Cruising from LA - The Mexican Riviera

While living at Edwards, it makes sense to take a cruise. Elizabeth and I aren't 'cruise people,' but cruising is an extremely convenient and cost-effective way to visit a handful of cities you'd otherwise never see. The downside is that you'll only spend a day in each and if you're not careful, cruise costs can escalate quickly. But since Edwards is 2.5 hours from the departure port (San Pedro), you don't have an airfare cost.

-Find a ride to the port to save the $12/day parking fee.

-Carry-on the max allowed beverages (Princess' rule is 1 bottle wine or sparkling wine per person) and some bottled water.

-Be cognizant of your on-board beverage purchases - they add up quickly.

On our particular cruise, we visited the Mexican Riviera: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. In Puerto Vallarta, we spent the day on a city tour and in a Mexican cooking class. It was a bit of a letdown because the 'cooking' was more of 'preparing.'

In Mazatlan, Elizabeth chose a horseback riding trip to Las Moras Hacienda - about an hour outside the city. The hacienda was once a tequila factory, so the Blue Agave plants were still abundant. After an hours' ride, we had lunch and spent time exploring the property.

In Cabo, Jeff's pick was a sailing trip on an America's Cup boat (New Zealand). We raced a second boat in the Pacific, just west of Cabo, but lost when our spinnaker dipped into the ocean. We were part of the crew onboard, adjusting the sails and sipping Pacifico. And yes, we did see whales.

Our favorite activities on this Princess cruise were seeing the shows/comedians, playing Bingo with the old people, eating, going to the gym and attending the various lectures.

Again, it makes a lot of sense to go on a cruise or two when you live so close to a major cruise port. Cruises from LA (or San Diego) will take you to the Mexican Riviera, through the Panama Canal, Alaska, on short trips to Ensenada (Mexico) and Catalina Island or on repositioning cruises up the western US coast to Vancouver.

Palm Springs

Plan 2.5 hours for this 140 mile drive - and make sure you head to Palm Springs other than during the summer. It won't provide relief from the heat! This trip is great for a normal weekend or 3-day weekend. But it may not be the best place to take the kids.

Our first visit to Palm Springs started at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (just southeast of Palm Springs). Don't bother - the lake is dirty and stinks, and there are dead fish along the banks. The visitor center is small and its only draw is a 15-minute video on the geological history of the lake. Between Palm Springs and the Salton Sea are several date orchards and associated gift shops. All are kitschy, but worth

dropping in for 15 mins. We stopped at Oasis Date Gardens (59111 State Hwy 111, Thermal CA) with our picnic basket. They have picnic tables and you can buy dessert inside (date milkshake).

In Palm Springs proper, we stayed at the 1950s themed Rendezvous B&B. This place was excellent because it had a great breakfast and cocktail hour (snacks and signature Rendezvous blue martinis). Plus, the staff was very knowledgeable about the local area. We bought discount tickets for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway at Rendezvous. The tram car actually rotates 360 degrees twice on each trip. So stand anywhere because you'll see it all. Worth the $23 - but arrive early because the place was packed by noon! At the top (summertime), you can hike in the San Jacinto State Park. In the winter, you can snowshoe or sled ride. Pack a lunch because the cafeteria looked pretty poor.

More hiking can be found at The Indian Canyons or at Tahquitz Canyons. Both are on Native American lands and charge a nominal entrance fee. Check out the Palm Springs Visitor's Center for a discount ticket (military discount is applied too). Before your trip to Palm Springs, you can get a visitor's guide mailed to you (at the above website). The hikes in Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyons vary in length and difficulty, but they're pretty good. Trails aren't signed well, though.

You're undoubtedly hungry after a long day of

hiking, so walk from Rendezvous south on North Palm Canyon Drive to downtown Palm Springs. It's a 20 minute walk. Don't take the free bikes from Rendezvous because you'll assuredly get hit by a car en route. Palm Canyon is a busy street. There are so many great restaurant choices - pick one and you'll probably pick right. Or, check out the collection of menus at Rendezvous first. Our favorite low-key place: Fisherman's Market & Grill (235 S. Indian Canyon Dr.). You order at the counter and seat yourself.

On day 2, check out the Palm Springs Air Museum (active duty military & family free). The museum is small and you may only spend an hour t

here. Take a drive through a few old neighborhoods and view the 1950s architecture. At 1350 Ladera Circle, you can see Elvis' Honeymoon Hideaway.

If you have an extra day, consider driving through Joshua Tree National Park. Or camp overnight there. Great hiking and fabulous rock formations await you! En route to Joshua Tree's northern entrance is Pioneertown (left on Pioneertown Rd, go 4 miles). We were there on a cold, foggy day. And I'm not kidding - this is the creepiest place in California when vacant in the winter. No admission charge. Just weird facades and in summer, possibly a bowling alley and ice cream parlor.

Madera Wine Trail

The plan was to stay home for the long weekend and Valentines Day, but we can’t resist a good trip around California. A month ago our neighbors purchased tickets for the Madera Wine Trail Wine and Chocolate Weekend. At the time they told us about the wine trail, this was the only weekend in February we would be home between planned trips and travel for work so we declined the invitation. However on Friday, with the three day weekend looming we decided a short outing was in order. This trip was an up and back outing – making it perfect for a weekend getaway.

The Madera Wine Trail includes a host of wineries only some of which participate in their Wine Trail weekend. On Wine Trail weekends you purchase a wristband and work your way around the participating vineyards for wine tasting and assorted other goodies. Of course if your just passing through on a non wine trail weekend all these places offer tastings and would make a nice stop to break up the drive.

We called Mariposa Wine Co. ahead of time to inquire about their special couple’s package. The package included our wine trail weekend glasses and wristbands, lunch for two, a special “wine bottle” valentine, a bottle of “love potion # 9” wine and a cupcake to share. Mariposa Wine Co. really went all out with the theme. The wines, both red and white, were delish – so much so we purchased the “mystery box” full of 12 assorted wines. Mariposa is well North of the other participating vineyards and made a great starting point for our wine tasting.

If you didn’t want to do the couples package at Mariposa – Appellation: California Wine Tasting Visitors Center offers a group bus options that includes wine. They go to 5 of the participating vineyards starting at 12pm and returning at 5pm. It looked like a blast. We stopped in on our way out of town on Sunday to taste a few wines and enjoy some cheese from a local vendor.

I will really quickly run through the other vineyards although Jeff will probably go into more detail on the wineries.

Quady Winery focuses mostly on desert wines and wasn’t really our thing. If you like desert wines they had quite the variety and the grounds are lovely.

Birdstone Winery has a wonderful inside and outside tasting area. We particularly enjoyed the white wines here, although they had quite a selection of reds as well.

Chateau Lasgoity had both reds and whites – we didn’t really get to enjoy the property because of the crowds. We would like to go back on a non trail weekend.

Ficklin Vineyards was our last stop. It was also my very favorite. They are known for their ports but had a variety of reds and whites also available. In addition they support a local wild cat rescue and had a few of the wild cats available to view. (You can also "become a fan" on Facebook.)

I had no idea this little wine region even existed. We have driven through Fresno a few times looking for a little stop to break up the drive back to Edwards. This wine region is the answer. You could stop in to one vineyard or make a day of it by exploring the Medera Wine Trail.