The other fun thing we did during our Palm Springs weekend was go up in this thing:

… the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway! Another must-do during your visit. In keeping with our obsession with all-things-midcentury-modern, we enjoyed looking at the architecture of the stations, which were built in the 1960s. The new tram cars, however, were new. They now rotate 360 degrees twice during your trip. But the Valley Station (on the ground) and the Alpine Station (way up on the mountain) were build around 1963, and both have a bit of that MCM vibe. The waiting areas, especially, reminded me of something you’d see in a ’60s airport — picture Doris Day and Rock Hudson waiting for a plane. I also liked the sleek, seafoam-green-hued benches out front (and the font on them). (Oh, and that guy on them was pretty hot, too!):

So we took the tram up, up, up to the top of the mountain, which is San Jacinto, and the elevation that high means that the temps drop from 115 (Palm Springs) to 69 degrees! Wow. It was lovely. Plus there were pine trees, a gorgeous pine scent, and comfortable wooded paths to take, like this one:

Pretty meadows, pine cones, enormous trees, birds chirping … it was like another world:

There were little signs to point out items of interest, like the fact that this tree supposedly smelled like vanilla. I didn’t quite catch it, but I gave it the old college try:

We stayed for a couple of hours up there. It was so nice. Next time we’ll bring a picnic. Then it was time to head back down. Ayeeee:

Superman may be able to leap tall buildings, but he’s looking a bit uneasy at the tram height:

But we arrived safely back on the ground! (Back into 115 degrees.) And then we had ice cream!

Fun activity. We’ll definitely do it again. …