Kamp Kyburz: Mojave Magic

Mister Park Ranger drove out to California to attend the annual ANPR conference, more popularly known as Ranger Rendezvous. We still like each other a lot, so he begged me to join him. I flew into Long Beach on Halloween.

Have you ever flown on Halloween? Not too bad. It was a very "open" flight. I must say it was a sweet ride with Jet Blue for less than eighty bucks. AND...they served Caramel flavored Popcorners, my new favorite snack.

It was only my second time flying into Long Beach which seems to be a quick and handy airport. It's all outdoors--you get off the plane outside, deplaning at the rear of the aircraft, you go to the restroom in these little facilities outside, you claim your baggage outside...in fact, I'm pretty sure the Long Beach Airport doesn't really exist. I'm beginning to think it's a plywood wall built on top of a big piece of tarmac to make people think it's an actual airport, but it's not. It's just a big parking lot for planes to unload their passengers with a rental car facility nearby, after you successfully walk all the way around the plywood wall (because they want you to suppose there's an airport on the other side of the wall, but you never get to go in to said airport, which is why you realize there's no such thing as an airport in the middle of this big parking lot for jets). I swear, it's a California Conspiracy! Anyway, there was my darling husband, smiling, kissing, hugging, ready to whisk me away for lots of fun.

We drove off toward the desert and began to chat. K asked, "So, did you meet anyone, sit by anyone interesting, or talk to anyone?" I paused to reflect. I began, "No, not really, but a man in Salt Lake dropped something and when I brought his attention to it, he picked it up and yelled out to me, 'Oh, THANK YOU, I LOVE you!!!'" K laughed. Then he asked, "Wait, was he skinny with long bleach blonde hair and carrying a red briefcase?" I replied, "Yes, do you know him?" K chuckled and said, "He must have been the first guy off your plane because when he came through he stopped and yelled out, 'HelLOOOOOOOOO California!!!'"

K got to stay at a very nice resort in Indian Wells called the MiraMonte. And...he got to stay there for the "ranger rate." The conference was closing the following morning so I slept in while he attended. At break time, he came to get me and I sat in on the two closing speakers of the rendezvous. Wonderful talks. Kept my mouth shut since I'm not a member. I also got to see some other rangers that I know from my own NPS experiences. Rangers are the best!

We headed off to play. First stop, Indian Wells Tennis Garden. We got a free personal tour. Paulette grabbed the keys and gladly walked us over--so nice!

Next stop, Shields Date Farm. We learned more than we ever knew before about palm dates. They are a lot of work. Of course, we bought some.

Next stop, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Sorry, no actual pictures of the actual tram or ride to the top, but it's amazing. We went up to around 8,500 feet. It was a great way to cool off from the desert heat. While up there, we hiked a couple of miles to all the notches and lookouts. The Jeffery Pine, which looks a lot like a Ponderosa, has bark that smells like vanilla, so yes, we really were hugging the trees and doing a litle scratching and sniffing.

We found dinner and then headed back to the resort for a swim. This was just one of their pools and it happened to be the first thing you saw when you opened the door from our hotel room. There's a heavenly hot tub back behind the pool and we had both all to ourselves!

There are over a hundred golf courses in the Palm Springs area. We noticed a TON of pharmacies. I guess it's an older, retired population. And thus...

The next day, I finally made it to Joshua Tree National Park. I first "met" Joshua Trees while living in Nevada, but I never got up close and personal with one until now. We did a lot of desert hiking and went on a four-wheel drive geology tour in our vehicle. Of course, we found volcanic stuff again (if it weren't for volcanoes, where would the world be?). My big, big FAVORITE find of the day was the Cholla Cactus Garden. The light was beautiful in the afternoon, but I couldn't capture it all on camera. A nickname for these is "Teddy Bear Cactus" because they look so soft and fluffy. However, each visible spike has gazillions of microscopic poisonous whatevers, so you really should never touch these guys. The sign said, "If you're not a Cactus Wren, steer clear! (or something along those lines)" The other name for these guys is "Jumping Bear Cactus" because if you try to touch the Teddy Bear, you'll immediately turn into a Jumping Bear! Warnings all around to watch pets and children. Ouchie. So beautiful. Can't tell you how magical it was for us to be there. They went on FOREVER.

The following day, we drove through Joshua Tree again and saw a few different things. We were hiking along and found a sign about mortars. K had already seen these elsewhere during the service project the rangers had done a few days prior. They were very cool.

Agave? Yucca? Sorry, I can't keep it all straight. But I love the curly swirly things.

After Joshua Tree, we started heading toward Vegas via Mojave National Preserve, another NPS site. We stopped at the Kelso Depot for lunch and checked out a few sites after that. We were jealous that Bob had time for Hole in the Wall. As always, unfinished business awaits in the Mojave. K pointed out two trees growing in the crevice of a big rock. One is a Joshua Tree and one is a Juniper, so let's call them Josh and June. Who do you think will win?