Southern California Desert Weekend

Cholla cacti

Hi. So much has happened as of late that it has been a challenge to gather my thoughts and write, yet here I am.

James and I were able to squeeze a childless moment away this past weekend. It has been two years since we have been able to do this and we needed it. Thanks to my parents and sisters for volunteering their time and patience to care for my little angels so we could have some essential time away.

The desert was calling our name so we headed out to Palm Desert for the weekend. We lucked out. Rain was pounding the south land, but skipped the desert area all day Saturday.



First stop, Joshua Tree National Park. We entered from the south off Interstate 10, stopped at the visitor center in Cottonwood Springs, then did a looped hike to Mastodon Peak and the Mastodon Gold Mine.



James goofing around.


Mastodon Gold Mine


We then headed northwest towards Twenty-nine Palms and viewed the Cholla Cactus Garden. The garden is amazing and the cactus looked as if they glowed. Very alien like.


We drove a full loop back to Palm Desert, but before we headed back we veered off to Pioneer Town in Yucca Valley and ate at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace.



James goofing off again.


Out last stop on Sunday was Hadley's. I have stopped here my entire life and usually it is to get a date shake (Karen, since you asked. :) Not this time. It was freezing out so we bought other goodies for the kids and my sisters.

Days 10 and 11 - The End of the Road

We had a lazy morning at our friends house eating pancakes and drinking coffee and then we were off.

Today's destination? Fairfield, CA. The drive is just a few hours and we want to break up the drive home since we have a LONG drive home.

Fairfield is windy!

We toured the Jelly Belly Factory and went swimming at the hotel and plain and simply relaxed at the hotel.





The next morning we drove highway 12 which took us through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Fascinating!

Really.

I like deltas.

We hit one last State Park before we hit home. The Tule Elk State Reserve. It is the tiniest California State Park I have ever seen. It is in the middle of nowhere and no one was there.



searching for the Elk.


I was the perfect place to have some snacks and let the kiddos run around, but...

NO ELK.

They must have been hiding.

Oh wait there's one behind James.



The time spent together as a family was fantastic and I am truly sad it is over. I am not ready for it to be over. Road trips are my favorite vacations.

Day 8 - Umpqua River and Crater Lake National Park

We left Portland early in the morning and headed south on Interstate 5 about 3.5 hours to Roseburg, Oregon. Then we headed east on the scenic Rogue-Umpqua Byway. The highlights are beautiful scenery the North Umpqua River and the many, easy to hike to waterfalls.

Toketee Falls


Firefighters heading in towards the falls. A small fire was burning. Time for us to leave.


We drove into Crater Lake National Park from the north side. The landscape is awesome!

Pumice field


snow


James and the girls played in the snow.


the Lodge. It is classic.


View from the inside


Crater Lake is beautiful.







I would love to go back someday and explore further.

Miles driven = 205

Day 3 - more redwoods and the oregon coast

We left Eureka and set off to complete the northern California drive via hwy. 101. Our destination? Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial State Park near Florence, Oregon.

Before that, though, we made multiple stops. First we drove through Redwood National Park and made several stops along the way. One place we stopped was at an elk viewing site. So sad, no elk sightings for us. The elk in the park are Roosevelt Elk and are the largest elk in North America and only live in the rain forests of the Pacific Northwest, specifically Olympic and Redwoods National Parks.

no elk sightings for us


It took us several hours to reach Crescent City where we stopped at the National Park visitor center, had lunch, and let the kids play for a long time at a really big and cool park nearby. Before we left town we viewed the Battery Point Lighthouse. Too bad it was high tide and we could not cross the water to physically tour the buildings. Darn.



Next we set out for the Oregon border and some wonderful, winding, driving along the coast and cliffs. Beautiful!!!

An interesting focal point is when the Oregon dunes abruptly begin in Coos Bay. It is so odd and then they continue on for around 40 miles. Crazy!!

For the life of me I cannot remember the town we stopped in when we were starving. It was around 3:30ish and not quite dinner time and the town hardly had any restaurants. We randomly selected a nice little cafe and went in. The cafe brought out large pieces of paper and crayons for the girls and had a big basket of toys which made them happy. This made James and me very happy, too. We had the best darned pizza and lemonade! It was the perfect refreshment to give us some renewed energy for the last hour or so of driving.

I had to take a picture of it since it made me so happy!


I know he is not showing it, but James is very happy here. :)


Alas! Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial State Park. This park is awesome and one of my top 3! The park is about 2 miles from the beach, has over 400 sites and it totally wooded. The bathrooms are clean, free hot water showers, a huge playground for the kids, plus a fresh water lake for swimming, and of course the dunes! So much to do so little time.

the girls riding their scooters throughout the massive park


Six months earlier I reserved a yurt for our stay. Since we were taking such a long trip we really did not want to lug our tents so a yurt was the perfect option for us. Many Oregon state parks offer yurts as an option.



Isn't it cute? It has electricity, a locking door, windows, and a heater which we actually did use. The temp. did get down into the 50s at night.

one half of our yurt


climbing a dune. The sand is so soft and the dunes are massive.


mossy tree on nature trail to dunes


Cleawox Lake


dunes down to Cleawox Lake



264 miles (many of them winding)
around 6 hours of driving time

Day 1 - Lots of driving and Fort Tejon State Park

Day one we drove mostly on California interstate highway from our house to our destination, our friend Carly's house to stay the night.

Our first stop was several hours into our drive at Fort Tejon Historic State Park. I have driven past this park many times and never stopped. James and I are glad we stopped as this park is a great place for a picnic and pit stop.



We toured some adobes from the original fort which was established around 1854 and looked in awe at the 400 year oaks on the property. The history is interesting (the camel experience) and we also enjoyed some much needed exercise.



this little guy was looking for handouts as we ate


A man named Peter Lebec was killed by a grizzly in the area. Someone created a ceramic man and grizzly which details the event visually. Serena loved it. For days after our visit to this park and even at the end of the road trip she would say her favorite part of the trip was the man who was killed by the bear.

Three year old children say the darnedest things.

approx. miles driven - 400
about 7 hours

disneyland and dramamine

I have a problem with motion sickness and it can happen anywhere for me whether I am on a boat, plane, or car. Did I mention I get sick when I shop? This is a true statement and really I think it is the browsing that kills me. This is partly the reason why I hate to shop. I don't like it. I dislike it. Blah. Don't make me go.

This, however, has not stopped me from riding roller coasters, lots and lots of roller coasters. At least, it did not stop me until recently. Ever since I gave birth to...wait...could it be my age? Whatever it is (hormones?) it has become worse. I drove to Big Bear last year and got sick at the top of the mountain even though I drove. Next thing you know I will be throwing up just walking up stairs. Nice thought, huh?

Yesterday, I took Julia (just us two) to Disneyland. She mentioned many times that she REALLY wants to go on the teacups. Um. This did not sound very good to me so I tried to talk her out of it by telling her, "they are boring and not any fun at all." She did not like that answer.

I took two Dramamine (I prefer Bonine, but Target did not have it which irritated me) before we left ,for the first time ever, before heading to an amusement park.

Sigh. I am getting old.

I took the "less" drowsy formula, but found myself really relaxed, almost napping, on the It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean rides. Other than my small sleepy bouts it worked, but I must say we never made it on the tea cups. Oh, darn.

Anyone else have this same issue at the Happiest Place on Earth?

On a side note: The park was empty which is always excellent and the lines were pretty nonexistent. Julia was even pulled in to a little dance finale with Mary Poppins.

Of course, once again, I have many pictures to share.