Nine moods, one valley

Coachella Valley stretches across 45 miles of southern California desert from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Salton Sea. Within its roughly 15 mile width are nine cities,125 golf courses, the largest concentration of mid-century modern architecture, almost 500,000 residents in April, 200,000 residents in July, an aquifer, many hot springs and 350 days of sunshine a year.

Interstate 10 and Hwy 111 connect it all, though it is hard to tell one city from another without a guide, a good tourist map or the time to exit and explore each individually.

 Working West to East, here are verbal snapshots to guide your trip there.

Palm Springs is best known for its heyday in the 1930s to '60s, when the elite of  Hollywood bought or built winter vacation homes here and began to invest in the area, financing everything from country clubs (Charlie Ferrell and Ralph Bellamy, the Racquet Club of Palm Springs) and hotels (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) to fancy trailer parks (Bing Crosby, Blue Skies in Rancho Mirage and (hardware stores (Alan Ladd). Now its International Film Festival and Modernism Week attract cognoscienti from around the world.

Small portion of the wind farm shot in passing.

Desert Hot Springs sits atop a plethora of hot and cold springs. Its spas attract a steady stream of health seekers and sybarites, who have grown the population from 20 in 1941 to 29,000 today. It is also the windiest area in the valley which explains the huge wind farm on its outskirts. At 262 feet tall, their blade spans the length of a football field, each windmill can power 2,000 homes.

Balloon Glo, Cathedal City

Cathedral "Cat" City is known for its art scene and diverse LGBT and Mexican population. Late night festivals are the thing.

Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage

Rancho Mirage has evolved from rough and rowdy stop to fortune during the Gold Rush to the playground of presidents. Richard Nixon favored Sunnylands estates, Barack Obama liked the Thunderbird Country Club, after which the Ford Thunderbird was named (Ford's chairman was a member at the time). Speaking of Fords, Gerald Ford lived his last decades here.

El Paseo Shopping District

Palm Desert first attracted the likes of Bing Crosby and Jimmy Stewart and now boasts the El Paseo Shopping District, Fashion Week El Paseo. Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival and The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Also Hotel Paseo, where the Good Girls stayed. It exudes a hip, boutique vibe and is right in the middle of the shopping action. The restaurant is good, too.

Tennis stadium, site of Indian Wells Masters

Indian Wells was described by one cab driver as "where the really rich and special lived," citing late billionaire Walter Annenberg and President Dwight Eisenhower as among residents of the area's most private estates. Perhaps better known as host of the "fifth Grand Slam of Tennis," its residents spread about among six residential country clubs.

La Quinta Resort and Club

La Quinta, one of two cities in the US to be named after a resort (Beverly Hills is the other), now has 25 top golf courses including six run by PGA West.

World's largest Tamale Festival in in Indio.

Indio is both an agricultural hub and the city of festivals. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival may be tthe most famous but don't discount the Tamale Festival and the granddaddy, the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival. Toss an active food scene and polo into the mix to bring in even more tourism.

Coachella sits atop fertile land and is known for its farming and Mexican culture and history (Remember Cesar Chavez?). Famous murals, the internationally known El Grito Fiesta Patrias and Dias de los Muertos festivities and Mexican cuisine, have attracted the city's first hotel.

You would be hard pressed to find a more diverse series of adjacent communities, with residents ranging from some of the richest people in the country to some of the poorest. All have a similar goal: to live the American dream. Whether it be luxuriating in the leisure and baubles wealth can provide, hiking and exploring California's golden hills and deserts, creating or raising families and a better future, Coachella Valley offers the opportunity.