SoCalLifeMag Staff

There is a moment, somewhere on the drive east when the city releases its grip on you. The traffic thins and the sky opens up. The mountains appear on the horizon, purple andorange-hued, and you remember that the world is considerably larger than your inbox. By the time you pull up to a desert, you understand it’s time to relax. Palm Springs, Scottsdale and Death Valley in summer is its own particular pleasure. With fewer crowd and lower rates, a desert getaway mid-year has its advantages. The pool, which in February you share with half of Los Angeles, becomes something closer to your own. Yes, it is hot, an unapologetically 110-degrees-by-noon hot. But heat, when you stop fighting it, has a way of slowing everything down…