Memorial Day Weekend
Finally, the beginning of Summer. It has been a little chilly for San Diego, and we have not been able to enjoy warm days, so Memorial Day Weekend was a welcome surprise. Not that it mattered too much to us, since we decided to go for the full heat, and celebrate the unofficial start of Summer — and the first three day weekend— in blazing hot Ranch Mirage (Palm Springs). I guess we figured it would not be as hot as Phoenix in July (see last summer) and we found very good rates.
Since Keegan has never been a great traveler, especially when it comes to sleeping, we had a “dry run” about a month ago, and spent a night at a hotel in North County. The hotel had a pool and he spent lots of time in it, even if the water was chilly. He has been taking lessons and he is really enjoying himself. He is pretty good, learning to blow bubbles underwater, and, while he is fighting it sometime, he is overall enjoying being in the water. The night went well, and thanks to the “magic” clock, he sleep pretty well, and till the yellow light came on. Then he started wandering around till he found us. Of course we chose a suite, so we would have a sleeping area semi separate from Keegan’s couch. The next morning, after the mandatory pool dip, we went to Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, a garden sculpture garden by Nikki De Saint Phalle. It is really cool, and he enjoyed climbing and jumping on the sculptures.
It was a good experience. So we were emboldened to try for a three day trip. Emboldened but not crazy, so we still looked for a hotel with pool and a suite.
We reserved a “villa” at the Westin villas and Spa, and made sure there was a pool, Keegan’s new obsession. It was basically a condo: a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 fireplaces, 2 TVs, a full kitchen, dining area and living room with a queen size pull out couch. In the bedroom, there was a king size bed and a large jacuzzi tub, plus a full bathroom. A large balcony with BBQ completed the package.
Now, all this goodness almost DID not happen. The night before our trip we called to check in on our reservation, because they did not mention Keegan, and on the course of the call we realized that the reservation has been set for next year. How this happened is a mystery: we tried to replicate the error, but the website did not allow us to reserve a year in advance, so it may have been a computer glitch. No matter…we panicked. of course I complained and asked for a manager, who sounded unflappable. After, of course, telling me they were completely overbooked, they found “miraculously a space: same accommodations as we reserved. Now, I am grateful we did not have to scramble to find something else at the last minute, however, was the “we have been completely booked for three months” necessary?
Anyway, we climbed in our nice rental car and drove away. it took Keegan a little while to settle down and fall asleep, but then we were golden. The trip only took less than three hours, and Keegan woke up in time to enjoy and marvel at the wind turbines. We arrived shortly after, and we were greeted by a balmy 95+ degrees weather for the whole weekend.
The place was amazing, even if all that lush landscaping definitely looks out of place in the middle of the desert. And I’ve never seen so many water features in one place as in Rancho Mirage. Every establishment, big or small, MUST have its own water feature. Pretty crazy.
looking down from our balcony
Keegan loved the “pond” with its duckies and sprouting water
The the moment Keegan has been waiting for all week: pool time! While we could use all the amenities our resort shared with the hotel, we mainly stayed in the resort’s pool. Keegan loved the toddler wading area (about 1 foot high) because he could play and splash without any help. After a couple of jumps in the big pool, he decided the small one was what he liked. We sat and played in the warm pool till past 7, then we had dinner and settled in. Keegan fell asleep easily, and Matt did a quick store run to get a stroller and some food. We then watched a nice movie and relaxed and crashed early.
Keegan slept the whole night: he loved the hotel! Bright and early, after a quick breakfast, we went to the Living Desert, a small zoo dedicated to animals that live in desert or African areas. They also had a huge model train, and Keegan was fascinated.
We saw giraffes feeding on branches, and bulls, and petted goats and sheeps…and promptly left around 11, before melting down.
Back at the hotel, after lunch, we all crashed. Well, it took mr. Keegan a while to settle down: the two of us could not keep up with him, manically running from one side to the other of the apartment, opening one door as we closed the opposite one. It felt like a giant game of whack-a-mole.
He finally crashed, and so did we…for three solid hours! Perfect escape from the hottest time of the day (almost in the 100s). We had to wake up Keegan at 4, and it was difficult. The prospect of sending more time in the pool, however, got him motivated. And back to the pool we went. We bought a couple inflatable toys, so he had a great time floating and splashing around, while some dj were organizing the “do you know this tune?- 80s edition” on the pool deck. How relaxing!
Matt BBQ some jummy dinner, and then our little hero went to bed; so finally, it was adult time! Some adult beverages, a nice jacuzzi, movies…you can’t ask for more.
check out the jacuzzi tub!
This second night was a little more eventful (Keegan woke up a couple of times), but still good. Check out was late, at noon, so we had a full morning of splashing and playing in the water, before heading home.
Reading his favorite books in our dining area
Once again we headed home right around Keegan’s nap time. He was so exhausted he actually asked me to take a nap, instead of going to the restaurant, as we promised. We hit a little bit of traffic on the way back — it was Memorial Day — but it was not too bad. Keegan slept most of the time, and woke up only because the car stopped (i.e. super crabby kid). By the time we got to San Diego, he was in full meltdown, because he NOW wanted to go to the restaurant. So, since we all had skipped lunch as well, we had one of my earliest dinners (or latest lunches) on record: 4pm.
It was a nice way to finish the weekend and this month of May. With construction starting up again and the weather, hopefully getting warmer, may Summer 2010 be a lot better than the Winter 2010.
Comments are off for this post