![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Palm-mts-300x168.jpeg\")
<\/a>As I was sitting out in the desert this past week, well I was not actually sitting in the desert, I was sitting at our Marriott Desert Springs<\/strong> timeshare, anyway, I recalled the first time I ventured out this way. It was in the early 70s and brother Jack had just started working as the restaurant manager at Ironwood Country Club<\/strong> in Palm Desert. Although I lived in Orange County<\/strong>, it was a particularly cold January and dark clouds hung in the sky as I traveled southeast on Interstate 10<\/strong> to \u2018the desert\u2019. As I entered the Coachella Valley<\/strong> I could see that Mt. San Jacinto<\/strong> and the rest of the Santa Rosa Mountain Range <\/strong>was holding back those dark clouds so there was not a cloud over the entire valley. It was not only my first time in the desert, but it was the first time I could drive for an hour and a half from my home and find a totally differ ecosystem.<\/p>\nI really wasn\u2019t sure what to expect from the desert; my impression of deserts had come mostly from movies where people were crawling on the sand dying of thirst, seeing mirages of palm trees surrounding a watering hole or of camels trekking across the wind-blown sand with nothing in sight as their destination but more wind-blown sand. This was not like either of those visions, Palm Springs<\/strong> was \u2018Home to the Stars\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n I learned that there were many famous people who had a second home in the desert, such \u2018Interesting fact #1\u2019<\/strong>: Most actors had a clause in their contracts, called the \u20182 hour rule\u2019<\/strong> where they could not be more than two hours away from the studio. Palm Springs <\/strong>was just under a two-hour drive, but a whole world away, so that\u2019s where they headed.<\/p>\n But I digress; those aren\u2019t even the stars with which I was first impressed. During that first trip to the desert, I certainly noticed that the weather was warmer, but the real \u2018a ha\u2019 moment<\/strong> for me came that evening, when I was sitting out on the deck of an Ironwood Country Club<\/strong> condo feeling a warm desert breeze, which hardly moved the umbrella in Aside from the spectacular stars, my other most memorable recollection was, \u2018There sure are a lot of palm trees around here!\u201d I did notice that these palms were a little different from the King and Queen palms with which I was familiar, these were Date Palms and there were thousands of them.<\/p>\n \u2018Interesting fact 2\u2019 <\/strong>\u2013 This desert produces 35 million<\/strong> pounds of dates<\/strong> annually, that represents 80%<\/strong> of the U.S. crop. You may not have been aware that there are male and female date palm trees and you also may not know that they typically have trouble reproducing, so date farmers must climb the male date palm tree, collect the pollen then climb a female tree and pollinate its flowers. Caution: don\u2019t try this with your date!<\/p>\n I learned more interesting facts about the desert, to wit<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0#3: <\/strong>The 50,000 swimming pools<\/strong> are the most pools per capita in the country.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0#4: <\/strong>The thousands of wind turbines<\/strong> make it the largest wind farm in America<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0#5: <\/strong>Over 100 golf courses make it the \u2018Golf Capital of the World\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0#6: <\/strong>In 1980 the Cabazon Band of the Mission Indians<\/strong> opened the first casino in the U.S. on an Indian reservation; it is now called Fantasy Springs Casino Resort & Spa<\/strong>. I\u2019m proud to say that my contributions (involuntary) have helped make it what it is today!!<\/p>\n For me the desert is truly an oasis<\/strong>, tons of beautiful and challenging golf courses within a There was a bonus on this trip; I was introduced to some different stars \u2013 tennis stars. We attended the BNP Paribas Open<\/strong> tournament, which draws the top players in the world to the beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden<\/strong>. I had seen this facility from afar many times while driving through Indian Wells, but never been in it until now. It is ranked as one of the finest, if not the<\/em> finest tennis facility in the world. \u00a0Watching Djokovic<\/strong> and Federer<\/strong> win their matches on a beautiful desert evening was something very special.<\/p>\n The stars in the desert just keep sparkling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow As I was sitting out in the desert this past week, well I was not actually sitting in the desert, I was sitting at our Marriott Desert Springs timeshare, anyway, I recalled the first time I ventured … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Dino.jpeg\")
<\/a> as Bing Crosby<\/strong> (You can stay in his house today for $3,000 a night!), Frank Sinatra<\/strong>, with a piano-shaped swimming pool, Dean Martin<\/strong>,\u00a0whose pool was filled with martinis (Just kidding . . . maybe), Sonny Bono<\/strong> (excuse me, Mayor<\/em> Bono), Gene Autry<\/strong>, Liberace<\/strong> and many, many more. I subsequently found out why the stars back in the day made the desert their go-to get away place.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/stars-and-palms.jpeg\")
<\/a>my mai tai, and I looked up to see billions of stars that sparkled as brightly as I\u2019d ever seen them. The Big Dipper<\/strong> was bigger and dippier, the Milky Way<\/strong> was less milky and Ursa Minor<\/strong> looked Major. I could see half the planets in our solar system with my naked eye (the rest of me was fully clothed).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tennis.jpeg\")
<\/a> few minute\u2019s drive, great bars and restaurants, the Marriott Villas are a great facility and the weather rarely disappoints.<\/p>\n