My work schedule is such that it is quite impossible to find time for an impromptu road trip or a three-day weekend or even a quick overnight visit to some place I've never been. So lately I've tried to be more organized, attempting to squeeze in time for what I've begun to call "immersions." 

A recent short trip to Palm Springs, California, was one example, proving that a well-planned weekend is just long enough to get a pretty good idea about the history, design aesthetic, and beauty of this desert city 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

With the help of Fritz Karch, the collecting guru of Martha Stewart Living, and his partner, architect and designer David Mann (both Palm Springs junkies and landowners), a whirlwind tour was devised. The pair promised time to eat a bit, party a bit, and see a lot.

We arrived by plane on a Friday night in April, six of us, raring to see everything: houses, lodgings, furnishings, desert landscapes, plants, and more. After checking in at our hotel, the Parker Palm Springs (redesigned by David), we had a very nice dinner at Citron, located in another trendy hotel, the Viceroy Palm Springs (redesigned by Kelly Wearstler).

We woke up early Saturday morning, ready to visit the first of 11 houses that day, with lunchtime stops at several well-known antiques dealers. David and Fritz kept us closely reined in so we could adhere to the rigorous schedule and keep none of the very cordial homeowners waiting.

We began at the Edris house at 9 a.m. and went on to the Linsky house, the Loewy house, the Kaufmann house, and the Miller house, all before noon. We continued with Bougain Villa (aka the Burgess house) at 2 p.m. and then the Frey House II, the Ship of the Desert, the Elrod house, and the Cody house. We finished the tour at the William Holden house at 6:30 p.m., for cocktails and viewing.

The tour was incredible, and we saw many of the important houses by a representative group of noted Palm Springs architects, including William Cody, Albert Frey, John Lautner, and Richard Neutra. The majority of the houses have been well maintained, beautifully restored, and furnished primarily with appropriate furniture, lighting fixtures, and works of art. Most of them are well-known, well-documented examples of mid-century desert modern style.

Every year, a rotating selection of houses is open to visitors during an Annual Home Tour, organized by the Palm Springs Modern Heritage Fund.

We did not miss any of the houses on our list. And although there were lots more to see (we did a series of drive-bys), I insisted that we stick by our original plan to arise the next day at 4 a.m., before sunrise, to drive to Joshua Tree National Park. There were some grumblings and a bit of hesitation about such an early departure from the hotel, but once we were within the barren, eerie 800,000-acre Joshua Tree, we were very happy we had ventured into the unforgettable landscape.

Afterward, we were grateful for a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast at Sidewinder Grill. We spent the afternoon visiting antiques stores on North Palm Canyon Drive and a few local nurseries, and we stopped at Sherman's Deli & Bakery to get sandwiches before departing.

After all we had experienced in such a short amount of time, I was satisfied that the well-planned, vigorous Palm Springs immersion was a success.