Magical Desert Tour

We spent another day driving through the beauty that is the desert. Or should I say two deserts. The eastern half of the park, which is below 3,000 feet above sea level is within the Colorado Desert and includes the jumping cholla cactus we saw the other day as well as the ocotillo and palo verde. The western half is in the Mojave Desert, at over 3,000 feet and includes pinyon pine amid the boulder stacks, as well as junipers, Mojave yuccas, prickly pear and of course the Joshua Trees. We spent most of our time this day in the eastern half where the Joshua Trees are every where, some as tall as 40 feet or over. We drove on the Geology Tour Road, which is 18 miles long and goes through fascinating geological sites. 4 wheel drive recommended on parts of it but didn't seem bad to us. Joe did air down the tires which makes it less bumpy. Not so much shake,rattle and roll. We also drove up to Keys View, which is 5,185 feet in elevation and overlooks the valley. We took a few quick pictures and a couple took a picture of us. As you can see in one of the pictures below, it was rather windy and sooo coldddddd!!! and so we didn't hang around there much. We had lunch at a day use area on the Geology Road area. Also near another great little campground among the rocks. Too small, as most the campgrounds in the Park are, for our big Beast. Oh well, we like where we are staying as it is very pretty and free!! Can't beat that. Another day we drove up to 29 Palms and then checked out Indian Coves that has another campground in the Rocks and a day use area where we had lunch and then came back through the park from the West entrance to the park. Pictures below of our days include some where I used my ipad app Luminar, which is a great little photoshop like program I really like for some special effects and different frames from what is available on my picasa program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great sunset, no touchup needed.

 

 

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Dream Beneath the Desert Sky - Joshua Tree

Title above is from In God's Country from the great U2 album, Joshua Tree. And yes, this Joshua Tree area is a great place to dream and take in the beauty and solitude of the desert. Joshua Tree National Park covers 790,636 acres and is home to the Park's namesake, the Joshua Tree, which is a member of the Agave family, a flowering plant. It's formal name is the Yucca brevifolia. Legend has it that it got its name when Mormon immigrants named the tree after the biblical figure, Joshua, when they saw the limbs of the tree as outstretched in supplication, guiding the travelers westward. It only flowers once a year, in spring, and so we weren't able to see that but they are still a very impressive Yucca plant. We didn't see them on our first drive through the park as they are not in the southern park of the park. However, today we saw plenty.

 

 

 

 

The trees aren't the only interesting thing to see in this Park. Rock formations are also a fascinating thing to see. The rock piles here actually began underground eons ago as a result of volcanic activity. We checked out a number of campgrounds in the park that are built around the rocks. It reminded me of our stay at City of Rocks in New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

We stopped at a day use area to eat the lunch we brought with us. A nice spot surrounded by rocks.

 

 

 

This is a big area for rock climbers as well as hikers as there are numerous trails from short nature walks to longer and more strenuous hikes.

 

We are really enjoying our time in the desert and of course there are the sunsets, which we can't get enough of.

 

 

 

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Chollas,Chollas Everywhere, Look Like Teddy Bears, But Don't Touch

We took our first of several drives into the Joshua Tree National Park. We are at the far south entrance of the Park and most of the trails and campgrounds are at the north end. We decided to just go as far as the Cholla Cactus Garden. We didn't see any of the chollas until we were almost at the garden. We started to see a few and then WOW. It really is a garden as they are all over. They are located in the western rim of the Pinto Basin. Cacti are only abundant in places where water supplies are seasonally plentiful. The garden area is on a well drained slope and is one of the view places in the park that exactly meets the needs of the teddy bear chollas. There are several other types of chollas as well. You really need to be careful when walking around the jumping teddy bear chollas, which got its nick name because even if you just brush against the plant, the spines will penetrate your clothing or skin, causing the barbed joint of the plant to detach and stay with you. When we got out of our car, we took Savannah out with us. We only were planning on taking her out at the entrance to the trail for a few minutes before putting her in the car while we took a short walk on the trail. However, several people warned us to not take her on the trail. In fact, one couple warned us as they had learned the hard way as they had just gotten done spending almost an hour taking the barbs out of their dog. We put her back in the car(luckily weather is nice but not too warm for her to stay in the car).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more time I spend in the desert the more I come to appreciate its beauty.

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A Month in Newport

This is a catch up blog as I haven't been blogging or even taking pictures as we have been back in our old home town visiting with family and friends, doing doctors and dentist for Joe, and Joe spending some time at the office. We had our boys over(Karol at work) the first sunday we were back at Newport Dunes for chili and to watch some football. We use to be big football fans when we actually had a professional football team in the OC and/or LA. With no hockey due to the lockout(UGGGGHHH) it is nice to watch a little football though. We got together with Chris and Karol and went out to dinner at El Ranchito in Corona del Mar, which was fun. I met my friend, Jonella for lunch in downtown Laguna at 230 Forest Ave(name of restaurant as well as address). We visited with my Dad and took along our iPad to show him some of our Alaska trip pictures. We took lots of walks around the lagoon which made Savannah happy and did some kayaking. We have run into some of the people who stay here long term who we know from our previous stays here. We have some nice new neighbors, including a couple who are originally from Ireland. They have been here over 40 years but Paddy still has a strong accent. We went one night to Durty Nellies, a nice Irish Pub, where Paddy and his wife were performing old Irish tunes. We went out to celebrate our niece Kori's birthday at our local restaurant, Back Bay Cafe. For Thanksgiving we actually celebrated most of the week. We had a Thanksgiving lunch at Norstan, Joe's work. It was actually more of a Mexican theme with fajitas, enchiladas, spanish rice and other yummy dishes. We made albondigas soup with pesto meatballs. Everything was delish, including some great desserts. We had the boys over for Thanksgiving Day and then on Saturday, the boys and Karol as well as ourselves went down to Kristi and Brocks for another celebration along with my Dad and Kori and Nick. Heather had to work and so she and Ryan couldn't make it. We made turkey breasts for both of these days. We brined them, once in a honey, veggie broth brine and another in a maple syrup, brown sugar, brandy brine. Joe then smoked them on the bbq. They both came out super moist. For the one for Saturday, we cooked it and then sliced up the breast and put it in the crock pot to keep warm until dinner. I also made the gravy ahead of time, The turkey was still moist. The month went fast and we were soon back on the road again. We are now just a few miles south of the Joshua Tree National park southern entrance doing some free boondocking. A lovely desert spot with great views out all our windows which is especially nice after only having views of the motorhomes next to us in Newport. We are looking forward to new adventures with some sightseeing in Joshua Tree.

Below are a few pictures of our first night with some beautiful desert sunsets.

 

 

 

On the road again!!!!!

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