L.A. Is My Beat: Snow Creek

Last Saturday, Larry and I drove out to the desert to visit with our friend Jan. She had recently moved back to Southern California from Austin. We were invited to her house-warming in Snow Creek.

Jan's House in Snow Creek Village

Snow Creek Village is a unique community. There's a little sign on the 111 Highway, just before you get to Palm Springs. If you're going too fast, you'll miss the sign. You drive on the black-top toward the mountain.

Nestled near the base of the San Jacinto Mountains, this area has a creek and is shaded by the nearby mountains, so that green plants along with the usual desert brush grows here. It's a private community and you're not allowed to park on the streets, but you can walk through if you park outside the village, near the Snow Creek Refuge sign.

John Van Pelt Storybook Home in Snow Creek

Jan had a houseful of people to greet us along with lots of yummy food! Jan's daughter, Amoreena is a chef and prepared all kinds of delicious dishes for us. It was SUPER HOT, about 109 degrees. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...it's a DRY heat. It doesn't matter. Hot is hot.

Jan's Kitchen

Needless to say, most people were either in the swimming pool or inside in the air-conditioning. The house that Jan is living in is fairly new. It's set up against the boulders of the desert in a most pleasing way. The views from the house and backyard are spectacular.

We ate, laughed and talked. Jan asked me to bring my ukulele, so I busted it out and started to play. One of Jan's friends, Sydney, asked me to show her a few chords. Boom! She picked it up quickly and was accompanying us on a few songs. Time to go buy yourself a uke, Syd!

Our Hootenanny Group

Once the sun set, the bugs came out! I found out later that these bugs are called Charcoal Seed Bugs. They are harmless, but a nuisance. They're out in full force because of the wet winter. The bugs are attracted to light, so night-time is the worst. They attack the lights, cars and people! Time to get inside!