Hellobee

We recently took a quick Memorial Day weekend trip to Palm Springs, a desert community 2 hours northeast of San Diego. We stayed at the Westin Mission Hills Resort for four days enjoying the moderate desert weather, doing touristy things around town and relaxing poolside with the kids. Here’s a breakdown of our trip to help you plan your next quick summer weekend trip – wherever it will be!

Accommodations & What We Packed

We made sure to tire the kids out in the morning and drove up after lunch so they could nap for most of the 2-hour drive. StarCakes is no longer consistently napping on a daily basis, so we just made sure that he played a lot in the morning (no tech!) so he wouldn’t be antsy during the drive. Aside from luggage we packed some snacks with us in case the kids got hungry during the drive and we brought the portable DVD player in case they really started to lose it in the car!

This wasn’t our first time staying at the Westin Mission Hills Resort. We love this place because it is pretty central to all the touristy things we like to do and because it is so family friendly. There’s a game room with arcade games, a large glass habitat for frogs, lizards and other reptiles, an outside habitat with a couple rabbits and a tortoise and a couple pools on the grounds too. For the coffee-desperate, there is also a Starbucks that opens early if you want to opt-out of eating at one of the three resort restaurants that offers a variety of food options.

Because this was a holiday weekend they had a number of family-friendly activities lined-up on an almost hourly basis in the resort. Every night there was a free kids’ movie with popcorn and drinks and later at night, a live singer at the bar for the adults. Every afternoon the kids got to try fishing in the resort pond. There were also giant Connect-4, Beanbag Toss and Jenga sets near the pool.

We looked at the weather ahead of time and saw that it would be sunny and in the high 80’s to low 90’s during our stay. I knew that we would be spending a lot of time in the sun and in the pool, so aside from light clothing I made sure to pack the following for everyone: sunscreen, aloe vera for after sun exposure, hats, swim suits, floaties, wet bag for the pool, reusable water bottles, and a fast drying yoga towel. There was also a mini-fridge in our room so we stopped by the grocery store and stocked it with bottled water, fruit, and fruit/yogurt/applesauce packets.

What We Did

Living Desert Zoo & Gardens: We love going to the zoo because it’s an easy way to entertain the kids for a couple hours and to get them tired for a nap afterwards! We arrived shortly after the zoo opened and went straight to the giraffes where we were able to hand feed them carrots, then we walked around the zoo until it got too hot. There was a large model railroad set that kept the kids interested for a bit and we also stopped by the learning center for some indoor activities once it got really hot.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Mount Jacinto State Park: Last time Mr. Cheesecake and I took the tramway we were not dressed appropriately for the 10-15 degree weather change up the mountain so we weren’t able to visit the state park. This time we knew what we were getting into so we made sure to bring extra clothes for ourselves and the kids in case it was significantly colder when we got to the park. I am afraid of heights and thought the kids might be too, but they weren’t and actually really enjoyed the 10-minute scenic ride up the mountain. What’s great about the tramway is that it rotates as it goes up, so wherever you stand inside the tramcar you will eventually get a 360-view of the area. After a quick ride up we walked the trail down to Mount Jacinto State Park and walked around for a bit. StarCakes did the Junior Ranger Nature Scavenger Hunt which made him identify pine cones, birds, flowers and insects and and got a silver badge for completing it! The kids loved waking around the fairly easy trail and after trekking back up to the tramway station, we had lunch and rode the tramcar back down.

Cabazon Dinosaurs: We passed by here on our way to the Desert Premium Outlet Stores & Cabazon on the day we were driving back home. There are a couple large dinosaurs for the kids to see for free and there is a small museum behind the fenced area. We were running late on time so we just took pictures with the free dinos and let the kids climb around their feet. It’s a cute place to stop by if you have a dino-loving kiddo.

Overall our quick Memorial Day weekend getaway to Palm Springs was relaxing and fun – we hope to be back soon!