Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023: Day 2 – Palm Springs to San Bernardino

Palm Springs international airport was really busy – it’s a popular place to visit. It’s set up a little like an island tourist airport. Three million passengers used the airport in 2022.

There’s a main terminal building where you do all the normal stuff like check in, drop your bag, go through security etc.

After that, you head outdoors and have to walk to other buildings where the gates are located.

So from my perspective, I got off the flight from Phoenix, walked into the Regional Concourse building (hosting Gates 12–20), then left that building and followed signs for baggage reclaim.

The other concourse is the Sonny Bono Concourse (hosting Gates 4–11).

I entered the main terminal building and then left the secure area. The busy-looking rental car centre is an annex of the main terminal building with the rental cars parked outside.

Luckily, Hertz wasn’t too busy, so it was only a few mins before I was served. The guy that served me was very efficient. We briefly talked upgrades but as soon as I mentioned the word “complimentary”, discussion about upgrades stopped.

I was given my key to a white Polestar 2 and was on my way.

We seem to now be on a big EV push, even with rental cars. I think Hertz was one of the first to establish that move into the EV world when they purchased 100,000 Teslas a few years ago.

We are happy to support them in that drive (pardon the pun). Initially, hiring an EV was really expensive, but now it’s comparable to renting an ICE car.

As we have been driving Teslas for 7 or 8 years now, it makes sense for us to keep to the same manufacturer, if we can. My last Hertz rental, I ended up upgrading from a Polestar 2 to a Tesla Model 3, which allowed me to not worry about charging – a rental Tesla can just charge at the normal Tesla Supercharging stations.

This time I was stuck with a Polestar 2, so I need to work out this new eco-system, including the user interface and charging etc.

From the airport, I decided to head to the Palm Springs Air Museum. It seemed to offer some interesting aircraft to look around and it’s got a good reputation as one of the best in the world.

There’s a separate post with my review of the Palm Springs Air Museum.

After the museum, I set the destination in the sat nav to my hotel in San Bernardino. It was a 50 mile drive and it would take me about an hour.

In that hour, I saw more traffic and congestion than I remember seeing in the last 10 years of hiring cars in the US.

Luckily, my room was ready when I got to the Hampton Inn & Suites. I seemed to have been upgraded from a normal room into a suite, which was nice.

I can’t remember paying any more than the cheapest rate, but reception didn’t make a fuss about it.

I debated about whether to drive another 20 mins to the nearest The Cheesecake Factory (TCF), but I found myself in an area of San Bernardino that hosted quite a few half-decent looking restaurants.

With my tiredness creeping up on me, I decided to stay local. I could look up TCF on the way back.

I found BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse which looked nice enough. It was a mile away from the hotel and I could get a Sam Adams Boston Lager, which is my favourite beer!

It was a slightly annoying place to get to – it was a stones-throw away from the hotel, but because all of the separate hotels, restaurants, offices were fenced off from each other, I had to walk along the roads to get there.

I ordered a Brewhouse Philly, which was a slow-roasted cheesesteak with sliced sirloin, provolone cheese, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, green bell peppers, a toasted hoagie roll, coleslaw and served with fries.

It was beautiful.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023