The California desert getaway with famous park, colourful cactus farm, unique sculptures, boho hotels & vintage stores

LET me tell you one thing, if you ever want to make people jealous, it’s by going on holidays to the sun in the darker months over here. 

I spent the end of February in California, and I am pretty sure I was blocked by most people on social media by the end.

Getty Images – Getty

Getty Images – Getty

It wasn’t the bright lights of LA or the place I spent my J1, San Diego that had my Instagram followers cursing me. 

It was the beauty of the Joshua Tree National Park, the stunning surroundings of the Borrego Valley and the cool city vibes of Palm Springs. 

Ireland will always associate Joshua trees with U2, so it was fascinating to go into the park and see them myself up close and personal. 

The park itself is 795,156 acres, apparently bigger than the state of Rhode Island, and slightly bigger than the park beside me at home. 

In comparison, Phoenix Park is 1,750 acres, so yeah, it was a surprise to me how big it is, especially in my head as I thought I would just be walking around it. 

Luckily we had our trusted guide Shannon who was driving us around and knew just where we had to go. 

First stop being of course to see some Joshua trees.

I know I have seen them on the cover of the U2 album of the same name but they are magnificent in person.

I tend to feel tiny most of the time, standing at 5ft 1, but this was another thing. They are tall but also stretch out in weird ways, just not your average oak tree.

Also in the park, we visited a cactus farm – after all, we were in a desert area!

One easy tip to stick to was staying on the provided path as no one wanted to be the person who fell into one of the many cacti sprouting their spines around the place.

Now I’m guessing most people have heard of the Joshua Tree National Park, but have you heard of Borrego Springs?

It was this amazing little town where their local tourist store was full of treats, from crystals to books, to t-shirts.

STUNNING SCULPTURES

There you can see wildflowers all along the roadsides, and then a bunch of metal sculptures of dinosaurs, elephants and more.

Yes really! Wild cactus in a range of colours beside a giant steel sculpture of a T-Rex.

We took a walk out through the sculptures, which were by welder Ricardo Breceda. 

There are around 130 of them dotted around 22 miles, and you can drive up to most of them, or there is even an option of a tour. 

It gave the vibes of what it would have been like to roam as humans beside these huge animals. 

COLOURFUL CACTI

I also loved driving around to see the many types of plant growing in the desert, such as a bright pink cactus.

There were splashes of purple, yellow, pink and green along the roadside, which would be a stunning way to head to work.

The Borrego Valley Inn is an adult-only, contactless hotel, with a very chilled aura, rocking chairs outside the rooms, and an electric fire inside to give cosy vibes. 

And being an adult-only hotel, there was even a nude pool if you fancied taking a dip – not that I did, because no one needed to see that.

But I loved turning on the electric fire, curling up under the blanket and having some chill time. 

Dinner that evening was relaxed and we went for the nearby Big Horn food joint for some traditional burgers and fries. And as a veggie, I was delighted they had some fake meat for a burger for me too, so I could get the American experience.

And it meant we were up early for a giant breakfast in Kendall’s cafe nearby before hitting the road to Palm Springs.

CELEB STOP

You probably have heard of that part of California, it is mentioned in songs like Katy Perry’s California Girls, many of the Real Housewives have had episodes there and celebs such as Elvis have lived there. 

It is a gorgeous city, colourfully painted around the place, with a huge LGBTQ+ community – so we made sure to go to the drag bingo taking place in the Ace Hotel, where we were staying. 

We did a lot better in that than in the following quiz about the area!

BOHO VIBES

The Ace had a real 70s boho vibe about it, right down to the retro radio in the rooms.

My room overlooked one of the two pools – the quieter one, while the main one had music and good vibes late into the evening.

While staying here, I made sure to check out some of the vintage stores and if I had a bigger case, my house would look a lot cooler right now!

One highlight we did was the Red Jeep Tour, which picks you up at your hotel and takes you around the Indian Canyons.

We got to do a short hike around and see the stunning views in the valleys, see how the natives would have lived years ago, and see a side to California a lot of tourists miss out on. 

For March, it was already warm and I loved having a break in the Californian nature with the sun. 

SPA TREAT

We then dusted ourselves off from the canyons and threw on some robes and headed to the Spa at Sec-he for a soak. 

After some pampering, it was out to the pool to laze about in a private cabana, and take a dip with a Prosecco in hand – I could live this CA life I tell you!

No wonder everyone wants to go to Hollywood! But the highlight of Palm Springs for me had to be Boozehounds. 

Yes, I loved walking the streets and the adorable shops where I picked up many a Taylor Swift-themed gift to bring home.

I loved the open-roof Red Jeep Tour, where we got to swing by the Don’t Worry Darling set. 

But animals take preference over humans for me so the fact that I had my last night at a bar and restaurant that even gives dogs their own entrance and menu is 5 stars from me!

And not only that, but they encouraged me to drink cocktails, as the proceeds from the Go Fetch Frosé go to a local animal shelter.

God, heading home after this trip was hard – can someone become famous so I can be part of your entourage and go back to Palm Springs?

Getty Images – Getty