Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, and Temecula (visting Danielle in California)

Danielle (my sister) was in southern California for January and February, so I decided to fly down and spend some quality sister-time with her. At least, that was the original reason, but by the time I was packing, it was clear that flying out of chilly Seattle and into seventy-degree weather wasn't a bad thing, either!

I arrived late Friday night, not realizing how small Long Beach airport is (hint: backage claim is outside.) That night, we slept at Kam's house and Saturday morning we drove out to Palm Springs. We were way too early to check-in at the Pepper Tree Inn, so we walked down Palm Canyon Drive a few blocks to the Blue Coyote Grill, grabbing lunch and delicious rasberry margaritas.

When we returned, it was still early for checkin, but the weather was great and the hotel property looked amazing. We changed into bikinis, soaked in the sun, and tested out the heated swimming pool and hot tub. Jealous yet?

On Sunday, we woke up early and drove out to Joshua Tree National Park.

The sky was sunny, but the morning was also cool and extremely windy, aborting our first hike attempt (up Ryan Mountain.) Instead, we drove through the park to Keys View lookout and then down Pinto Basin Road. We stopped to marvel at the ever-present and quirky Joshua trees as well as the interesting rock structures that have formed over millions of years.


Here's a close-up of a Joshua tree:

As one moves from northwest to southeast in the park, you actually cross over from the Mojave Desert to the Colorado Desert, and the incidence of Joshua trees dramatically decreases. Around this switch lies the Cholla Cactus Garden, where Bigelow (jumping) cholla cactus concentrate. We stopped to walk along the nature path and get close, but not too close, to these prickly plants.

After the Cholla garden, we continued along Pinto Basin Road towards the southern exit. At the Cottonwood Visitor Center, we detoured to the Cottonwood Springs area.

Luckily, both a decrease in wind and an increase in weather made for much better hiking, and we set out for Mastodon Peak. After climbing to the high-point, we continued on to Lost Palms Canyon, for a total of about 8 miles roundtrip!

Upon returning that evening, we were pretty tired, but managed to stumble into Hamburger Mary's, where (amusingly) neither of us actually had a hamburger. Still, the meal was enjoyable!

The next morning, we took one last walk through Palm Springs before we headed out. How I miss that weather!

To drive to Temecula, we used back roads, which ended up taking more time than expected. We were relieved when we arrived, and had fun stopping at a few wineries to try out the goods. I love wine, so obviously this was a real sacrifice for me.

Finally, we ended up at Ponte, where Danielle and Kam (newly engaged) had been thinking about having their wedding. We ate lunch on site (delicious) and toured the scenic grounds - I've included some of the photos I took below. Ultimately, after meeting with the events coordinator and reviewing dates, we put down a deposit! I'm very excited, I think it's the perfect place.