so cal family and friends 20-31 may

we left arizona before the really hot temps of 113+ and headed into the mojave desert...what were we thinking?  it was actually only 101 in the high desert and who'da thunk it would already be this hot in may?  


our 1st destination in the golden state on the left coast was joshua tree national park bordering the mojave (or high desert in the western part of the park above 3,000 ft) and the colorado, (also known as the sonoran or low desert in the eastern part of the park, below 3,000 ft) along the san andreas fault.  this park reminds me a bit of big bend national park in western texas where visiting the park should be encouraged in any season BUT summer!


the night before we entered the park we stayed in 29 palms, a small military town where the marines train nearby in a simulated area to the likes of afghanistan and the middle east-the hot, dry, vast desert.  while checking into the rv park, they told us not to worry as explosions are commonly heard.  none-the-less, we had a nice site under some shade trees in the low 100s.

the park entrance is only 4 miles from 29 palms and we spent 4-5 hours touring the park learning about the joshua tree, and yes, for any of you with the question i had, it is considered a tree (though without rings), related to the onion and lily families and not to that of the cacti family.  unfortunately national parks are not that dog friendly and with the high temps we couldn't leave gravy in the pw for long, so long walks were out (dogs are allowed on all paved trails in national parks for your information).  the views from 5,100 ft keys view was gorgeous, overlooking the palm springs and palm desert i-10 corridor also known as the coachella valley and the salton sea-235 feet below sea level.


the morman's coined the term 'joshua tree' back in the 1830s as they felt the tree reminded them of joshua's arms reaching out to the heaven's above.

entrance to the park

joshua trees in the mojave part of the park

jumbo rocks

more joshua trees

and more

the view from keys view looking down to the coachella valley

joshua tree in bloom

ocotillo plants in the colorado desert part of the park

cholla cactus garden in the colorado desert part of the park

from the coachella valley floor looking back up at keys view in the park

from the south side of the valley looking north through palm desert and back into the park

finally heading into the cool of southern california and out of the hot southwest desert heat.  a welcomed drive out of palm desert, up highway 74 is absolutely gorgeous.

lake hemet, 30 miles from palm desert and 20 degrees cooler!

spent the pre and post memorial day weekend off the road and out of camp grounds visiting friends and family from oceanside to long beach and redondo beach to sherman oaks in the san fernando valley.

san clemente beach from our campground

gigi, aly's mom, cassie, buddy and aly in oceanside

marcus, aly's brother, aly and buddy in long beach

the three of us above took a fabulous bike ride along the strand in long beach and this was a bit of what we saw--

the queen mary, a famous retired ocean liner (she crossed the atlantic 1000 times) now open for tours and is an operational hotel with howard hughes' spurce goose's hanger now used as a cruise ship terminal in the LA harbor on the long beach side

downtown long beach and marina

wonder who?

pushing further north to redondo beach with more friends and more biking

clara, buddy, aly and tom

and further north still, moving into the san fernando valley to visit an old college friend of aly's and family where we had a delicious international dinner (she had guests from germany who arrived the same day we did).

shannah, aly's college friend with princie in sherman oaks

from the LA area, we pushed on, taking back roads.  i should mention here that of the 3,000+ miles we've put on the pw so far, only about 150 of those have been interstate miles and most of those have been right here in the LA area...we're happy to get back onto secondary roads and out of the congestion of this metropolis.  we had a great time visiting friends and family, but we prefer back roads and less hustle/bustle.

we found our way north of santa barbara, inland, camping at cachuma lake, near the central wine country and danish community of solvang.

cachuma lake

solvang, a touristy danish community founded in 1911 in the santa ynez valley

candy bins in solvang

the vineyards of los olivos (the town has 1,000 residents with 50 wineries--not sure how many olive trees are here)

 whew.  we've found our way 1/3 of the way up the california coast in central california.  we are currently camping just south of pismo beach, 1/2 way between LA and san francisco.  we have more friends to see, wine to sample and the golden gate bridge to cross soon, as well as touring the magnificant hearst castle.


stay tuned for our next missive...