Dianne and Megan are real sun lovers and enjoy swimming, laying in the rafts, and soaking up the rays.

With my German-English heritage, I practically sunburn under fluorescent lights, so perhaps it's no surprise that we haven't been to a water park.

This summer, after a decent number of swim lessons, and almost daily practice at our pool, Megan was ready. For me, I donned a new straw hat, wore a T-shirt, slathered myself with some SPF-75 sunscreen, which has more in common with Sherwin-Williams than Sea & Ski, and walked into the light.

It was actually pretty fun.

Dianne has been to 'Wet n' Wild' many times, a giant water park in San Dimas. My one and only water park experience was Walt Disney World's 'Typhoon Lagoon' -- which is huge, beautifully themed, and tucked into the lush Florida landscape.

Soak City was an existing park called Oasis, and was recently purchased by Cedar Fair and rebranded with the Knott's moniker. Sitting right off of Gene Autry Trail, it's a peculiar location to be sure. And compared to either of our previous experiences, it's almost like a parking lot carnival.

Fortunately, this was Megan's first water park experience. And it's perfect for a first time.

Normally priced at $23.95 for adults, and $16.95 for kids, we used a AAA coupon which gave us a $15.95 adult and $9.95 kids admission. That seemed a bit more reasonable for what is offered.

The slides are fun though. For those who have never visited, they're much like a log flume ride you'd see at a theme park. Water is pumped through the flumes and a person can ride down, either with a small inflatable raft, or without. The one above is completely enclosed and in the dark.

Traffic down the flumes is regulated by employees at the top of each flume. At the bottom of the flume, a deeper pool of water breaks the fall. Semi-surly and grumpy lifeguards keep watch. [below]

Lockers are available -- $8.00 for the day. If you turn in your key when finished, you receive a $3.00 coupon good for the gift shop.

Most folks seem to trust their fellow visitors, as we saw Walkman CD players, beach bags and other personal possessions, just sitting on lounge chairs.

The snack bar has typical theme park food. Prices are pretty reasonable. Beverages are another story. Plastic bottles of water and soda are available from vending machines around the park at $3.00 each. Sort of theme park standard, but still too much.

Overall, it was fun. We all went on almost every slide, and had a good time. Dianne and Megan tried the wave pool, and I even tried one of the intense-feels-like-you're-going-straight-down-and-are-going-to-die-slides. It was very scary, but very fun too.

After this, I think we're ready for one of the bigger water parks.

One side note. I expected the water in the splashdown pools to be super-chlorinated and cold. Instead, it was bathwater warm, and had a strange saltiness to it. Do I want to know why? Hmmmmm....

We did splurge a few times on restaurants. Some good. Some not so good. Here are the positives.

La Casita

Within walking distance of our hotel, and part of the Polynesian-styled Caliente Tropics hotel, La Casita, has the ambiance of a local eatery in Ensenada. And that's a good thing. Chips came out fast and were piping hot. Salsa was smooth and tasty. Entrees were fresh and hot. Margaritas were good and cold. Prices are very reasonable, and they even provide some live music.

Kiyosaku

The front desk mentioned we could walk to this one popular Italian restaurant. It was a really long walk, in the really hot, setting sun. Once there, it was closed for summer. Santo de Mortadella!

After a short rest, we walked across the street, stumbling upon a Japanese restaurant called Kiyosaku. On a busy night, it would seat about 50, but on this hot Monday afternoon, we were the only ones there for dinner. Greeted by a sweet woman in authentic Japanese dress, it was our own private meal.

We ordered cucumber rolls, a basket of tempura shrimp and vegetables, teriyaki salmon and white rice, and we all shared. Excellent, well prepared and very fresh. Dianne and Megan aren't big fans of sushi, but they found these cucumber rolls to be very tasty.

Prices are on par with sushi restaurants [Cucumber Roll - $4.00, Tempura - $9.75], but it was an added treat to have the place to ourselves.

Palm Springs. Lets break it down.

It's hot, but a relaxing and enjoyable summertime getaway for 3 days. Even for kids. It has some fun shopping, a first-class museum, a fairly good water park, and an Aerial Tramway.

SUVs are bad, gasoline prices are high, Sonny Bono was mayor of Palm Springs, Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has a chance to be Governor.

Summer's over, school starts this week, cooler weather is hopefully around the corner, so maybe cooler heads will prevail, and it won't seem so insane.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
One Tramway Rd.
Palm Springs, CA. 92262
888-515-TRAM

Palm Springs Desert Museum
101 Museum Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
(760) 325-0189

http://www.psmuseum.org

SoakCityUSA_PalmSprings

Check their website