The sound of the alarm woke me from a deep sleep.  It was pitch black.  What had I been thinking planning to get up before dawn, on the second day of our trip, to take photos?  Why not just roll over and go back to sleep?

We arrived in Palm Springs late in the morning yesterday.  After a leisurely lunch we arrived at our hotel and by mid-afternoon we were in our room.  As we drove around the resort I noticed some sights that might make good photos.  Accordingly I had set the alarm so as to catch the early morning light.

So I crawled out of bed and spent the next couple of hours taking a variety of photos .  It was a beautiful morning although it was too cloudy to catch much color at dawn – kind of a repeat of Canmore!  Never-the-less I enjoyed my early start to the day.

Back in the room it was time for relaxing, breakfast, blogging, and basically just taking it easy for a bit.  Shortly after noon we headed out to The Living Desert which is essentially a combination of a desert botanical garden and a zoo.

We arrived in time for a presentation in the amphitheater featuring a variety of native and non-native desert dwellers.  Following the show we wandered about the gardens enjoying the variety of desert fauna as will as various displays of desert wildlife.  The Living Desert was definitely worth the visit. By late afternoon, not having eaten since breakfast, we were getting rather hungry.  We stopped at The Daily Grill on El Paseo, a palm tree-lined street with lots of upscale shops and restaurants.  We sat on the patio and enjoyed our lunch as we people-watched.

Following lunch and a stop at the Visitor’s Center we returned to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day.