On Tuesday, Feb. 28th, our 8th wedding anniversary, we packed up and said goodbye to our rental house. I was sad to go!

We stopped at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center one more time where we turned in Nate’s Junior Ranger workbook in exchange for a Junior Ranger badge, purchased Nate his choice of stuffed animal (a rattlesnake), and I bought a lovely handmade stoneware mug.

A few point & shoot snapshots – the mug I bought (from MazAmar Art Pottery, sold in the Joshua Tree Nat’l Park Visitor Center gift shop), and two quick pictures with the only Saguaro Cactuses we saw (they were planted in front of a storefront in Yucca Valley – I read that the Mojave Desert is too dry for Saguaro).

From there we drove straight through to Dana Point, CA where we went on a 1/2 Price Tuesday Whale Watch. It was our third together, and Nate’s first. I think he would have liked it more if he and I hadn’t both thrown up.I was tall enough to clear the railing, but Nate was not, and got most of his on daddy.The Dramamine I had taken earlier did nothing for me, and I couldn’t give him any since he’s only 4. Oh well, we DID see 2 grey whales and a LOT of dolphins! I snapped a few pictures before the unhappiness.

Since the 2-hour whale watch cruise and my need for a little recovery time afterward took up most of the afternoon, not much else happened. It was already past nightfall when we got back to San Diego and checked into our hotel. Because of this, my camera didn’t come back out and we just relied on our Canon Elph Powershot for a few quick snaps here & there. A few more point & shoot snapshots from the day: A latte I purchased at the Dana Wharf – I really did appreciate the extra effort! Also Nate with a giant fresh strawberry. There was a little roadside stand and he wanted to buy some (like really REALLY wanted to buy some) but the smallest package they would sell was like 3 quarts, and since we were going back to San Diego, staying at a hotel with no fridge or kitchen, and flying home the next day, I just didn’t think we could possibly consume them. The sales girl felt pity for him and gave him one on the house. He loved it. Also – we saw SNOW on the ground along the interstate near Riverside! Crazy that when we left Buffalo AND when we returned a week later there was not a flake of snow on the ground at our house, yet it snowed while we were in Southern California. Also, does anyone else love to take pictures of their kids sleeping? We sure do.

I think just one more post to go – our return to San Diego, Balboa Park, the coast once more, and the flight home. Coming soon!

Nate was up bright & early at 5:50am, so I grabbed my camera and went outside for the sunrise. Nice. I wish I’d been in a more picturesque location than the little side road outside our rental, but hey, you get what you get.

I went back inside to get ready for our day-trip down to the south end of the Salton Sea and liked the way the light was hitting one of the framed prints in our bedroom, so boom. Self-portrait of sorts. I appreciate that the home owners had decorated the house with art & photographs by local artists, and listed sale prices in the binder that had all the information about the house & the surrounding area.

We packed up the car and headed south through Indio and down the east side of the sea. Many stops for birdwatching were made. This juxtaposition made me laugh. Nate needs his own binoculars.

After doing a LOT of basically fruitless (birdwatching-wise) driving on very, very, very back roads, we made it to the Sunny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. It lies within the Pacific Flyway, but unfortunately there was not much to see the day we were there. There was a pretty flowering tree though!

From there we drove through Calipatria (which seemed to be populated mainly by agricultural workers) and down to Brawley for lunch. We stopped at a Carl’s Jr. for burgers – we did eat fast food several times on the trip, but only at chains that are not available in our area. We also purchased gas at $4.23/gal because we didn’t know how many gas stations there might be as we ventured out toward the Anza-Borrego Desert, and it was the right decision since the gas station we passed in Borrego Springs was $4.69/gal (pictured below)!

Between Ocotillo Wells and Borrego Springs, we happened upon an art installation that we had no idea existed – huge oxidized metal sculptures in the fields along the road. We stopped and did a family portrait with these horses:

By the time we made it to the Borrego Springs-adjacent visitor center for Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, it was already starting to get late and major clouds were rolling over. We went inside to check it out, and although they had bumper stickers proclaiming the park “very hot,” in actuality it was chilly enough for hoodies and when I stepped outside for a look at the plants just outside the building, it was raining! Not hard, but enough to create droplets on the signs & benches, and to show on the sidewalks and windshields of cars. I took pictures anyway. We saw hummingbirds, but unfortunately all I had brought from the car was my 50mm, and it was inadequate for pictures of such a small, flighty bird.

After we left the park, we drove north and east, passing more huge sculptures. This is one of my favorite family pictures from the trip, and definitely the most unique.

I wish I’d waited a second or two for him to get closer, but in the moment, sometimes you get what you get.

As dusk came, we continued east back toward the sea and back to the highway. Definitely slammed on the brakes and put the car in reverse to back up for this photo. Didn’t matter, wudd’n nobody but us on the road anyway. I loved that about a few of the places. On the road, all alone. Just us & the scenery.

A brief overview of our excursion. Natey is such a good little car-rider. Love him.

By the time we finally made it back to the house, it was definitely bedtime, so we hit up the hot tub one last time before packing it in for the night. Nathan informed us that we should get one for our house. I told him that a lot of things sound nice in theory. He’s four, so he didn’t understand what that meant. We put him in bed and started to mentally prepare for leaving this beautiful place the following morning.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, we took a walk around the house before getting in the car to go back into the park. Just walking “down the block” we saw roadrunners, jackrabbits, quails, and some pretty big paw prints (coyote?). When the sky already looks like this at 8am, how could you possibly have a bad day?!

We entered the park at Joshua Tree, and started the two hour drive through the park to get to Cottonwood Spring. We made a few stops along the way, for random scenic photos, and at the Cholla Garden.

Some of you ask me sometimes why my pictures look so different than the ones you get with your own camera. Sometimes it’s just the effort to get a different perspective. Here’s a scenic vista taken by just pulling the car over, getting out, and shooting.

Here’s the exact same vista, but after I’ve scrambled up a hillside. I chose to have the car in the photo for scale.

Cholla Garden – a sudden concentration of Cholla cactus as you drive south through the park.

When we arrived at Cottonwood Visitor Center and the Palm Oasis, we set out on a trail that led past the oasis and up into the rocks.

The flowers were beautiful! There weren’t any blooming up near Joshua Tree or 29 Palms, so I was glad we drove to the south side of the park.

When we set out, we were not intending to climb so high, but I said, “We’re here – let’s do it” and we scrambled to the top of Mastodon Peak. The first picture shows a view looking down, including the trail we hiked, the second picture shows me with Nate and the view behind us, and the third picture shows the peak after our descent. If you can see the small white spot on top of the rocks, that is another man who climbed up after us. That’s where we were.

On the rest of the walk, I was so excited to see so many beautiful flowers so I had to keep stopping & snapping. It was amazing, the pops of color against the rock & sand.

After that, we drove the rest of the way through the park, south to I-10, then back up through Indio & Palm Springs back to Joshua Tree. I stopped to photograph a roadside flower and Joe thought it necessary to photograph me photographing the plant. Here’s the picture of me, and the pictures I was taking at the time.

When we got back to the house, I ordered pad thai from the Thai restaurant in town (yum!!), and we enjoyed another hot tub soak under the stars. Excellence.

Tech Specs: All pictures in this post (except photo of me photographing, as noted) taken with Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 24-105L f/4.

On Saturday morning, Feb. 25, we got a bright & early wakeup call thanks to a certain little boy (he was up at 5:25am) and we passed the time playing Uno in the living room until it was a reasonable hour to venture out (the Visitor Center at the park doesn’t open til 8am). We also unpacked and got settled in at the rental house and explored a little in the back yard. Knowing we were going to be in one place for 4 nights, it was so nice to be able to have separate bedrooms, washer & dryer, full kitchen, and a hot tub! We rented the “Sunset Terrace” house from Moonlight Mesa Retreats.

When it came time to go over to the Visitor Center, we got Nathan a Junior Ranger Workbook and he LOVED having activities to complete while we were in the park.

We started the day by entering at the 29 Palms Visitor Center and driving to Split Rock. From there, we hiked a 2.0 mile loop trail. We were the only ones on the trail and it was gorgeous, serene, and amazing. Several of the pictures from the group below are from the Split Rock loop (actually, every single one except the one of Nate with his workbook and the one of the jackrabbit bunny). What do you do when all around you is like nothing you’ve ever seen before? Take pictures of everything!

After finishing at Split Rock, we drove one of the back roads where I took these two pictures:

From there we continued to Barker Dam where we hiked an easy 1.1 mile loop and saw the old dam (actual standing water in the desert!), petroglyphs, and I managed to gash my knee while climbing down from the vantage point I just had to have for my photo of the dam (the one showing my shadow). First aid kits don’t do you as much good if you leave them in the car!

Yes, we saw SNOW in the park! It was in the shadow of a very tall, steep rock face. It had obviously been walked all over, which first annoyed me, but then I realized that a lot of the visitors to the park that day probably don’t see snow very often, if ever, and to us it’s old hat, so I got over it. Of course, most places looked like this:

Our last stop of the day was at Keys View, high on top of a mountain overlooking Palm Springs, Indio, the San Andreas Fault, and even the Salton Sea was visible in the distance. Unfortunately the sky was pretty hazy so the view was not optimal, but it was still beautiful to be up that high and see so far.

After a long day in the sun, we returned to our rental house, fired up the backyard grill for dinner, then relaxed in the hot tub for a few minutes before bed. I think Nathan went to bed at 8:15 and I was asleep just after 9:00. Sometimes it feels GOOD to be that tired!

Next blog post: Joshua Tree National Park’s Cottonwood Spring & Mastadon Peak, journey around the Salton Sea, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park!

On Feb. 24, our second full day in California, we went up to Torrey Pines, north of San Diego. The walking trails there are great. We had a wonderful time and were glad we brought our sunblock! Once the fog cleared off, it got pretty warm & sunny out there!

We saw our first roadrunner!

A family photo, then the view from a standing position:

I saw this view a lot:

We hiked the steep trail all the way to the beach, but only Joe & Nathan were brave enough to go all the way down (it was high tide and waves were coming right up to the steps).

After we left Torrey Pines State Park, we drove down to the Torrey Pines Gliderport and ate lunch on-site at the Cliffhanger Cafe. We waited around quite a bit and unfortunately didn’t see a ton of gliding action because the wind conditions weren’t just right, but we did get to see two guys in the air (you can see both in the second glider image). Nathan enjoyed it.

After leaving the coast, we made the 2 hr 45 min drive to our rental house at Joshua Tree. We arrived just before sunset and I took a few more family pictures before we settled in for the night.