The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

I was planning on doing nothing for a while since my entertainment budget was pretty much blown for the month and it was only the 7th.  However, Palm Springs (Palm Desert actually) is having a spat of unseasonably cold weather (75 Fahrenheit) so I took advantage of it.  We went to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

Now on an unrelated note, I get my Internet through a Verizon hotspot since it can travel with me and has the best coverage.  My plan gives me 20gigs a month for $130.  That's expensive yo', but I can't be without Internet.  I'm able to keep it under 20gigs pretty easy.  This month though I saw I was already at 18.5 gigs and I had four days left!!  WTF?! 

Well, it was uploading the photos for this blog.  They were the camera default huge setting.  So I went into the camera menu and changed it to the smallest resolution.  That's what I used to take photos today.  -_-  Well that was a mistake because you can't see what it was that I was trying to take pictures of now.  Ugh.  I'll get it right next time.

The Palm Springs / Palm Desert area is so incredibly nice.  All the roads have beautifully manicured hedges and palm trees.  Everything looks immaculate.  And then you have these gorgeous layered mountains on all sides.  It's just so beautiful here.

On top of that the people are CRAZY FRIENDLY.  I've never experienced service workers acting so nice before.  They go the extra mile.  My mom's walker broke in the zoo and one of the shuttle drivers ziptied it for her!!  And then we went to a Walgreens to get her a new walker and the worker got it down for her and adjusted it until it was just right for her to try out.  This was a woman with a clipboard busy doing something else.  And she didn't act like it was a pain or try to blow us off.

I know that one should be able to expect great service, but after living in Las Vegas and Pahrump I just got used to shit service from people who hate their jobs.  Here people seem to like their jobs.  The ambiance is so much nicer.  Everything is beautiful here.  And it's not economically depressed.  People are not struggling or drug addicted.  There's plenty of opportunity here.  People are content and give off good vibes.

This zoo was a cut above what we have in or around Las Vegas.  They had a jaguar, bobcat, giraffe, and cheetah.  I got used to 'zoos' where all you'd see is goats and deer.  This was very impressive.  The whole place was immaculate.  The enclosures were top-notch.  Nothing smelled bad.

I had a great time walking around all day.  I loved the goat enclosure that you could go into and pet the goats.  Two workers were in there constantly sweeping up their poop.  Then I went into the Discovery building where I took the picture of the giant sloth.  When someone saw me taking a picture she came over and told me about different things.  @-@  How freaking nice!

People would start chatting with you so easily.  Even though they're generally wealthier on me I didn't feel snobbed.  People were eager to start conversations.  This was a lot of fun!

I could probably stay in Palm Springs/Desert area and be very happy here.  But why put up with an insufferably hot summer when my house has wheels?  I'm going to keep going north along the California shore, but next winter I'll be sure to book some time here.  It's just a great place.

You get an old Hollywood vibe here, and it's not just because one of the main roads is called 'Bob Hope.'  You can totally see the elder-friendly golf culture in this town.  We went to a fish and chips place for a cheap dinner and two very elderly couples also came in.  They were wearing upscale 'going out' clothes from the 50s.  It was cute!

I've never actually gotten to Palm Springs proper.  I guess I should probably check it out.  The budget is so blown though.  Geez.  I still need money for my boondock and my time in Acton.  I'm pretty sure Acton won't be as nice or convenient as this area.  We'll probably just buy groceries and stay in.

Okay, so that's it for this adventure.  I'm writing this in the Adult Lodge of the campground to save my Verizon gigs.  Some douche is blasting a video of a baby crying on his phone while another guy is watching sports loudly on TV.  The TV guy told the phone guy to turn his shit down but the guy answered, "I'm just watching a video of my kid," and didn't lower the sound.  I guess not everyone in this area is nice/considerate.  Meh.

I guess I'll try to find a quiet spot in this lodge to do some writing on the new story.  :/  I'm not to hopeful.  The facilities offered at these campgrounds are pretty shitty.  But it's cheap and in a great area, so it's all good.