Joshua Tree = Desert.

DESERT: (Dictionary.com definition) a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all; synonyms: barren wilderness.

 Joshua Tree National Park is a beautiful barren wilderness, full of open views, rock pilings that are prime climbing spots, Joshua Trees (its a desert tree), and hiking trails with honey-pots for bathrooms.  Driving from LA to Joshua Tree, we ran into a windmill "energy farm" that made us think we were driving through a sci-fi movie set.  I wish I knew how much energy was being made...more than half of the thousands of mills weren't actually moving.  Hmm.

Small story on the hike...our hike was noted as 4 miles in the brochure, but 6 miles on the sign.  Which would you believe?  Well, after 1 hour to the supposed mid-point...then another hour without seeing a soul, circling down a desert mountain without roads or cars in site, and no cell phone tower...praise the Lord for his goodness and patience, and for blessing me with a husband who can handle an anxious wife who panics mid-hike.

Twilight Zone Wind Farm

As per the usual, we missed the sign on the way in, so we did a U-turn on the way out to catch a glimpse.

Desert...you get the general idea.

Objective: find the rock climber...

View from Keys View in the park...lookin' good, right?

View #2...we could see two snow-capped mountains from here, both taller than all the mountains in the park.

The start of Lost Horse Mine Trail...the owner of the mine apparently was looking for a lost horse when he stumbled on the mine.  If the horse got lost, how well were we going to do?  And note Camelbaks...we both drank about 70 ounces that day.  Thank goodness we didn't go in the middle of a hot summer!

Lost Horse Mine.  My Lost Horse?

She's in the Navy. 

Objective: find Shelley

Namesake of the park...Tree of Life

 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

- I Peter 5:6-7

The rest of LA...

Day 3 was a walk-about in downtown LA with a stop in the Natural History museum...a place of dinosaur bones and evolution exhibits.  Perfect timing, since we just finished a Creation views study in our small group.  While in LA, we actually stayed 20 miles south in San Pedro on a luxurious Air Force base.  Leave it to the Air Force (also known as the Chair Force, the ones who can wear diamond earrings while in uniform, the ones who play Frisbee for Physical Training instead of stair-climbing and push-ups) to have a base in Los Angeles.

Of note: the parks in southern California are populated by the homeless.  It seems that the moderate climate doesn't require them to find somewhere indoors, but one must be careful where they sit because a particular bench could be some one's "home."

Ports of Call restaurant on the water...in San Pedro!  Beautiful Marina area.

Lighthouse at Pt. Fermin in San Pedro

View from Pt. Fermin

View on our windy drive up the coast...talk about crazy houses!

And here it is...

the Griffith Park Observatory...closed until noon.  Bummer, but beautiful!

The Observatory and LA from a distance...hiking around Griffith Park

Smallest railway track in America

The track...and part of LA

Disney Concert Hall, downtown LA

The Dinos at the Natural History Museum

Natural history...in the making!

The Natural History Museum from the rose garden...anybody else see "The Jeffersonian" from Bones?

City of Angeles, Tinseltown...LA in a nutshell.

On the airplane from Midway to LA (the second leg of our trip), Jon and I tried to pick out the people we thought might be visiting LA and those who were traveling home to LA.  Let's just say the rock-star blond with the trucker hat carrying a small dog in a bag struck us as a "going home" sort.

We spent about 2.5 days in LA.  We arrived at LAX and met up with my Navy friend Laura in Santa Monica.  No pictures there...sorry, the camera was still packed at that point.  That afternoon, we headed to  The Getty Center to see the art, the views, and the crazy modern architecture and California-style landscaping.  Day two was Reagan's library (see yesterday's post).  I was contemplating making one long LA post...but we'll keep it exciting and post more another day.  It's good to be home.

You actually take an incline up to the Center...this is on the way up.

Funky gardens #1...not open to the public until a week later.  Bummer.

View #1, looking out on LA and its many suburbs.

The statue is named "sitting Cardinal"...how appropriate to have a standing Cardinal employee on the side.

We decorate with pansies and lilies...all of California decorates with Birds of Paradise.  Weird.  Not so exotic when you see them everywhere.

View #2...I think the buildings on the right side are actually downtown LA.

Funky gardens #2

Funky gardens #3...cactus garden in a backwards "P" shape?

the architecture of one of the galleries

Our Favorite President

For most of you, its relatively obvious that we are, by nature, politically conservative.  And most of you also remember our wonderful little dog's name: Reagan Liberty.  While we would never be that direct in naming a child, we thought it was a pretty classy way to slip our firm standing into a family name.  And no, we didn't actually realize Reagan had a Cavalier before we got Reagan...

So while in California, we visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.  It was incredible, and not just to staunch young conservatives like us; everybody there seemed to be amazed by The Great Communicator, all the things he had to say (people took pictures of his quotes), the impact he had while president.  Perhaps its a little cheesy to say, but our patriotism and love of this country grew a little more that day.

Oval Office Replica

Marine One...not Reagan's.  Actually it was Kennedy's because Reagan's was still in use up until 2010.

Air Force One!  In front of it is a wall of windows...that's how they got the plane there!

To the Berlin Wall/Communism and Threat Corridor

The Berlin Wall Speech...middle of bottom right, two lines: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Berlin Wall...in California.

Riding with The Gipper

Rex, the Cavalier!

And here he rests.

 So if you should ever find yourself in southern California, the Reagan Library is worth a couple of hours to visit.

"Well, one of the worst mistakes anybody can make is to bet against Americans."  - Ronald Reagan

And we're back!

For those of you who didn't know, we spent most of last week in California, gallivanting across the west-coast state under the guise of attending a wedding.  We did in fact attend a wedding, but not until we had toured most of LA, Joshua Tree National Park, and San Diego.  As per the pictures above, I left most of my hair behind...

We'll do our best to actually post pictures this time.  I'm not sure that our first year anniversary trip will ever be finished, but its old news by now anyhow.  A general list of things we learned while in California:

 1. Turkey and avocado, a sandwich concoction of CA (or perhaps the west coast), isn't that great.  Very bland and disappointing.
2. While I wouldn't advise some one to enlist in the military for this reason, it is helpful to tote a military and dependent (Jonathan is my "dependent" as my spouse) ID when booking rooms and touring landmarks and parks.
3. Dulles airport has a full-body scanner.  Please tell me then, why do I still need to remove my shoes and sweatshirt?
4. Driving California is all about views...you can see everything 6 miles up the road.  It has something to do with going through valleys between mountains, driving to the top of mountains and hills, but also with small skinny palm trees and desserts that don't block the view.

And as any traveling couple knows, most of our pictures are self-portraits...arm extended, trying to get the perfect background-to-person ratio.  Here are our best shots...more pictures to come later.

At the Getty Center in LA

At the Reagan National Library

At Griffith Park

At Joshua Tree National Park

Again, Joshua Tree

At the San Diego Zoo...Giraffes behind us!

At the Hotel del Coronado