Joshua Tree Nat'l Park

Back in September Alaska air was having a great fare sale, and Valerie and I were both bemoaning the fact that our men did not have MLK day off. So we decided to have an adventure anyway. The cheapest fares/ best time schedule were to San Diego and while that didn't especially inspire either of us, Joshua Tree National Park did. And a trip was born.

Our goals were to do it on the cheap (so as to not make the boys feel so bad about us leaving them behind), and to go with the wind. We contemplated sleeping in Walmart parking lots, but in the end decided the sketchiness level of that proposition was too high. We settled on car camping (as in, sleeping IN the car) at a campground in the park.

Friday evening we flew in after work and made the drive to Riverside, where we were lucky to get to stay at Lance's aunt and uncles place. Thanks Mimi and Unc for your hospitality during our short 7 hours!

Saturday we rose early and made the drive to the park, stopping a few times along the way for provisions. We drove through Palm Springs (first time) and discovered it was actually quite a bit cuter and more character than the golf haven I had pictured. The JTNP website recommended a number of hikes, most of which were .5 to 3 miles - short (for all those retirees at the Springs I guess??). We settled on the one long one - Lost Palms Oasis (that name would come to mean much).  When we got to the visitor center in the park we were told the trail to Lost Palms had been washed out by a flash flood but that there was an alternate route to get there from the back side. We signed on and headed to the 'trailhead'.

See, there actually was a trail at the beginning

The beginning of my downfall with the cholla

Then it just turned into a wash

Can you spy little Val wandering in the desert?

The 'Trail' was really much more of a 'route' that one ranger had made a few notes about. After the first quarter mile there was no distinct trail, but we followed a wide wash towards the mountains. After 3 miles we arrived at a boulder field and began to climb. Many of the boulders were 20 feet or more tall, and they presented quite a challenge to these two small ladies. Halfway up the bolder field, the canyon branched and we went (guess) the wrong way. After a circuitous and steep traverse we made it back to 'the other way, which we figured had to be correct since we had reached a summit of the first way with no sign of an oasis. We finally found our way to Lost Palm Oasis and took some time to take it I while having a bite to eat. By then we were past the time we should have left, and we scampered back at the fastest possible pace, leaping between boulders, and crawling under others. We caught a fantastic sunset as we neared the car, which slowed our pace considerably (um, did I mention we like our cameras?).

View from the 'wrong way'

Thats part of the wash we walked up

Oasis!Finally!

On the way back down. Squeezing.

Love the light

friends for eva

Everything in the desert apparently is out to get you, and Saturday was no different. We finished the day sore and coved with scratches from the various cactus and other spiky wildlife. While packing back up in the car I managed to get a cholla cactus spike stuck in my wrist. They apparently have barbs and I literally couldn't pull it out myself. Good thing I had Valerie around with a strong arm and a pair of tweezers!

We had hiked on the very south side of the park and our campground was at the north border so we had a long drive ahead of us. Stopped at In-and-Out to fill our hungry bellies and make the boys back home jealous (don't worry, they were having a glorious man night).

Josh Tree. Yes, we listened to U2 on the drive.

It was dark when we arrived at our campsite and we reclined the car seats back, pulled out the sleeping bags, and cracked a bottle of wine. I've had better sleep than in that Nissan Versa, but I didn't to freeze to death or get murdered, despite our respective mothers fears. Sunday morning we again rose early, and drove through the north park of the park to Ryan Mountain, apparently the tallest point in the park. It was a fun hike. After that we continued through the park, making short stops whenever something caught our eye, like the cactus garden. Cholla for days.

That's a Joshua Tree actually. Not Cholla. But it did catch our eyes.

It's a Dr. Suess world out there..

Um, we made it to the top of Ryan Mountain. And we were sleep deprived.

We may have also gotten asked if we were twins on the way down. But that was unintentional.

Oh, there we are. Hi cholla. You hurt me.

And with that we were off to Anza Borrego and San Diego. Up next!

You can also check out Val's version over here.

Central Oregon - Family & Outdoors

We took (another) three day weekend and set out for Redmond, OR last Thursday after work. (It's near Bend if you're not familiar with the area). Matt's brother Greg and his wife Stephanie live there and we were super excited to get to visit them and spend some time outdoors. Central Oregon is known for being sunny and snowy in the winter. They were a bit short on snow, but good on the sun so no complaints from us!

Friday we had been hoping to go snowboarding at Bachelor but the less than stellar conditions made it so we didn't feel like spending the money. We had a relaxing morning around the house getting caught up and then went skeet shooting in the afternoon. Greg & Stephanie are avid hunters, and while I certainly wouldn't call him a sharpshooter Matt does at least know how to load a gun. Me? I'd been skeet shooting once before during my freshman year of college. It was a beautiful sunny day, and there's lots of BLM land only a few minutes from their place. It took me some pretty embarrassing attempts to get up to speed but eventually I think I was about 50/50. We all had a great time.

That afternoon we wandered downtown Redmond (super cute in that old small town sort of way) and had lunch at Seventh Street Brewhouse. Unfortunately I forgot my camera during this entire days worth of adventures, so all there is is a few phone pictures from skeet shooting.

Saturday we all got up and had breakfast together again and then Greg, Matt & I went snowshoeing. We had been planning something at Meisner or Swampy Lakes b/c they have nice loops with shelters. Turns out there was only half an inch of snow. We ended up at Tumalo Mountain, the trailhead right across from the Bachelor parking lot. It was a great 6 miles round trip with 1500 feet of elevation gain. The sun was out, and views of Bachelor and the three Sisters visible the entire way. From the top we had a 360 degree view of the region. It was a great snowshoe.

Bachelor

The Sisters. Matt & I climbed South Sister (the one on the left) three years ago.

That evening a bunch of Greg & Stephanie's friends came over and we all had dinner (brisket smoked for 15 hours, yummm) and burned the burn pile. If you're from somewhere urban like myself, you're not quite sure what that means right? Well, when you own a few acres, a yard waste can doesn't do it for you. So you stick it all in a big pile. When it gets about 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide, what do you do? You light it on fire. It was a fun night hanging out and meeting new people.

Check out Greg in the corner of this one. Thats how tall it was

Sunday Matt & I crept out of the house early in the morning and hiked up to Tumalo Falls (which is actually in a totally different area than Tumalo Mountain). We had the area to ourselves, it was another sunny day, and the falls were neat. It was nice to be outside.

The snowy mountain in the background is Tumalo Mtn

We headed back, cleaned up, and went out for a late late breakfast before hitting the road back to Seattle. We had a great weekend getting to spend time with Greg & Steph and be outdoors in the sunshine. Thanks for hosting us!