Me Yah Whae / Hello

That's the greeting of the Agua Caliente Indian Tribe, the local Indian tribe of Palm Springs. But, later more on that. To our full surprise it was much colder here in Yucca Valley than we expected, especially in the evening: only 8 deg C/46 deg F, and, sunset is already at 5:20 pm! Stargazing was not an option on our terrace, at least not for a longer time, though, night sky is supposed to be spectacular! It warmed up considerably during the day in the lower Coachella Valley, temps went up to 25 C/77 F, but not so much in our higher location, northeast of Palm Springs.

On Thursday morning our first stop was at the local California Welcome Center/Yucca Valley Visitor Information to gather info material. On we drove about one hour to the Farmers Market in Indian Wells (pics above), more known for its famous tennis tournaments. Nice market with local vendors and food trucks, though, rather on the expensive side (but what's not in this neck of the woods?). Just bought a big sack of local oranges and tamales for lunch.

Date Farms have a direct connection to the area. Palm trees grow in abundance since the crops were imported from the Middle East and North Africa in the late 1800s as a USDA experiment. At the turn of the 20th century, the Greater Palm Springs was a Garden of Eden for different experimental date crops and farming became an important industry long before Hollywood discovered this exotic, remote oasis in the 1920s.

Shields Date Gardens on Hwy 111 in Indio carry a good dozen of different date varieties - Deglet Noor, Medjool, Barhi blonde and the brunette dates among many others. They produce date crystals or sugar, dip the dates in chocolate or coconut, fill them with nuts or apricots, serve date shakes, and much more. People like to eat in the adjacent café, there is a theater and there is Shields Date Garden, a green oasis around a pond.

Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American businessman,  publicist, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. He established the Annenberg Foundation in 1988 and donated a lot to educational establishments and art galleries. His winter home was an estate in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, where he and his wife Leonore entertained royalty, presidents and other celebrities; it is now a museum. There is the historic residence (tours only) and there is Sunnylands Center & Gardens (open for free to the public), with beautiful cactus gardens and some exhibitions (pics right and below).

View from the center's lobby with artwork like this sculpture of Giacometti towards the gardens:

Cities in the Palm Springs Metro Area / the Coachella Valley, are all sort of grown together: Indio, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs. Palm Springs is the hub of them all: colorful, excentric, gay, a mecca to shop and to dine & wine. Latest addition is the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza and Museum. Owned and operated by the Tribe this new construction in the heart of downtown Palm Springs celebrates the history, culture, and traditions of the Agua Caliente people. Besides the Cultural Museum, there is a Spa, that uses the tribe's ancient Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring, a Gathering Plaza with trail and a casino.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Palm Springs, with reservation lands, which include portions of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains. The museum is divided into five exhibition areas refering to the Agua Caliente story, there is a theater and special exhibitions, here from photographer Horace Poolaw, an Indian playing cowboy,,, (below). Terrific new museum!

Went for a stroll through downtown Palm Springs, along Palm Canyon Drive, but since our drive back home took us about 40 min. we didn't wait till Thursday night street fair featuring arts, crafts, food, and entertainment started, but drove back to Yucca Valley.