Up Up And Away At The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway  


February 23, 2014 

To The Top... With The Birthday People (Carri & Greg) Plus Kerstin & Hans

It's Hans and Kerstin with Carri and Greg for a birthday celebration and an adventure to the top of the world. Hans, Kerstin, and Greg had never made the journey before. The elevation we are going to is equal to Carri and Greg's ages combined.... OK, divided by 15 or so!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Adventures with friends

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Beautiful 80 degree weather at the bottom and high 40's at the top

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We made it with five minutes to spare

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
From about 400 feet to 2300 feet.... The van was huffing and puffing
Note: Taken through the van's tinted windows

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
After all it was Paul's annual "visit to the snow"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Hans and Paul worry about the snow

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Tickets please....

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
If Paul says one more word about "broken cables" ... He will he sorry...
I will just keep my eyes closed so I can't see those small wires

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"We are going to get into that thing???"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
OMG!... What do you mean a tram car has not fallen off the cable in weeks??

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"Goodbye fingernails"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"Are we there yet???"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Did You Know? - The first tower is the only one that can be reached by road. The helicopters flew some 23,000 missions during the 26 months of construction, hauling men and materials needed to erect the four other towers and the 35,000 sq. ft. Mountain Station.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Winding our ways between the mountain scenery

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Only three more towers to go

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
In winter the gully is full of water...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Greg giggles and Kerstin wiggles.... It's OK

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Civilization disappears behind us

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
That tram was speeding... It was going twice as fast as ours

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Hans worried about the postage stamp helipad...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
The desert below is a nice 83 degrees

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
To Peaks and lunch... and champagne

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Wow... The oxygen level is lower at 8,000 feet

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Paul & Sue stayed inside to get our table... Everyone else went outside...
Hans took a short hike (Courtesy of Hans)

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
The restaurant had several levels... They went exploring
(Courtesy of Hans)

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Pines to Palms... The desert floor 8000 feet below
(Courtesy of Hans)

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Sue went outside... She could NOT resist looking over a rail from a high place!
(Courtesy of Hans)

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Our reservations are ready... We move to the second level
The Peak's Restaurant

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin looks relieved....
Then we told her we have to make it back down!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Champagne flowed and glasses clinked

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
The birthday boy ate all his cake

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Hans decided to order lunch to match his shirt.... Clever!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Birthday cake for Greg and Carri!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Time to blow out the fire... Glad we only put one candle on it...
We could have put all candles..... if we had ordered a sheet cake...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"It's my birthday"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Carri and everyone shared Carri's bread pudding

Did You Know? - Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines, including that of Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, France, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovakia, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Creole people of Louisiana and others in the southern United States.

In other languages, its name is a translation of "bread pudding" or even just "pudding", for example "pudín" or "budín" in Spanish; also in Spanish another name is "migas" (crumbs). In the Philippines, banana bread pudding is popular. In Mexico, there is a similar dish eaten during Lent called capirotada.

There is no fixed recipe, but it is usually made using stale (usually left-over) bread, and some combination of ingredients like milk, egg, suet, sugar or syrup, dried fruit, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked.

It may be served with a sweet sauce of some sort, such as whiskey sauce, rum sauce, or caramel sauce, but is typically sprinkled with sugar and eaten warm in squares or slices. Sometimes bread pudding is served warm topped with or alongside a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Someone is having fun...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
OMG... He is singing... Watch out for breaking glass

 

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Note: The tongue must be out for the knife to cut properly!


The bread pudding was really really good!  Hic!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
The weather is just fine outside

Did You Know? - Mt. San Jacinto State Park offers 54 miles of hiking trails located within a 14,000 acre pristine wilderness, one of the last in California. All trails are accessed by exiting the Mountain Station and descending a concrete pathway less than a mile to Long Valley. In Long Valley there are picnic tables, water, Ranger Station, flush toilets and some easy trails.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Did You Know? - The Mount San Jacinto State Park encompasses the weathered granite summit of Mount San Jacinto, which at 10,834 feet (3,302 m) above sea level makes this the second highest peak and mountain range in Southern California. It is accessible by the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and lies on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We ran into a mountain lion disguised as a squirrel... It was frightening!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
He ignored us... It was lunch time

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We are all the way at the bottom... We are wise and decided to turn around

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
It is indeed a long valley

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Coats are on... Temperatures are in lower 50's

Friendship - Viele Menschen wollen mit Ihnen in der Limousine zu fahren, aber was Sie wollen jemanden, der den Bus mitnehmen wird, wenn die Limousine bricht ist.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Just beautiful and so quiet... You could hear a squirrel drop

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Hans discovers the drill holes in the rock...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Chugging up the path... We sounded like little steam engines

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We are almost there... A few more steps

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"You guys back already???"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We made Hans empty his pockets....

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Time for a quick rest before heading down

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We could see for miles

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Blue skies

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014 Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014 Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin hid from us but we found her and put her in the car... Blindfolded...

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Her comes our car

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin spotted three loose nuts.... Greg, Hans & Paul

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Amazing marks along the side of the mountain

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We can see forever... Great name for a song!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Hans is still worried about that postage stamp helipad

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin wanted to know why is was longer to go up than down?
Optical collusion!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Can you see the van???

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin has a smile... We made it in one piece

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
"See Kerstin... I knew we would be safe"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
The birthday kids

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014   Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Thank you Hans!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Kerstin is smiling now... She is standing on Terra Firma

Did You Know? - Terra firma is a Latin phrase meaning "solid earth" (from terra, meaning "earth", and firma, meaning "solid"). The phrase refers to the dry land mass on the earth's surface and is used to differentiate from the sea or air.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
We did a Monica "fly bye" to visit and drink some
champagne before hitting the freeway


"Glad to see you guys!"

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway visit 2/24/2014
Another "Great Adventure" to file away in our memories

Did You Know? - The song "She Be Coming Aounrd The Mountain" refers to the Second Coming of Christ and subsequent Rapture. The she refers to the chariot the returning Christ is imagined as driving.

Although the first printed version of the song appeared in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927, the song is believed to have been written during the late 1800s. The song was based on an old spiritual titled "When the Chariot Comes", which is sung to the same melody. During the 19th century it spread through Appalachia where the lyrics were changed into their current form. The song was later sung by railroad work gangs in the Midwestern United States in the 1890s. The song's style is reminiscent of the call and response structure of many folk songs of the time, where one person would shout the first line and others repeat.

O, who will drive the chariot When she comes? O, who will drive the chariot When she comes? O, who will drive the chariot, O, who will drive the chariot, O, who will drive the chariot When she comes?

King Jesus, he'll be driver when she comes, When she comes . . . .

She'll be loaded with bright Angels When she comes . . . .

She will neither rock nor totter, When she comes . . . .

She will run so level and steady, When she comes . . . .

She will take us to the portals, When she comes . . . .

Lyrics:

She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes).
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes).
She'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be coming 'round the mountain,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes).

The same structure is repeated with the following verses:

She'll be drivin' six white horses when she comes, etc.

Oh we'll all come out to meet her when she comes, etc.

She'll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes, etc.

We will kill the old red rooster when she comes, etc.

We will all have chicken and dumplings when she comes, etc.

We'll all be shoutin' "Halleluja" when she comes, etc.

She'll be comin' down a road that's five miles long, etc.