This past weekend was a long weekend (Columbus Day on Monday) so Mr. W and I did an impromptu weekend at Palm Springs. I don’t think I’d ever gone there before, just passed by it on the way to Palm Desert/Indio with my ex Gary. We stayed in a luxury fully-furnished two-bedroom condo that belongs to a coworker who has timeshare. I had a blast! Some things I absolutely loved:
* he let me listen to my CDs on the entire drive there and back, even tho he didn’t know a lot of the music
* walking everywhere; exploring things on foot is so much better than driving from destination to destination.
* taking the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to elevation 8516 feet and hiking in the wilderness up there
* finding and climbing lots of great rocks and cliffs and sitting up there to enjoy the view; having someone who enjoys the sights, sounds, scents, wind with me and outclimbs me (even tho I’m usually the monkey whenever I go on these things)
* exploring some model homes of a new project being built; I love model homes, and Mr. W was game for wandering thru there…he says they give great decorating ideas. (The ex didn’t like to go thru model homes with me because he says he doesn’t want to shop for something he’s not planning on buying.)
* great photos, great conversations, better memories
* hanging out in the room watching hours of “Friends” on DVD while having pizza, Bacardi Twisted Watermelon and mint chip ice cream

We drove back Monday, stopped by Cabazon Outlets, then after we got home, went to Uptown Whittier. He hadn’t been there in a long time, so we parked almost as soon as we turned onto the street so that we could walk up and down the main street and he could check out all the things that had changed. Then we went to Brea and at his recommendation, I ate for the first time at the little French cafe at a wing in the mall that I’d always thought was obtuse in its location. It was delicious. We ate at a table in the walkway of the mall so that I could “peoplewatch.” It’s nice that he’d offer that, because I’m not nice when I peoplewatch. But I have been able to be completely open and unreserved with him without fear of judgment or any negative reaction. If something I reveal about me or my past isn’t exactly positive, he doesn’t recoil physically or emotionally. He accepts it as a part of me and strives to understand it.

…

=)