Southern Utah has been cold and wet and rainy and snowy this winter, so Matthew and I packed up our kids and some rope and headed south to Yucca Valley (the hub's hometown) and Joshua Tree California for spring break. We found sun, cousins, Thai food, and rocks there. We had so much fun, we didn't want to come home. It was a quick trip, only three days, but we loved every second. I took a bazillion pictures, and I feel compelled to share at least half of them with you...
Day One:
Left TQ at O dark thirty and arrived in time for lunch with Christy & David & Jena at Billy Gilly's? Willy Nillies? Yucca Valley's fish 'n' chips joint. Fried fish is seriously so good.
Stopped at the Visitor's Center, picked up Jr. Ranger books for the girls and headed out to the Park. We hiked the Barker Dam trail on reccomendation from Jenn & Mike. It was lovely. Until Cate puked 4 or 5 times on the trail back. Diagnosis: exhaustion, long car ride through the desert & too much fried food. She fell asleep in the van & slept through dinner at Christy's. She was all better the next morning!
Day Two:
David & Jena brought Curtis & Alyssa & we all met up at Trash Can Rock. The cousins had nonstopfuntheentireday. They climbed and scrambled all over the rocks, gaining confidence and altitude as the day progressed. We adults climbed rappelled and marvelled at the more advanced climbers also on the rock. At one point, I was clinging to a crack thinking that I could not continue up the way I was going, when a shirtless, tattooed, long-haired climber gave me a few pointers from the rock face a few yards down. Stick your toe in the crack and twist. Commit to that move. Lean to the right. You can do it! Guess what? He was right! Climbers are cool people. Even the crazy young ones who climb without ropes. The other people we saw that day were kind, outdoorsy, fun, and tolerant of and amused by the children, especially Alyssa's rear view. It was a super fun day and I can't wait to do it again!
We went out to eat that night with the California chapter of the Lowe family. Then we went to the Buma's for Jenn's delicious lemon cupcakes. Between the cupcakes and the lemon meringue pie Christy made the night before, I think we almost made up for Matthew's lack of a birthday this year (I'll tell that story soon - or maybe I'll let Matthew.)
Day Three:
The plan was to check-out of the motel and leave mid-morning, but the quick stop at the visitor's center to turn in the Jr. Ranger books quickly evolved into another drive into the park and a three mile hike with a 1,000 ft elevation gain! Matthew and I were so proud of the girls for making to the top of Ryan Mountain. Henry made it too, strapped to his dad in the Kelty Kids front pack where he spent most of his spring break.
After the hike, we let Matthew pick the restaurant for lunch/dinner: (it was still his birthday week after all) The Royal Siam (I think) in Joshua Tree. Delish. Then, sadly and finally, we were homeward bound. We got home at 11:00 PM CA time and had to set our clocks ahead two hours because of daylight savings. Yawn. Totally worth it though. It was a a very enjoyed and much-needed break.
Day One:
Left TQ at O dark thirty and arrived in time for lunch with Christy & David & Jena at Billy Gilly's? Willy Nillies? Yucca Valley's fish 'n' chips joint. Fried fish is seriously so good.
Stopped at the Visitor's Center, picked up Jr. Ranger books for the girls and headed out to the Park. We hiked the Barker Dam trail on reccomendation from Jenn & Mike. It was lovely. Until Cate puked 4 or 5 times on the trail back. Diagnosis: exhaustion, long car ride through the desert & too much fried food. She fell asleep in the van & slept through dinner at Christy's. She was all better the next morning!
Day Two:
David & Jena brought Curtis & Alyssa & we all met up at Trash Can Rock. The cousins had nonstopfuntheentireday. They climbed and scrambled all over the rocks, gaining confidence and altitude as the day progressed. We adults climbed rappelled and marvelled at the more advanced climbers also on the rock. At one point, I was clinging to a crack thinking that I could not continue up the way I was going, when a shirtless, tattooed, long-haired climber gave me a few pointers from the rock face a few yards down. Stick your toe in the crack and twist. Commit to that move. Lean to the right. You can do it! Guess what? He was right! Climbers are cool people. Even the crazy young ones who climb without ropes. The other people we saw that day were kind, outdoorsy, fun, and tolerant of and amused by the children, especially Alyssa's rear view. It was a super fun day and I can't wait to do it again!
We went out to eat that night with the California chapter of the Lowe family. Then we went to the Buma's for Jenn's delicious lemon cupcakes. Between the cupcakes and the lemon meringue pie Christy made the night before, I think we almost made up for Matthew's lack of a birthday this year (I'll tell that story soon - or maybe I'll let Matthew.)
Day Three:
The plan was to check-out of the motel and leave mid-morning, but the quick stop at the visitor's center to turn in the Jr. Ranger books quickly evolved into another drive into the park and a three mile hike with a 1,000 ft elevation gain! Matthew and I were so proud of the girls for making to the top of Ryan Mountain. Henry made it too, strapped to his dad in the Kelty Kids front pack where he spent most of his spring break.
After the hike, we let Matthew pick the restaurant for lunch/dinner: (it was still his birthday week after all) The Royal Siam (I think) in Joshua Tree. Delish. Then, sadly and finally, we were homeward bound. We got home at 11:00 PM CA time and had to set our clocks ahead two hours because of daylight savings. Yawn. Totally worth it though. It was a a very enjoyed and much-needed break.
5 comments:
While I'm glad you enjoyed a fun Spring Break, I am aghast at the thought of not celebrating Matthew's birthday! I hope you were kidding.
Even WE celebrated, and we don't even know him - anymore(okay, we celebrated the anniversary of our first kiss, but it counts as a birthday celebration, too).
Andrea,
Emily worked a long day on my birthday and we were getting ready to leave on vacation, so we didn’t do any celebrating. It was a downer—true—but I was able to scrub the toilet and the tub that day while the kids fought with each other so it was an adventure.
Wait, that was me, Matthew, not Emily.
Love the pictures! It has been a while since we had an outdoor adventure...not so fun to wade through soggy dense forests invested with ticks and mosquitos.
I would love to climb a real mountain!!
What fun, we really need to get out there. The bw picture of the girls with the trees is beautiful!
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