Quick updates on Ojai and Joshua Tree: pictures and links to be added later

Oct 25, 2010

Today we depart beautiful Ojai, a community of 8,000 ish that warrants much more attention.  It is a retreat home, an oasis for city folk, and a place where life feels easy and full of citrus fruit.  This morning we went to the natural hot springs, sulphur scented and warm and beautiful, these unmarked springs are known by the locals and are just off the road in a small canyon ravine.  Some of the spring colors were faintly reminiscent of Yellowstone glory, but here, we were able to soak legs and feet without fear of scalding or crumbling crust. 

Oct 26, 2010

The wind is rocking the car.  It’s 7:40 at night, pitch dark, thousands of stars overhead, fire in the pit, and we are fed.  We have a gorgeous campsite at White Tank Campground in Joshua Tree National Park, we are surrounded by upended rock, soft looking and climbable, we are also in the path of no resistance and are being whipped up by the wind.  Nick is persevering, standing by the fire watching the flame art, and I am in the car.  I just don’t want to feel the wind chill.  It’s only about 50 degrees, which is nothing, we slept in 28 at Yellowstone, and yet, I am feeling wimpy and cold.  

Aside from the present situation, today was amazing.  Yesterday, the further we got from cities, the more I felt like myself.  It’s always so great to be with family, showering regularly, eating too much good food, and feeling the love.  I relish that time.  I also relish the embrace of the mountains, of cozy sleeping in our tent, of the sun on my skin and being able to see for miles.  Nature needs no pretensions, being out here is where Nick and I are best for each other.  The other day I was talking to my mom, and she said something like, “how great it is that you’ve found how much you like camping together.”   At the time I noted to myself that, of course we like camping together, we got married, we better like camping.  And now I see how profound it really is, we are our best selves out in the open, seeing, breathing, noticing the natural world.  We are our best thinkers and are most in love under the stars.  When we were fashioning our cheese, apple, mustard, potato chip sandwiches last night, Nick gave me a huge hug and said, (forgive the paraphrase) “This is it, this is where we belong, out here where it’s just us and the rocks and the stars.”  We ate our crunchy sandwiches and had fig newtons for dessert and were s o happy.  

We were planning on driving to Zion National Park in Utah today, but we woke to delicious sunlight and decided that Joshua Tree was inviting us to stay another day.  Again, the views, the plant and animal life, and the history of this place is enchanting.  Huge conglomerate rock formations are all around us, climbers paradise, even novices are invited to scramble over big boulders and formations.  We went on a few hikes that highlighted different parts of the park. 

Lost Horse Trail took us up to an old gold mine, through Joshua trees and high desert environs where the Colorado and Mojave desert come together.  Desert colors galore and lovely, 4 miles later we felt good, looked a little pink, and were ready for finding a new campsite and a siesta.   

And then later after more lounging in the sun, we went on Skull Rock hike, which aptly ends at a huge skull like rock that’s been eaten away by wind and water.  The trail was educationally interpreted and we learned a lot about food sources and geology in the desert, including examples of Desert Oak tree with acorns, Juniper bushes, desert buck wheat, yucca plant, and Jojoba plants.  I wanted to forage around and gather a desert dinner.

The car is still rocking in the wind, it’s almost peaceful, here’s to hoping that the tent is cozy.