The Roy's Restaurant in Rancho Mirage is great. We usually eat there more than once when visiting.

I really liked the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Bring a warm coat. It was hot at the base and freezing at the top.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is pretty fun, a slowly rotating glassed-in car takes you up to Mt. San Jacinto State Park at the top of a mountain, where you can hike around & picnic. It is quite cold, even in the summer, & I'm guessing at Christmas there'll be snow.

https://pstramway.com/

Great, thanks so much for the feedback, especially Lars. Very much appreciate this. I'll look into Anza Borrego. What abut Bear lake? Will there be snow?

The Palms Springs Air Museum is interesting too, if you like history and old airplanes.

https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/

I would not recommend Big Bear Lake, unless you want to ski. The lake is better in the summer, and it is somewhat remote from Palm Springs - about two hours away. In December there should be snow, but it is not 100% guaranteed, but I would say there is an 80% chance there would be appreciable snow.

We took our sister and BIL on the tram in mid-August, at it was 72° at the top of the mountain, and so it was not cold at all, but August may be the only month that it is temperate.

If there is snow/ice, the access to Big Bear can be awful. Winding turns, steep hills and traffic jams.

From LA, I much prefer to drive 6+ hours to Mammoth than the 3 hours to Bear Mountain, the drive is that bad! I am used to driving to mountains in Vermont, so I have a good reference point to speak from.

Ok, looks like we've moved on from Palm Springs (for now at least). Thinking about xcountry skiing in Tahoe.

If you are going to Tahoe during the ski season, it would be good to get your reservations at least two months (better three) in advance, as a lot of places get booked up. It's very beautiful there, but I've only gone in the summer, as I do not ski or like winter weather.

We're talking Christmas, but there are still some attractive Airbnb cabins/houses available. Ditto Sonoma/Russian River; however, a bit worried about rain the whole time.