SOCIALIZING IN THE DESERT

Fortunate for us, we had lots of family vacationing or living in the Phoenix area, so we had tons of get-togethers and went several places with one another. That was a real plus to our desert experience!

We also had the good fortune to have friends vacationing in Palm Springs. A highlight for us was having them stay over for a couple of nights on their way home. Now, you have to know that these two are extremely fit, and so we planned a couple of early morning desert hikes with them. Of course, the one morning when we wanted to be up and at it before it got too hot, the hosts slept in! We found our friends sitting silently on the couch, waiting for the sleepy heads to get ready. (My husband rarely sleeps past 6:00 am, but that morning…. visualize 9:00ish!) Could it possibly have been the Zinfandel?

Our friend has some knee issues, but he assured us that he could manage the elevated hike up South Mountain… no problem. And it wasn’t a problem because my astute husband noticed that his buddy wasn’t wearing his brace, as we pulled out of the garage. Yep, he was up hours before us, but had completely forgotten his trusty knee brace for the climb….

Ken’s trusty knee brace.

We also discovered things about having company (friends and relatives) in the condo. The kitchen was well supplied with dishes and pots and pans. However, when one is camping in someone else’s apartment, it’s somewhat tricky preparing meals for company. Let’s just say, COSTCO and TRADER JOE’S did a brisk business selling us such delicacies as: frozen scallion pancakes with red chili sauce, kale salads, quinoa salads, garlic shrimp and pasta, crab cakes and rice, etc. We were wary of using the communal barbeques (It wasn’t our own and we were a little squeamish about preparing food on it, okay?). Thus, entertaining was a bit challenging, as we weren’t equipped to make complicated meals. Thankfully the shortcomings of the menu were more than adequately compensated with the quality of the California wines served and consumed. (Everyone loved the BOGLE OLD VINE ZINFANDEL!)

 HIKING BUDDIES

Please go to the COMMENT SECTION below and be part of our extended desert vacation conversation. Tell us what cooking and socializing looks like for you when you’re having a stay in the desert. My readers and I want to learn some tips from you.