X marks the spot

Hello weekend! It’s early, on Sunday morning and I am looking forward to doing more exploring, later today. For the past two days, Hubby and I drove around to check out a couple of the Desert X art installations that are displayed at different locations throughout the Coachella Valley. Desert X is an event that is held every two years here and started in 2017. That first year, we did check out a couple of the displays as well as ones in 2019 and 2021. My daughter was visiting from out of state, and we took her to view Indianland. Below is a post from that day.

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As you can hear in my voice, I may have been a little high on life. My daughter had been visiting from out-of-state.

In 2021, there was even a Desert X event held for the first time in Saudi Arabia. According to the About page, “Its mission has always been ambitious, seeking to present curated exhibitions of site-specific work by international artists who can amplify the beauty of the desert environment, while also creating a visual response to issues of vast importance to today’s global citizenry.” True to their mission, artwork is placed in various locations throughout the desert. Some you really have to search for and others that you can see as you are driving down Gene Autry Trail. We look forward to checking that one out this week.

The first exhibit we visited was Chainlink created by artist Rana Begum. This exhibit is located in Palm Desert, CA (74184 Portola Road). If you are driving by, going speed limit, you probably would not notice it.

This is the marker for the Chainlink exhibit.

These photos were taken by me and Hubby. We had visited this exhibit around 8 AM and the sky was gorgeous.

Friday evening, we headed toward Palm Springs to check out a few more exhibits. However, I had not figured out the Desert X app and ended up at the Palm Springs Museum District where an exhibit from the first Desert X was held. We instead took a stroll over to the Marilyn statue. The sky was cloudy, and the air smelled like rain.

Friday night was busy in Palm Springs. Hubby and I walked around the art exhibits so that I could snap a few (hundred) pictures. The area is really nice at night, it does make for a nice date night. The next day, I recharged my camera batteries and made sure I had cards in the cameras. We headed out toward Morongo so that we could check out a few more exhibits. The blue sky was dotted with puffy clouds as we entered the freeway in Palm Desert. As we got closer to Palm Springs, I could see a faint rainbow. It got brighter as we headed West.

Surely, Mother Nature was having a “look at me!” moment.

The drive to see Matt Johnson’s Sleeping Figure was a little scary. The wind pushed our car as we headed West on the 10 freeway toward the Morongo Basin. The sky though, was gorgeous and there was a rainbow that stretched over the freeway. The closer we got to the exhibit, the cloudy sky became dark and ominous.

This was on a road that is along the East bound 10 Freeway.

Finally, Siri, announced that we had arrived. We parked in the gravel lot, off Haugen-Lehmann Way.

Yes! Please Respect The Art! As well as the desert. It was so hard to not go trapsing through the wildflowers that we passed on the path to see the exhibit.

Once we were parked and getting ready to head down the path, the guy in the car next to us mentioned that it was quite a walk and should take about 10 minutes. I was in my hybrid sandals, and Hubby I think, in his chanclas. We could feel rain drops as we walked. I have Cauda Equina Syndrome and have issues with walking. Lately, the nerves in my spine have been on fire, most likely from this latest weather system. Half-way there, I was wiped-out. To anyone, thinking about seeing this exhibit or any of the others this year and you need assistance like a wheelchair, DO go to the website and contact someone so that you too can experience the exhibits. Pictures are great to look at but getting to feel the wind and see the art with your own eyes is the best. (At least for me).

It started to drizzle as soon as we got to the Matt Johnson sign so I took a few photos, and we headed back down the path. I snapped a few photos of the wildflowers. We were going to go check out another exhibit near the windmills, but the weather had other plans.

This is Eastbound on the 10 Fwy.

The rain was exciting! We hardly get rain here in the CV and surely need it. Today, we hope to check out a few more of the exhibits, weather permitting.

Thank you, dear reader, for visiting. Wherever in the world you may be, may you day be colorful and bright. If you are traveling today, may you get there safely. Hugs to you and you and YOU.

Do check out Desert X for more information and directions to the exhibits.