Joshua Tree National Park

We began our exploration at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center.  A very nice park ranger gave us some suggestions of things to do.

The park actually includes areas in two different deserts.  The northern section is considered high desert in the Mojave Desert, and that’s where all of the Joshua trees are located.  We drove for many miles through forests of these trees.  It was certainly the strangest forest I’ve ever seen.

Joshua trees are part of the Yucca family.  We’ve seen them in other areas, but none as concentrated as in the park.

As with all the deserts we’ve seen, they are not just flat areas of sand.  There are many hills and mountains as well as large rock formations.

It’s another place rock climbers love to frequent.  We saw four people climbing this huge rock wall.

We hiked the 1 mile loop Barker Dam trail.  It takes you to a concrete dam ranchers built in the late 1800s.  The current average rainfall is about 6 inches a year.  Back then there was more rain, and the desert had great cattle grazing fields.  In the early 1900s the weather patterns began to change and the area could no longer support cattle.

Just about that time gold fever struck.  Many claims were staked, but most never hit it big.  There are still mines throughout the park.

The dam was not much to look at, but I did like this view of the snow-covered mountain in the distance.

Here we are under one of the Joshua trees.  You can see how big they are.  I love the timer on my camera!

 

 

 

 

We participated in a 1.5 hour ranger tour of the Desert Queen Ranch.  It’s only accessible with a ranger, and the $5 tour price was well worth it.

In 1910 Bill Keys came to the ranch as the caretaker.  After two years, the owner died and Bill claimed the ranch and mine for unpaid wages.  He and his wife lived there until 1969 and raised 5 children.  They were very resourceful people.  They grew their own food, made a little money from the mine, got paid to process ore for other gold miners, and collected stuff from surrounding abandoned homesteads.

Here’s a sample of the stuff they had in their junkyard.

As they had more children, they added onto their house.  Here’s what it looked like when they died.  Next to it is a storage/tool shed.

I love hearing the stories of these pioneer people.  I’m always so amazed at how hard they worked and how resourceful they were!

Next we drove to the Keys View overlook.  The ridge/ledge area in the center of the picture is part of the San Andreas fault.  According to the sign we read, this area moves two inches every year.  Wow!  In the distance are the Santa Rosa Mountains. 

To the south is the Salton Sea.  Signal Mountain is near the US/Mexico border.  It’s too bad pollution causes such a haze. 

We continued following the main road to the southern half of the park.  This is where you enter the Colorado Desert.  What a difference.  This is considered low desert and reminded me a great deal of Death Valley. 

We passed this area called Cholla Cactus Garden.  They look so fuzzy, but don’t touch!

We arrived at the south end of the park just as it was getting dark.  Another wonderful day!

Today is the last day of the record breaking warm temperatures.  Tomorrow is expected to be in the 60s and rain is coming for the weekend.  I know none of you are feeling sorry for us :)  We sure have been blessed with fantastic weather.   I hope it’s nice when the boys come next week.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Out of the Ordinary Finds

We spent the day at Joshua Tree National Park.  But, on the way we checked out two unusual tourist attractions.

I have a book called Roadside America which lists hundreds of unusual tourist attractions across the country.  While we were in Utah we stopped at Hole ‘N’ the Rock which I had found in the book.

Yucca Valley, California was our way to Joshua Tree.  The book listed Desert Christ Park as an attraction so we stopped to check it out. 

What an amazing out of the way place.  In 1951 at the age of 64 sculptor, Antone Martin, began creating statues depicting Christ’s life.  In 10 years, he finished 50 figures.  They were made out of steel reinforced concrete and coated in white plaster.

He prepared and transported the tons of concrete himself.  After 10 years of working hard, his body gave out and he died.

His entire reason for undertaking this humungous project was his hope that his works may bring mankind together in peace and love for one another and for Christ.

The first statue completed was Christ’s ascension.  It is on the side of a hill, is 10 feet tall and weighs 3 tons.

This one is titled “Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me”.

  This is a bas-relief of the Lord’s Supper, weighing approximately 125 tons, and measuring 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

Upon his death in 1961, the park was presented to the Yucca Valley Parks and Recreation Dept.  In 1993 the ACLU sued and the park was taken over by a non-profit organization.  Some of the statues are starting to crumble especially the smaller sections like fingers, hands and arms.  I hope they can keep it going.

Also on the grounds was this cute little chapel made out of rocks. 

I’m glad we stopped.  It was inspiring to take a little time and admire his work.

A few miles north of Yucca Valley is Pioneertown.  The welcome lady at the resort had told us about this spot. 

This town was built in 1946 as a movie set for westerns.  It was also a place for the movie folks to hang out and party.  A number of movies were filmed here in the 1940s and 50s including The Cisco Kid and Annie Oakley with stars including Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. 

Some of the buildings are actually still occupied.  We saw a number of for sale and for rent signs.  On weekends from April through October they have wild west shows.

Once again I was amazed today by the perseverance of people from time’s gone by.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our visit to Joshua Tree.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Olive Trees

When we arrived at this park, I noticed some trees that looked like they had black olives growing on them.  I picked one and tasted it.  It tasted very bitter, definitely not like any olive I’ve eaten.  So, I thought maybe they weren’t olives.

I did a little research and learned all about olives.  Green olives are picked before they are ripe.  If the fruit is left on the tree to ripen, they become black olives.  All olives taste bitter fresh off the tree.  They are processed in a lye brine before they are sold.  I never knew any of this.  This fulltime lifestyle is quite educational.

Yesterday we went to a street fair in Palm Desert.  It was held in the parking lot of the College of the Desert.  I would estimate there were at least 100 or more vendors.  It was a combination arts and crafts fair and flee market. 

There were some very beautiful artistic pieces including photography, painting, metal sculpture and pottery.  There were also quite a few booths selling the typical flee market stuff; casual clothing, sunglasses, gadgets, healing magnetic jewelry, and many types of other jewelry.

I think people around here must really love their pets.  There were at least ten different vendors selling pet items; clothing, carriers, strollers, toys, beds and anything you can imagine your dog or cat could need. 

I heard there was produce available at the fair.  There were several produce vendors, but the fruits and vegetables had stickers on them just like in the grocery store.  I don’t think any of it was local.  I figured it wasn’t any fresher, and the prices were mostly more than in the store.

I did get a lemonade and Kevin bought one of those magic mats that keep your stuff from sliding around on the dashboard.  We put the satellite radio and cell phone on it, and they are staying put.  It works great!

We stopped in at Best Buy to check out the ereaders.  I’m thinking of getting one since I found out I can download eBooks through my library card for free.  This was just a fact-finding mission.  I haven’t completely decided yet. 

My main hesitation is that the loan period is only 7 days, and I don’t usually finish a book that quickly.  I know I can check it back out, but most of the books I was interested in had to be put on hold so it could be a while before I could check it out again.  I wish the lending time was longer.  The same library lets you check out the paper books for four weeks. 

We did a quick grocery stop and rented The Expendables at Redbox.  It was OK, but a bit too bloody for my taste.  But what was I expecting from Sylvester Stallone.

We’re getting into the habit of swimming every afternoon.  Today was in the 80s so we spent some time at the pool after the Packer game.  Kevin wasn’t happy they lost :(

The fact that the Viking game was delayed was a good thing for him.  Originally, the Packer game wasn’t going to be shown here and he was going to listen on the satellite radio.  Because the Vikings didn’t play today, the Packer game was shown instead.

I hope all of our Midwestern family and friends survived the blizzard.  We are not missing dealing with snow removal or cold weather.

Have I mentioned that we love our new lifestyle :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Lovin’ These Pools

My Wisconsin friends won’t believe this, but we actually went swimming twice yesterday.  I’m normally not much of a pool person, but I love these hot tubs!

We swam and soaked in the afternoon after a strenuous game of shuffleboard.  I let Kevin win since it was his birthday :)

We enjoyed some birthday cocktails on our patio and then went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse.  Kevin’s favorite place is Texas Roadhouse, but there isn’t one near here.  So, we thought we’d try Outback.  It was OK, but we like Texas Roadhouse better. 

After supper we soaked and swam some more.  My joints and bones are loving this hot water.  I tried out the hottest tub, and it was great.  We sat in the tub and enjoyed looking at the quarter moon and stars above the palm trees.

We ended the evening enjoying birthday cake.  What a great day it was!

The sites here are gravel and sand, but there is a decent amount of space between them and a concrete slab outside the door.  Here’s a view of our site.

This is the view out our back window.  Another beautiful sunset last night.

I’d like to welcome some new readers.  It’s great to have you join our wanderings. 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Today is Kevin’s 55th birthday.  I think he is now officially a senior citizen since the resort we are currently staying at is a 55+ resort :)

We left Cherry Valley Lakes yesterday and had to back out of our pull-through site.  Remember how I told you the sites were extremely tight.  The pull-through sites are short so most rigs are hanging out into the road a bit.  It was too tight to pull out of our site so Kevin did an expert job of backing out.    We will never camp there again!

Our drive to Caliente Springs Resort in Desert Hot Springs was only about an hour.  Outside of Palm Springs we passed a windmill farm.  There are hundreds of them all along the interstate and up in the hills.  I love seeing them.  I figure every time I see windmills there is less oil being used, and that makes me happy for a number of reasons!

We love this new location.  It is by far the nicest resort we have stayed at.  Surprisingly, they are Passport America members so we are only paying $23.50 a night with a 7 day limit.  We needed someplace to stay for 8 nights before our reservation starts in San Diego so the last night is at the 10% Good Sam discount. 

There are 4 hot tub pools and 2 large pools.   The water in all of them comes from the underground mineral hot springs.  The 2 larger pools are at a temperature of between 87 to 94 degrees.  The hot tubs range from 96 to 104.  The temperatures are posted so you can decide how hot you want to be.

We went for a swim last night.  We went into the second hottest tub, and it was hot.  It was too hot for Kevin’s liking, but I loved it.  My arthritic joints were dancing a jig :)

After a bit, we went into the big pool and swam some laps.  It was awesome swimming on my back and looking at the moon and stars.  This life sure is great!!!

There is lap swimming every morning.  I think I’ll swim before Kevin gets up.  I didn’t this morning because it’s his birthday, and I didn’t want to be gone when he woke up.  Plus I wanted to bake him a cake.

His favorite birthday cake is a poppy seed cake his mom used to make for his birthday.  It has a custard filling and cream cheese frosting.  It’s time consuming to make, but it sure is good. 

A whole cake would just be too much for us so I used half of the ingredients and baked one layer and cut it in half.   I cheated and used store bought cream cheese frosting.  I think it will still be quite yummy!

We rode our bikes around this beautiful resort community and then played some shuffleboard.

The shuffleboard courts are behind the clubhouse and pools.  You can see some of it in the background.  There are also tennis courts, a 9 hole executive style golf course, horseshoe pits, a fitness room, a bistro, laundry facilities, a library, and a public room for activities. 

There are all kinds of daily activities scheduled.  There is definitely something for everyone.  The only facility that costs extra is the golf.  After looking over the course, we decided not to play.  The holes are very short and narrow with park model homes all around each hole.  I’m not confident enough in my game to risk hitting someone’s house.

Time to go and see what Kevin has planned to do next.  I told him it’s his day, and we’ll do whatever he wants.  Tonight we’re going out to dinner.

By the way, as you can see in the picture, it’s warm enough to be wearing shorts and a tank top.  Highs are predicted to be in the 80s all weekend. 

We hope all of our Wisconsin family and friends are enjoying the pretty snow they are experiencing :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Not For Us

We attended the Colorado River Adventure sales presentation yesterday.  They own 8 parks in the Southern California, Arizona area.  Included in the packages was free camping at any of their 8 home parks plus Coast to Coast and RPI membership and some time trading for condos in the more expensive packages.

If you stay at the home parks, you can stay free for two weeks and then out for a week and then two free weeks, etc.  You can go to another of the home parks for free the in-between week, but it’s a hassle to move.  You can stay put for the in-between week for $95. 

The park we’re at looked really nice on the video they showed of the 8 parks which makes me wonder how nice the others really are.  They claim they have only owned this park for 7 years, and it is used as a stop-over to the nicer parks.  If they’ve owned this place for 7 years, why haven’t they spent any money fixing the roads and upgrading the electricity to 50 amp? 

The prices were between $5,000 and $9,000 plus $429 a year maintenance.  We did a little number crunching and decided it’s not for us.  We don’t want to be tied down to the same places every winter and plan to workkamp in the future to offset our site fees. 

I got a kick out of the guy’s comment regarding the interstate traffic noise.  He lives on a site right next to the freeway.  He said after a while the traffic noise sounds like waves.  I’m still laughing at that one.  I’d rather be parked next to the ocean and hear the real waves :)

After dark we took a walk in a nearby subdivision and looked at the Christmas decorations on some of the houses.  I thought it would feel weird seeing outdoor decorations without snow and cold weather, but I enjoyed it just as much as in Wisconsin.  I don’t miss the cold and snow one bit.  The temperatures are predicted to be near 80 the next few days.  We’re loving it!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Oranges!

Yesterday we drove to Redlands, California which is about 10 miles from the campground.  We stopped at the Kimberly Crest historical landmark.  It’s a chateau style house built in 1897 and purchased in 1905 by J. Alfred Kimberly, founder of the Kimberly Clark Paper Company. 

Below is the view from the front of the house.  I’ve never seen such tall palm trees.  The tall, skinny pine trees remind me of our trip to Italy.  The house has beautiful Italian gardens and many weddings are held there.

The house caught my attention in the tourist literature because Kimberly Clark has a large operation in Appleton, Wisconsin.  There are tours of the house, but we’ve seen so many old houses over the years so we just enjoyed the outside.

I’ve been surprised to see trees changing colors in California.  I assumed there are mainly palm trees.  This Japanese Maple was in one of the gardens.

Adjacent to the house is a city park with orange groves and rose gardens.  I was excited to see so many orange trees with the added bonus of roses growing right alongside them.  It sure smelled nice.  Who would have guessed we would be enjoying roses in December!

Here is one of the groves in this park right in the middle of the city.  Redlands looked like a very nice city.  There were many old beautifully restored Victorian homes, and the entire city appeared to be clean and well kept.

There were signs saying it was illegal to pick oranges, but I found this one on the ground.  I’m going to wait a few days and taste it.  There was also a tree with tons of these nuts on the ground beneath it.  Does anyone know what they are?

I’d never been to a Trader Joe’s so we checked it out.  I was a bit overwhelmed by all the organic offerings.  I guess I don’t know enough about natural foods to know if it was something I should buy.  I did buy some cranberry oatmeal and a bottle of “Two Buck Chuck” white zinfandel wine.  I have read about this wine on other blogs and wanted to try it out.  I like sweet wine, and it was a bit sour for my taste.  I added some grape juice and that made it better.

We ran a few other errands and headed back home to watch a Redbox movie, Grown-Ups.  It had some very funny parts and great one-liners.  I don’t always care for these types of comedies, but I really enjoyed this one.

There is a very nice newer subdivision next to the campground and we have taken some walks there.  This tree caught my attention.  It has red bark and pink berries.  I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never seen a tree like it before.

 

Another tree had five different colored leaves on it; red, orange, gold, green and brown. Gorgeous!!

 

 

 

We’ve put up some Christmas decorations.  I bought some lights to put in the windows.  We should have probably held on to a few of our Christmas decorations, but we didn’t know what we’d have room for.  Oh well, it’s fun picking out some new things.

 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!