hello sunshine
Hello, Palm Springs. After several days on the road, the van filled with precious cargo we head into town looking for some rest and relaxation. That lasted about a day. The sun seems to beckon us out to shop. We must obey.
Off to one our favorites shops in Ontario, Treasures and Junk. For years we have passed right by this gem on our way to the flea markets in Pasadena and Long Beach. It took our friend Pat to point us in the right direction. We have yet to come out of this antiques mall empty handed.
our kind of place
our new home?
After combing the aisles in Treasures and Junk, I just happened outside and lo and behold here was my dream. A vintage travel trailer. They call them manufactured homes now but they will always be trailers to me. This one was in pretty rough shape but don’t you think it has possibilities? Apparently, Darwin didn’t. My dream crushed and the van filled, we made our way down the highway as only junk gypsies can do.
forget the banana splits, it's date shakes we want
All work and no play makes for cranky junk gypsies, so we took a day to explore the world of old Hollywood celebrities in Palm Springs via Celebrity Tours. From Bob Hope’s modest home to the grander desert palaces in the Beverly Hills of Palm Springs, Las Palmas, we toured in air conditioned luxury. Plenty of the stars made Palm Springs their vacation hideaway. When filming in Hollywood, they had a clause in their contract that forbid them from being more than 150 miles away. Palm Springs conveniently fit the bill.
Midway through the tour we followed the road out of town to a mom and pop roadside market for date shakes. Never experienced a date shake? What part of vanilla ice cream, milk and wonderfully sugary dates would you not enjoy?
Fun can only last just so long. We need to be working. A couple of years ago, on a auto trip to visit Joshua Tree we passed through the town of Yucca Valley. While making this trek to Joshua Tree we couldn’t help but notice several antiques stores sprinkled along the route. Now we regularly visit Yucca Valley to shop. One of our favorites is Dawn Blevins’ shop, Route 62 Vintage Marketplace. Many a treasure has been stuffed into our rental car from Dawn’s store. One hundred and thirty two rusted movie film cans will be coming home with us this time. You have to see them to understand the appeal of this collection. Rust is not a dirty word to a junk gypsy.
pop art in the desert
Long Beach Flea Market, the numerous shops in the city of Orange and the Santa Monica Flea Market, our list of shopping hotspots seems to be endless. Each day we ask ourselves, what was our favorite store? What was our best buy of the day? It’s a bit like asking, “Who is your favorite child?” We love them all.
