The reason we didn't have boarding passes despite having checked in online was due to new security regulations introduced by the US Government - all passengers had to be interviewed before boarding passes were issued. Anyway, we got through eventually and munched our way through the freebies in the lounge.
We discovered we were flying on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Compared with its major long haul rival, Airbus' 380, I would say the passenger experience in the latter is better - primarily because there's more room for the passengers. The main advantage of the Dreamliner is environmental - it's lighter, made from composite materials and is 20% more fuel efficient. It is a bit quieter too, which is a bonus.
Anyway, a meal, a G & T plus a couple of glasses of wine and then down on our flat beds to catch as much sleep as we could. I just had time to watch one movie - Vice, the hatchet job on Dick Cheney. I've watched more films on this holiday than I've done for years - normally I find a lot of the films formulaic and predictable, but this year, between all the flights we've had, plus the cruise, I've seen Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk, Will They Ever Forgive Me, BlacKkKclansman, A Star is Born and probably a few others I can't remember just now.
Anyway, we got to LA on schedule - well, the plane did anyway - but we still had to undergo the torture that is immigration at LAX. We were amongst the first off our plane and we managed to grab one of the machines which scans your passport, takes your fingerprints and photographs you, then prints off what you assume is a pass that will speed you through immigration ahead of the hordes standing in line who either don't have modern passports that can be scanned or just couldn't be bothered to go through the procedure. How wrong we were - we still had to join the Disney-like lines and we were now behind the rest of the people who didn't get scanned! Grrr.
Meanwhile, Scott and Lucy were waiting patiently outside the airport to take us out to our resort in the desert. Memories of a previous trip to Palm Desert driving along the 12 lane freeways jammed solid with cars, flooded back, but fortunately it wasn't quite as bad on a Saturday evening as it had been previously when we hit the Friday afternoon commuter rush - and this time it was Scott driving thankfully.
Our first full day at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas was, understandably, a quiet one, with a bit of orientation and some rest. We thought that should be enough to recover from a bit of jet-lag - after all, we are seasoned travellers now, aren't we? - so we made plans for Monday trips. Monday morning came and Scott and Lucy were ready to get out and about early on, but I had to be woken just before 10 am - by my standards a long lie-in.
We managed to get going by 11 am but Lucy's plans for us to visit Cabot's Pueblo Museum were scuppered when we discovered it was closed on a Monday, so we diverted to plan B - a visit to the "world famous" Shields Date Farm:
It was pretty interesting actually - lots of samples of the many styles of dates and a pleasant desert garden walk:
The 24 oz date shakes went down well too.
The next plan was to visit Desert Distilling but we found it was only open at weekends. OK then - when in trouble, revert to brewpubs - we did two - Coachella Valley Brewing (CVB) and La Quinta Brewing - the latter being much better and it took us in to the heart of Palm Springs, which had a nice vibe to it, including a Stars Walk on the pavement.
Back at the resort, I took a dip in the pool - a nice quiet refuge and much needed as temperatures had soared to over 100 F today.
It was not quite so hot today (Tuesday) - low 90's - and Scott and I took the opportunity to play one of the resort's courses - and delightful it was too, with some lovely views of the high, still snow-capped mountains:
