The Palm Springs area is one of the oldest villages on the western continent based on studies of Stone Age artefacts discovered here. It was incorporated in 1938 and had a whopping population of 1780 people, a far cry from the current population of 275,000 today. Some of the streets here are named after well known celebrities; Gerald Ford, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and Gene Autry to name a few. The rich and famous have been heading here since the 1920’s because of the great weather and the close proximity to Hollywood. Some of the stars from the past who have called Palm Springs home are Rudolph Valentino, Al Jolson, Shirley Temple, Ginger Rogers, Liberace, Marilyn Monroe and Kirk Douglas. In recent years some of the stars seen here are Anna Nicole Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson, George Clooney, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

Palm Springs is known to have some of the finest dining in the world and some of the restaurants date back 30+ years. They are hidden on back streets and nestled in the hills; hence the community remains a discreet hideaway for those folks trying to get out of the limelight. The clothing shopping here ranges from Wal-Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue and new exotic and rare vintage cars are available at several dealerships in the valley.

Tourists come from all over the world to enjoy the climate, the 120+ golf courses and the celebrity sightings; there are even tours available for the real fans (or are they stalkers?) Aside from RV Parks, there are exclusive resorts, health spas, casinos, hotels and motels and bed & breakfasts catering to every lifestyle. Palm Springs is truly a playground for the rich and famous (as well as us regular folk) and everyday we try to find places we haven’t seen yet. Today we continued to explore Highway 111, the scenic and historic highway that preceded the I-10 and we tried another Thai restaurant for dinner. The weather was warm, 24C, but still overcast for most of the day making it feel cooler and our dinner was very good. We still haven’t seen anyone famous (or that we could tell) and don’t really care if we do but I’ll let you know if we do.