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182 2 0 1 5 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A DRIVE TOUR » Start in downtown PALM SPRINGS and follow Highway 111 southeast to PALM DESERT, then head into the San Jacinto Mountains along steep, twisting Highway 74 to the COACHELLA VALLEY VISTA POINT for a sensational view. Retrace your route to Highway 111 and continue east. Turn south onto Highway 86 past date palms and vineyards and the Salton Sea to SALTON CITY, then head west along Highway 522 through the BORREGO BADLANDS to the artists' community of BORREGO SPRINGS. Explore the fantastical metal sculptures in GALLETA MEADOWS, then lace up your hiking boots to explore cactus-studded ANZA-BOR- REGO DESERT STATE PARK. PALM SPRINGS PALM DESERT SALTON CITY COACHELLA VALLEY VISTA POINT BORREGO BADLANDS BORREGO SPRINGS GALLETA MEADOWS ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK VISITOR CENTER to Palm Springs Art Museum, one of Cal- ifornia's top regional art venues—its Plein Art, MesoAmerican, and Contem- porary Glass collections are outstanding. And any sojourn through Palm Springs is a magical mystery tour of "art-chitec- ture," thanks to the city's stock of more than two thousand midcentury Mod- ernist homes. Many of the finest exemplars of Mod- ernism are boutique hotels, and almost all have played host to the Hollywood A-list. "Sinatra slept here" and "This was Angela Jolie's room" is no idle chatter. For the Fun of It Palm Springs has festivals to please everyone. In March, the world-class Indian Wells Tennis Garden fills to overflowing for the annual BNP Paribas Open. And in April, be there or be square for the Coachella Music Festival, hosted in the warm open air of neighboring Indio. Almost 200 performers rock half a million attendees; unannounced surprise per- formances have included Beyoncé, Paul McCartney and Gwen Stefani. Higher culture? Palm Desert's McCallum Theater resounds to laughter and cheers of delight with a lineup that can range from Itzhak Perlman and The Vienna Boys Choir to The Nutcracker ballet and the Peking Acrobats. Since the valley's Cahuilla Indian terri- tory is a sovereign nation, it's exempt from California's state ban on gambling. Try your hand with Lady Luck at any of half a dozen casinos. And shopaholics are in for a treat: Art galleries, haute couturiers, and boutique stores specializing in retro mod- ernist décor offer a dash of retail therapy between your spa treatments. Family Fun Kids love the desert, which offers heaps of family fun, including old ghost towns such as Pioneertown and Randsburg. Another favorite is the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, exhibiting nearly 400 species of animals, from aardvark to zebra. With luck you might even spot bighorn sheep in the wild on a Desert Adventures eco-tour by Jeep. Even camels add to the fun at the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival in February. In summer, beat the heat splashing about at Knott's Soak City. Or take to the air with Fantasy Balloon Flights for a bird's-eye view of the Coachella Valley. Then delight the kids, and yourself, with a ten-minute jaunt to Alaska (at least metaphorically) aboard the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It ascends through four life zones to the mountaintop station, where the air is 30 degrees cooler than it is in the desert below. OPPOSITE: SAHANI PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK