Chasing Clean Air

Palm Springs - My Favorite Things To Do

Southern California getaways like Palm Springs are surging in popularity thanks to redirected Mexican vacation traffic due to drug cartels and swine flu.

You need no excuses though to come to the beautiful oasis and resort town of Palm Springs known for hot, dry weather that attracts retirees from America, brrrr cold Canada, and the young and gay alike.

Last Thursday, I drove from Los Angeles to Palm Springs with a good friend to share my favorite things, which includes hiking, The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies--where 70-year-old hotties kick up their legs to the greatest '30s, '40s and '50s music, and I also tried an outdoor sport.

Golf anyone? 

To begin, my most favorite thing to do in Palm Springs is hike in Indian Canyons, sacred land to the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians. 

I slathered on organic sunscreen Vivesana (phthalate and paraben-free), and headed for the trails.

There were easy and challenging trails but based on the heat, my friend and I went for easy.

Most of the trails offer spectacular mountain vistas, waterfalls (except with recent drought), natural streams, rocky gorges and giant palm trees. I've walked several on different trips.

It's a perfect setting of natural desert beauty.

I wore my favorite, comfy Chaco "adventure" sandals, which, after we  saw our first rattlesnake, I thought "closed" hiking boots while on rattlesnake turf might be preferred.

At one point we were steps from a rattler that scurried under a rock!  (I'm not afraid of snakes, just don't step on one.)

After hiking, it was time for one of my favorite shows:

The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies

This is the most inspirational show I've ever seen.

If you're near Palm Springs around Mother's Day, I recommend you take mom to the show. Or buy her a gift certificate. 

This show has great music, unbelievable costumes, side-splitting humor thanks to emcee Riff Markowitz, stupendous dancing, world-renowned guest stars, a patriotic finale that will make you proud to be an American but what sets the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies apart from all other shows is the fact that the average age of their dancers is around 73.

Their oldest dancer, Dorothy Dale Kloss, is in amazing shape and in the Guinness Book of World Records.

She is the world's oldest working showgirl at 85 years old. She tapped danced her way into my heart, and aspirations to one day be a showgirl myself. If they let me. When I'm old enough. 

I wonder if Dorothy's longevity secret has anything to do with dancing at the Follies for 14 seasons and being married to a young man, 22 years her junior. Way to go, Dorothy! The tagline to the The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies is "Where Everything Old Is New Again". True.

Air Pollution Detective Spies On Banning, Calif.

In a discovery process to find out why my lungs and chest felt so bad at one intense point driving to Palm Springs, I called an air pollution specialist who said,

"You were probably driving near Banning where air pollution reaches a peak in the Inland Empire."

I took this photo as I exited the 10 east feeling sick from horrible air pollution. Note "Beaumont Ave-Interstate 79" in sign. I just did a google map search, and, indeed, my sore lungs and chest suffered in Banning area.

Please note in photo the barely visible mountain, which is actually nearby.

I just went to the City of Banning's web site, which falsely states they enjoy clean air. Well, maybe they do. But I'd guess, 2 a.m. 

I also searched the air quality map for that day and hour I drove, which was classified as Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. (I'd say it was unhealthy period. For everyone.)

Geography, atmospheric conditions, and emissions from trucks interact with hydrocarbons and the sun creating dangerous air. Winds tend to blow east. By the time the air mass travels to Palm Springs where there are less trucks and industry, the pollution has dissipated.

So while Palm Springs is in Riverside County, which is known for bad air, the city is more protected than others in that region. I'm also told Palm Springs has a better ozone plot than the Inland Empire.

Ozone is invisible but you know it's around when your lungs and eyes burn, and some unfortunate people may have asthma attacks (or worse).

Air quality conditions change day-to-day and hour-by-hour. Mornings tend to be better.

When making travel plans, remember that Southern California summers are the worst time for air pollution as our hot sun cooks truck and car emissions, creating a toxic stew. Southern California fires can and do ignite, filling our air with fine particulates, which are most unpleasant to breathe, and according to health impact studies can create short and long-term health consequences depending upon level of exposure.

I wonder if the Santa Barbara fire is out yet?

To follow my search for clean air in areas near and far, as well as companies making a positive difference, subscribe to the Chasing Clean Air RSS feed.

Air Pollution On The Road To Palm Springs

In the past I've really enjoyed Palm Springs so I headed back to write The Best of Palm Springs.

A local getaway for Southern Californians ready to escape the...

And take a deep breath or...

I developed breathing issues while trying to get there.

My friend and I drove along the 10 East and passed diesel trucks, and mountain ranges, which you could barely see in Riverside County, 35 miles outside of Palm Springs, as my lungs constricted, my heart felt heavy, and I got that not unfamiliar feeling that it was hard to breathe.

I wondered where was the nearest Kaiser.

We pulled off the highway, where I snapped above photo, and I seriously thought about turning back. I called two close friends who were more familiar with the landscape than I and was convinced we needed to forge ahead, for turning back would have us stuck in rush hour traffic and worse air.

I write about the health impacts of air pollution with enough frequency that I know the worst air in America, which is what we were driving through, can trigger asthma and worse, cardiovascular events. So to what degree my lungs suffered (they did) and to what degree was anxiety, recalling asthma symptoms making it difficult to breathe on thick smog days in the past, I don't know. But the thought of impending worse air and traffic if we were to turn back, got me back on the road to Palm Springs.

Praying. Sort of.

Breathe.

As we passed over the range of barely-can-see-through-thick smog mountain range, on the other side was Palm Springs, an oasis in the desert, somewhat protected by mountain ranges.

Its air, surprisingly was notably better.

I will be posting the Best of Palm Springs soon.

One caveat, if you have asthma or lung disease, the truth is if you're driving from Los Angeles, you'll be going through areas known for having some of the worst air in the United States. So drive on the weekend, preferably Sunday when air pollution from traffic is at a minimum.

My friend's lungs hurt too.

So while Palm Springs air is somewhat protected, it's not the best air quality though, trust me, many folks feel the area is perfect with dry air, warm weather, beautiful Palm Trees, entertainment, golf and more.

To be continued.

Update: My "Best of Palm Springs" piece click here.

Windmills

Windmill power.

Palm Springs.

A lot is going right in that town.

The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies

Inspiration for youthful vigor no longer arrives in a Madison Avenue perfume bottle.

It arrives with hot looking painted ladies, kicking up their sixty-to-eighty-three-year-old legs, and giving the world's notions on aging a good kick in the a__, knocking over-the-hill-notions---over the hill.

Bravo!

I'll be back to see my new inspiration for how to age gracefully--The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.

For more information: www.palmspringsfollies.com

No one paid me to say this, or anything I write here. These women truly are an inspiration to everyone...

After all, if we're lucky we'll all get old. How will we live?

Paradise Found. Palm Springs

I'm telling you, I'm shouting -- Paradise is here!

In the backyard of Los Angeles's streaming traffic! And I suggest you get there!

At once.

I mean, one hybrid car at a time.

And without causing a traffic jam.

Indian Canyon in Palm Springs.

Who knew?

It was gorgeous, and splendid, and birds chirped, and snakes slithered, (I just added that, didn't see snakes just cute lizards) and humming birds darted in and out of view, and the babbling brook, well, it babbled, and I won't tell you what it said in silence, you'll have to interpret that for yourself.

And please do if you know what's good for you.

It was good for me, and if my truth be told, the babbling brook babbled,

"Come back to Paradise. Come back to Parad..."

And before you know it, I WILL be back.

And here's why.

Okay, we'll take a break when we get to the log...

And I'm gonna take my best Paradise Found photo now....

Wait....

Stop...

CLICK!

see tHE REFLECTION!

A BEAUTY TO BEHOLD!

And when the day is done, and legs are used up, and ready for dolling up, I'll tell you what to do....

Head out to The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.

Oh boy!

The most inspirational show EVER! The dancers are between ages 60-83 and they are hot, Hot, HOTTTT!!!

Which means, gals...

There's hope for a long, lonnggg, loonnnngggg time.

To see ageless women with bountiful energy

www.palmspringsfollies.com

Gogogogo, for the most inspirational show of all time.

Ponce de Leon, I found the Fountain of Youth, and it's here in Palm Springs, California.

I tell you the truth!

I'm signing off: Forever young.