.

Spa Las Palmas, at the recently $50 million renovated Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa – a KSL Resort, offers a menu of Desert Dream Rituals consisting of five different body scrubs, wraps and massages to select from. Palm Oasis Body Wraps, Desert Elements Scrubs and Baths and a host of massages make this retreat Desert Magazine’s 2009 Best of the Valley. At the adjacent Yamaguchi Salon experience the art of Feng Shui hair styling that’s all the rage with Hollywood celebrities. Don’t fail to take advantage of the beautiful Spa Pool where you can contemplate, from your chaise lounge, languidly swaying palm trees and the snow-capped San Jacinto Mountain in the distance. Ah Rancho Mirage!

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Check out the Bobby Chan shop where the latest in resort wear can be found. Don’t miss BLONDE for women’s, men’s and children’s hottest fashion looks. Both shops have the perfect duds for the many terrific Palm Spring Valley mega events such as the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival or the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. For swimwear and poolside accessories Diane’s Beachwear can’t be beat. Don’t forget shades. Get them at OPTICA. And to keep the sun off the old pate, grab a hat at Hats Unlimited. If your loved one needs a little seduction drop in at Robann’s Jewelers for some bling. Fine wines and sipping accessories can be procured at Tulip Hill Winery. And just in case you crave a stogie they’ve got all you can smoke at Cohiba Cigar Lounge. Out of town newspapers are always available at Borders Books & Music. Just got your bonus? Glide into Bang & Olufsen and consider a 21st century music system or peruse a custom golf cart at CaddyShack where art and carts collide in the coolest way.

Your body beautiful can be pampered and preened at Bath & Body Works, Health Spectrum, Loran Loran Color Group and Medical Spa, M.A.C Cosmetics, River Nails and Spa and Ulta Cosmetics. Emerge buffed and polished, dressed in the latest and take in a movie at Cinemark Century Theaters where first run mega hits are screened in a luxurious multiplex.

Time to eat and drink! What a selection. Casual quick bites can be grabbed at Baja Fresh, Starbucks and Papa Mario’s Pizzeria. Take your selections and camp at one of the many cafe tables under the acacia trees and watch the world parade by as you enjoy your meal. Full service restaurants cover the spectrum from P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, the Yard House, The Cheesecake Factory, Babe’s Bar-B-Que & Brewery, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Piero’s Acqua Pazza – California Bistro. A little sweet-finish can be had at Ben & Jerry’s or the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Verizon Wireless will fix your phone or sell you a new one and the Valet will park and watch your car while you cruise The River in Rancho Mirage. And if by now you have fallen in love with Rancho Mirage take the elevator to The River’s second floor, pop into Tarbell Realtors where one of their agents will help you find your own nest in paradise!

RM

www.hiking-in-ps.com/

www.hiking-in-ps.com/cycling.php

www.palm-desert.org/arts-culture/galleries-museums

www.thegardensonelpaseo.com
www.theriveratranchomirage.com

www.shieldsdates.com

www.codstreetfair.com

www.ranchomiragelibrary.org/

Our Presidential Suite has a breath taking view of the signature 6th fairways with well appointed furniture which includes a wet bar, spacious living room and dining area.

At Agua Caliente Casino, Resort, Spa in Rancho Mirage, fine amenities and beautiful architecture embody the casual elegance that defines the good life in Southern California. Each guest room is generously appointed with flat-screen televisions, Wi-Fi and more.

For those requiring a little more space, the property will feature 24 Executive Suites measuring 1,100 square feet. In addition to the exceptional amenities included in the Deluxe Guestrooms, each Executive Suite will have an additional 42-inch plasma flat screen television and wet bar in the parlor area. The bathrooms will also offer a Jacuzzi tub, an 8-head “deluge” shower and privacy doors between the living room and bedroom. These Executive Suites can also be made into a two-bedroom suite by adding the adjoining deluxe guestroom.

Outside, a refreshing pool awaits, with luxury cabanas, a poolside grill and a relaxing spa and fitness center.

And when the sun goes down, the action heats up at Agua Caliente! Here, you’ll win more and play longer with a variety of slots, table games, live poker action and the loosest video poker in the area!

You’ll also get up-close and personal with world-class entertainment at The Show, the premier concert theatre in Southern California. Matchbox Twenty, Tony Bennett and Jay Leno are just a few of the fantastic entertainers to take the stage here, with many more to come! The Show also features live, championship boxing. Luxury VIP party boxes are available for every event, making any visit to The Show unforgettable!

Agua Caliente Casino-Resort-Spa: It’s Your Four-Diamond Entertainment Destination!

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Rancho Mirage provides a plethora of watering holes where you can refine your Margarita connoisseurship. But watch out this sweetness has a bite! Billy the long time bar keep at Wally’s Desert Turtle likes to keep his Margarita on the dry side. From a bar stool at this Steven Chase luxe designed restaurant, you can scrutinize the movers and shakers of the Valley savoring some of the finest fare in California. Right across the street at Bing Crosby’s, an elegant but more casual crowd sway to the rhythms of a live combo, order up slider trios – lamb, crab and beef – and sip bartender Mike Tarrallo’s delectable Pomegranate Margarita. Roy’s also within walking distance from our first two stops features Jimmy, “the handsomest bartender in the Valley”, at your service with his jigger. Jimmy’s concoction includes li hing mui, a Hawaiian secret ingredient that brings a little aloha to the Mexican elixir. The ground zero for Margaritas in Rancho Mirage is undoubtedly Las Casuelas Nuevas, the Delgado family’s fabulous sprawling hacienda style eatery. The cantina is where libations are served up with 50+ top of the line Tequilas! Renee presides at the bar, but it was bar manager Efren Gonzales who decades ago dreamed up the House Margarita that would make an Aztec envious.

RM