Twisp of Fate

I couldn’t write about this in advance, for fear of spoiling the surprise – but last week we flew down to southern California for a long weekend and 60th birthday celebration with best friends.   We had air miles to use and figured, why not?  It was planned out in advance with her husband, who picked us up at the airport and dropped us in downtown Redlands where they were going to dinner at a wonderful restaurant, “The Farm” or Farm Artisan Foods.  So we were waiting when they showed up for dinner, and she was really, truly surprised and delighted.

The weather was gorgeous all weekend – low 80’s, sunny, a nice break from the still-chilly Methow Valley.

On Friday we had a lazy morning, then headed out to the beach at Balboa Peninsula.  We walked on the sand along the shore, then took the little ferry across to Balboa Island on the way back:

On Saturday we headed off to Palm Springs for brunch (not a long drive from Redlands), then spent the rest of the day up in Joshua Tree National Park.  It was rather hot there, in the 90’s, but we managed a short hike at the southern entrance at Cottonwood Springs.  There were a number of things in bloom – ocotillo, various cacti, yellow bushes all over the place (sorry, my plant id skills are lacking here).  All sorts of flora and fauna.

fauna - Western Chuckwalla lizard

more fauna

beavertail cactus with blooms

hedgehog cactus with blooms

As we drove north through the park, the day lengthened, and when we came upon this wonderful patch of cholla cactus, the light shone through their fantastic forms in the most striking manner:

We stopped for another short hike and a beer at the fabulous White Tank campground, named for the rock formations there.  What a great place to camp, amongst those rocks.  We hope to go back some time and see more of the park and camp there.