Spring Break Chapter Two: Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park

We were so excited for our Yosemite followup spring break trip to Southern California to stay with our dear friends Marie and Rick in Orange County. Then Clay's big project at work started to implode. He would be staying in town and working 15 hour days all week. This left me with a dilemma. Either stay home, or go by myself with the kids. Weather check.

Local: rainy, cold and crappy
So. Cal: rainy, a bit warmer.

Will it be worth the solo drive to end up housebound driving Marie and her family crazy? I am definitely not going to be taking the kids to the amusement park without Clay. What will we do?

Incoming call from Marie. A bit sheepish. Um, well, a friend of mine called and she has a timeshare in Palm Springs area that she won't be using and I would love to go. Would you be OK if we went there instead of you coming to Orange County?

Weather check.

Palm Springs: 80's and sunny.

Mind you she is calling while I am sitting at the campfire after the 20 degree night camping in Yosemite. 80 degrees sounds mighty fine. Hallelujah. Um, yeah. We will be going to the desert.

The 7+ hour drive actually wasn't that bad. We listened to The Witches by Roald Dahl on CD. What a fun book. We ate lots of treats. We almost ran out of gas (the entire town where we stopped for gas was out of power and the next town wasn't for 40 miles). Prayers were answered. Kids were great. I wasn't dangerously tired like I usually am. I thank the 40 mile an hour winds that were sweeping and swaying the van as we drove down I-5. It was white knuckle for at least 100 miles.

Then we got there and headed to the pool. It was 87 degrees and perfect. What a payoff for the drive. Perfect weather and great friends. And a new baby to meet, too.

More on all that when I get the photos done.

Confession: My kids are Junior Ranger junkies. They have a thing for that coveted badge. This was Kiera's first time and she did great. Drawing rocks and flowers and marking off in tic tac toe style all the desert plants and animals she saw. And then she got to take the pledge and become a Junior Ranger. Maren told me she hates it now when they have to do the pledge and everyone in the visitor center stares at them. She must be 9.

Joshua Tree was amazing. There is just something about the desert that captivates me. So intriguing. Stark and poignant.