A few days near LA

Since we live so close to another surfing spot, Kurt has taken up a new hobby.

The waves were big and sometimes mean but with persistence he was able to get up!

The Griffith Observatory is downtown LA

We were able to meet my cousin Lindsay and her husband Gabe 

for an evening. It is amazing how many people we know in the LA area!

Classic

Joshua Tree National Park

Well, this week brought us another few days off in a row so, of course, we got out of Oxnard (we just love Oxnard).  This time we made it to Joshua Tree National Park.

They say Joshua Tree NP is a rock climber's paradise.  We decided to get into the rock climbing spirit.

We had a beautiful first day in the park with temps in the mid-70s.

A Joshua Tree.

 

This car was parked near a bathroom..... Don't you have to poop now?

This is Trish trying to push that rock down the hill.... I think its too big.

North on Highway 1

On our 4 days off this week, we went on the famous Highway 1.  

Hearst Castle was the first of our stops. Even with all of its grandeur and glory, we decided we couldn't live there.... the place was pretty dark inside.

 

We could, however, see ourselves in this type of pool!

 

Elephant seals were just hanging out getting a sun tan.

 

McWay waterfall

 

We went for a walk in the redwood forest at the Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park. Kurt kept looking up and then he would get dizzy. Yet, the redwoods had some draw on him and he had to keep looking up! (and then get dizzy... again)

 

Highway 1 views

 

Some people have to pay a lot of money to get this view while they eat. We just pulled off the road and set up our camp stove. Dinner's ready!

 

Death Valley

Since it was going to be bad weather everywhere else in California, we decided to go to the one place where we thought there would be good weather... the desert.

Death Valley National Park has the lowest point below sea level in North America at -282 feet. Badwater Basin has the effect of a convection oven and is always hot. When we were there, it was a balmy 95 degrees. The record temp is 134 degrees.

Wanna taste? (I did) Yup, it's salty.

The view of Badwater Basin from Dante's Peak. As you can see, it's a dry salty lake without any outlets.

The Devil's Golf Course

(no we did not make up that name, someone else did!)

We did a lot of short hikes. Without knowing that we were hot, we found our shirts completely soaked with sweat.

Golden Canyon near sunset was gorgeous.

See that white line near the bottom of the picture? That is actually sand blowing. Yes, after sweating all day, we were able to top it off with a bit of sand and then climb into our car bed... grit, grime and all!

The next day was quite a bit cooler and we were able to hike the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It was early morning so there was not as much wind.

` 

Death Valley shows what a diverse and sometimes odd creation God has made!

True or False

 Santa Monica Pier

Southern California is sunny and warm.

True or False?

 

False!

People walk around pretending it is warm, but it really is freezing cold!

 

The view of Santa Monica from the pier

Spring Break

It was Elise's spring break so Elise and my mom came for a long weekend to visit. It was a short amount of time, but we were able to pack in a lot of activities!

We were able to explore an orchid farm...

 

We went to the Santa Ynez valley near Santa Barbara for an afternoon...

 

And we attempted to get tan at the beach by our house. Elise tried to get tan but succeeded in burning!

 

In all of that, we did a lot of hiking. Much to Mom's dismay, we kept choosing trails which included climbing to the very top of everything!

(No, I don't think Kurt is attempting to jump off of the rock... 

even though he had to spend the weekend with us girls!)

 

The view from the Santa Monica Mountains

So glad you came!