Yucca Valley 2019
Wondering if we were ever going to see a gas station again, we finally made it to Yucca Valley, and after a quick fill up, we pulled up to our place for the next 3 weeks "My Adobe Getaway". It was every bit as cool as the pictures we had seen.
We unloaded our luggage, and Silva went straight to the small dog bed they provided for us. We watched the sunset and got Silva comfortable before heading into town for our next Walmart stop to pick up some groceries. There's nothing quite like a Walmart a week before Christmas. We also got a few warmer clothes as it was a lot chillier in the desert at night than we were expecting.
To complete our Fast Food taste test, we grabbed a bite to eat at the classic Chinese food experience, Panda Express. The Walmart shopping spree was successful with food, drinks, a couple hoodies and a toque, and most importantly a little Christmas tree with lights and decorations. Our place did have a few Christmassy decorations setup for us, but Silva really wanted a tree. 
December 19
We woke up to a beautiful day in Yucca valley, and spent most of the day sitting by the pool, and enjoying the views of the hillside desert landscape. The outside of our place has a unique desert adobe style, with a large patio area and Pool/Spa surrounded by unique desert flora and decorative touches.
With the views over the valley, it's easy to forget about the inside of the house which continues the adobe style, with colourful walls and wood beams, all surrounding a central room with a giant fireplace. Such a nice cozy place to stay.
Out front, you look out into a desert community, houses spread out, and all kinds of small cacti and brush to hide the local fauna.
The variety of cactus was surprising, from the traditional, to the uniquely colourful and shaped.
Palm Springs shuts down their main street every Thursday night for VillageFest, an open air swap meet, marketplace. We decided to check it out, and found out our winter clothes additions were a worthwhile investment... it was freezing. There was some interesting stuff, some delicious Mexican food, and we bought every last bag of Pork Jerky for Silva. Cool to see, but probably wouldn't need to go back.
Sonny Bono and lollipops, only the finest art is here.
December 20
Today was a day of southern exploration, beyond Palm Springs as you head towards the Mexican border is the Salton Sea...
The Salton Sea was created by accident in 1905, when water from the Colorado river spilled out of a poorly-constructed California Development Company irrigation system. The lake grew over the next two years, until workers were able to stop the flow. By this time, a 400-square-mile body of water had formed on the Salton basin in southern California. They called it the Salton Sea, and it became one of California's most popular water resorts.
In the 1950s and 60s, the Salton Sea was a popular tourist hotspot. Millions of visitors would flock to the sea's relatively warms waters each year, often drawing more tourists annually than Yosemite. Nearby towns like Niland and Bombay Beach welcomed guests, who frolicked along the warm beaches and enjoyed the Salton Sea's reputation as a beautiful oasis.
Because of its location and how the lake was created, it's waters never flowed to the ocean; they either seeped into the ground or evaporated. This resulted in water with an extremely high salinity level, that continues to rise with time. By the 1970s, rising salinity, shoreline flooding and fertilizer runoff from nearby farmers created unsafe algae blooms which gave rise to elevated bacterial levels. This caused a number of environmental problems, including the startling die-off of fish and bird populations. So many fish died that in some places the once-sandy beaches are now large expanses of fish bones.
Once the fish began dying, the birds followed suit. In one day, a reported 640 birds were found dead. The cause was avian botulism, a disease that had been passed to them by the infected, dying fish. As it worsened, fewer visitors made it out to the now non-swimmable and shrinking lake. While some people still live in the areas surrounding the Salton Sea, it's mostly ghost towns and memories..
There does seem to be a lot of bird activity here, is that a temporary reprieve, or have they adapted? Only time will tell.
After asking a ranger about local places to eat, she gave us some suggestions after a slight chuckle. There is a place in the nearby Bombay Beach, and another cafe in the town of Niland. Well Bombay Beach was a literal ghost town.
So we headed closer to the Mexican border and found the Buckshot Restaurant on the main drag. It didn't look like much, but they made great food, huge drinks, and maybe the best green salsa either of us had ever tasted. They wouldn't share their secret family recipe.
Not far from Niland in the Sonoran Desert, is the very odd squatter community of Slab City and the art installation known as Salvation Mountain. Slab City is used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It took its name from concrete slabs that remained from the abandoned World War II Marine Corps barracks of Camp Dunlap. Several thousand campers, many of them retired, use the site during the winter months. The temperatures during summer are as high as 120°F (49°C); nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in "The Slabs" year round. Some are snowbirds, some have moved to "The Slabs" to learn how to live off the grid and be left alone.
Salvation Mountain is a hillside religious art installation created by local resident Leonard Knight (1931-2014) near Slab City, and several miles from the Salton Sea. The artwork is made of adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of lead-free paint. It encompasses numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses.
There's really not much to say about this beyond looking at it. There is a group of people that look after it from Slab City, and they accept paint donations if you want to help them keep it colourful..
Between Yucca Valley and Palm springs is a giant windmill farm, generating tons of electric power for the surrounding areas. Don't get me started on certain politicians opinions of windmill energy. With the way the winds were blowing, thats a lot of power to the people.
After a rather interesting day, we were back home just in time for another sunset.
Later that night we headed to the nearby Pioneertown for dinner at Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace.
The place was hopping, they had a bit of a wait, and bands playing there most every night. Performers who have appeared at Pappy & Harriet's over the years include Paul McCartney, Eric Burdon, Eagles of Death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age, Rufus Wainwright, The Donnas, Grizzly Bear, Neko Case, Spiritualized, Lucinda Williams, Leon Russell, Arctic Monkeys, Daniel Lanois, Band of Horses, Alvvays, Sean Lennon, Billy Corgan and the Spirits in the Sky, Vampire Weekend, Wanda Jackson, Ricki Lee Jones, Lorde, and so many more. A surprise appearance by Robert Plant in early 2006 led to a jam with the Sunday evening house band, The Thrift Store All Stars.
With live music playing in the background, we were seated at a shared picnic table in the back and enjoyed our meals. It was definitely a cowboy influenced menu, but it was dern tootin good.
December 21
While doing some research for things to do in the area, I came across a small article about Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, a volunteer organization that rescues Wolves from the movie industry, private owners and breeders. Several of the wolves here were used in the Twilight movie series. These are wolves that can no longer be released in to the wild for various reasons.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I had hoped they would have a much larger area for the wolves to roam in. It surely was amazing to see them up close, pet them, let them lick your hands and face, but it makes you sad to know that some dumb humans put them in a situation that this was their best option.
There were many different types of wolves from around North America, including a couple Wolf/Dog hybrids. Interesting fact, if your wolf has blue eyes, it's not really a wolf, that's a husky trait.
The last portion of the visit was to sit in open areas with different wolves to interact face to face with. Some would come close enough to take a sweet treat from your hand, sniff your hands and face, and even an occasional lick (some would say tasting).
Our longest visit was with this beautiful wolf, after the previous one did not want to come anywhere near people that morning. She was beautiful, curious, and so so sweet. Norine got a good full ear of tongue.
Our time was over, and we had to say goodbye to this beautiful girl, and head home to ours.
It seems I always find a way to find these unique classic cars, even if it's just for a gas stop.
Returning back to our place we take our wolf, errr, dog, Silva out for a walk, and see her inner-wolf come out as she starts to see the local bunnies and jackrabbits hopping around.
December 22
Just down the hill from our place is the old Drive-In sign advertising the Sky Village Swap Meet every weekend, so we had to go check it out, you never know what you will find. The sign said "JUNKTO GEMS"... we're still looking for the gems.
The stuff that was being sold was pretty terrible, it looked like most of the stuff was fresh out of dumpsters around the Palm springs Valley. At least the old Drive-In grounds had a lot of unique visual art pieces.
Not far from the Joshua Tree Park entrance is the Noah Purifoy desert museum. In the late 1980s, after 11 years of working for the California Arts Council, where Purifoy initiated programs such as Artists in Social Institutions, which brought art into the state prison system, Purifoy moved his practice out to the Mojave desert. He lived for the last 15 years of his life creating ten acres full of large-scale sculptures in the desert. Each sculpture is constructed entirely from junked materials,some with deep political and racial meaning, and some beyond our comprehension. I won't even try to explain what the following images are, or what they mean.
We made a stop at the Joshua Tree visitor center to get some advise from the rangers, and an updated map of the park. Being Christmas break, the visitor center was a zoo, and signs were stating that the roads and parking areas would be super busy. Maybe we would wait until after Christmas before going into the park. But we could check out the Joshua Tree stores and have lunch at the JT Saloon.
Well, we would have if there wasn't a 1 hour wait to get in. Instead we crossed the street and went to the Country Kitchen and had an amazing brunch of all homemade sandwiches with homemade breads.
When we went to Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown a few nights earlier, it was dark, so we drove back up there to see it in the daylight.
In 1946, Pioneertown was founded by a group of Hollywood investors, including actors Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. They dreamed of creating an Old West set that was actually a town worth visiting, with 1880s-style false-front facades but interiors that had stuff for visitors to see and do too. Up went (from the outside) frontier stables, saloons, and jails; inside, they housed ice cream parlors, bowling alleys, and motels. More than 50 films and television shows were filmed here in the 1940s and '50s.
We wandered around the small pseudo town that surrounds a daily gunfight scene, and we were kind of disappointed by the false front buildings. It was bitterly cold there wandering around, and we almost left, but then I decided to check behind the restaurant and discovered there was a whole other town complete with full shops and stores in the western theme.
Driving back to our place down a shortcut road and we see these white statues on the hillside, apparently it is the famous Desert Christ Park. The park was sculpted and created by Antone Martin, a former aircraft worker who died in 1961 at the age of 74. Martin started sculpting the figures out of steel-reinforced concrete during the height of the Cold War atomic bomb scare of the mid-1940s, hoping that the sculptures would inspire global peace.
Perhaps the most unique object in the park was the "Please bury your dog poo" sign and shovel. I guess that's cheaper than providing dog poo bags, and having to empty a garbage can.
Then it was back up the hill and another burning sky sunset before an overnight rain storm.
December 23
I'm guessing the rains must wake up the desert, because in the morning, the area around our place is covered in Quails pecking around the ground. Silva was already staring at all the rabbits and now she is fascinated by these plump little birds.
It started raining again, so our evening was spent wandering the Desert Hills premium outlet stores, looking for deals two days before Christmas. We're a bit crazy going shopping so close to Christmas, but we both left with big bags full of amazing discounts.
December 24
It's Christmas Eve day, and what would be better than going to the mall. I really think we were using a little too much Bailey's in our drinks every night, so we headed to check out Westfield mall. Westfield is the biggest traditional mall in the area, it's no Metrotown or West Edmonton Mall, that's for sure.
Aside from a few OK deals, the most interesting thing was this "Stool Bus" that we followed for a bit... but not for too long.
Another quiet Christmas Eve, spent with Silva by the Fireplace after another colourful sunset.
December 25
Christmas Day was nice, one of our long dear friends mailed us a Christmas gift to our Yucca Valley place, so in the morning we opened our very special gift, a hand made cross-stitch tribute to Silva. We enjoyed a day of walking in the desert with Silva, sitting by the fire, and drinking Bailey's infused Hot Chocolate, before Norine created a lovely Turkey breast dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy.
We finished off the evening with a mix of Christmas Classic TV... White Christmas, and 3 varieties of A Christmas Carol.
December 26
On Boxing day morning I got up early to pee, and was completely shocked to see nothing but white outside the window... Snow!!!
Operation Escape Winter has now officially become Operation Winter Escape.
There wasn't a better way to experience the desert than to go walking in the snow, Silva couldn't be happier!
It really was a magical day, a true white Christmas, just one day late. The 3 of us had such a great day out in the snow.
yep, rabbits still come out in the snow
Our house looks so cool with a layer of snow and the flakes coming down.
It really didn't stop snowing all day.
December 27
The day after our big snowfall was beautiful, a nice sunrise, followed by blue skies above a white landscape... stunning.
So we spent the day just wandering the desert trails around our place.
We really started to appreciate our Winter Escape more on these days walking with Silva in the snow.
Since we had a slightly delayed White Christmas, tonight was all about Christmas, first stop was the Cathedral City community of Candy Cane Lane. An entire street of Griswold level decorated homes.
Our second stop was The Living Desert Zoo/Gardens which have been hosting a Bright Nights event for the holidays. It was a little too dark to see any of the animals, but the lights were pretty.
Throughout the zoo, the lights were synced to the piped in music, not sure what the animals thought of this, but it sure felt Christmassy.
December 28
The desert around our place was still so pretty, the 3 of us spent more time just walking around the local trails.
Wild animals must be in this area
Every weekend the College of the Desert hosts a swap meet, so we ventured onto the now cleared roads and checked out this much more high level swap meet. If we had the space, we probably would have been coming home with a lot of colourful metal desert themed artwork.
It's a really cool setup, nestled under giant solar panels, perfect cover for hot and/or rainy days.
It seems like they have something for everyone here.
After some swap meet shopping in the sunshine, we headed over to Palm Springs version of Rodeo Drive... the Gardens on El Paseo. We had a great lunch at Sammy's Wood-fired Pizza & Grill, a nice surprise because the lineup at the Tommy Bahama's restaurant was too long.
Back up the 29 Palms Highway to the antique shops of Yucca Valley; Nitty Gritty, Pioneer Crossing, Route 62 Art & Antiques, and Desert Curios. Some really Unique and odd items.
Lots of items to browse, I found a few Chevy related items and we ended up buying an antique burl table that matches our tables at home.
The sunset wasn't great that night, but the night sky with the crescent moon and Venus together made for a nice view.
December 29
It was another great walking day in the desert for Silva, bunnies and jack rabbits all around, and she found several good chewing sticks that had to come home with us.
Photography 101: To make pictures of rocks more dynamic, just add a little snow on top.
"Excuse me... can I have my stick back please!"
A Hawk watched us as we wandered the trails... well, watched us like a hawk.
and speaking of watching like a hawk...
Silva carried that stick all the way back to her bed.
December 30
Another nice day to go hiking, and the critters were out in full force, rabbits everywhere. This little one almost let Silva sniff her cute little cotton butt, before bounding away.
As we are walking I notice out of the corner of my eye, 2 coyotes watching us as we worked our way along the trail. Satisfied we weren't coming that way, they disappeared over the rise.
We explored a few new trails today, and this one was more than a little disappointing, some humans have made this a dumping ground... looks like the same stuff we saw at the Sky View Drive-In swap meet. People are pigs.
All week long we have been watching the Star Wars marathon on the local TV stations, and tonight we are ready to watch the finale. The Cinema 6 theater in Yucca Valley is like theaters of old, slight slope, but that didn't matter as there was hardly anyone there... until just before it starts and a group of tall people sit right in front of us. the whole &%$#@ Theater and they have to sit right in front of us. So we moved, dumbasses. Although there is a collection of Social Media whiners, it was great, and wrapped up the series very nicely.
For dinner we tried another unique place, Dickey's BBQ Pit... Pick your meats and sides, and get a pile of meats and sides on a tray. Similar to Memphis Blues in Vancouver, but much more affordable, and very tasty with a selection of BBQ sauces to choose from.
The rest of the country could learn a thing or two from their bathrooms.
December 31
Now that the weather had finally settled down, and with the hopes that people would have other plans on New Years Eve, we ventured into Joshua Tree National park. Signs on the roads warned us about traffic as we approached, and the Visitor center was as busy as we had ever seen it. So we decided to head further down the road and check out the town of 29 Palms, after that 5 minutes was up, we noticed hardly any traffic at this end of the park, and headed into the Eastern 29 Palms visitor center. Apparently very few people go this way.
Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area. It's characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes. Named for the region's twisted, bristled Joshua trees (actually Yucca trees), the park straddles the cactus-dotted Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert, which is higher and cooler. The Oasis of Mara was our first recommended stop, it's a little nature trail that circles behind the visitor center. It wouldn't take long to wander this "Oasis".
From the Oasis of Mara we drove to the Park Entrance, we hardly passed any cars, and there was no one at the rangers gate to collect our park fee. I guess they were busy on the Western side of the park?
The Campgrounds in Joshua Tree are quite interesting, you are not situated in a crop of trees, or alongside a creek/river like we are used to. You are parked beside or under a giant rock.
I think we made a great decision entering at the 29 Palms side, the roads were clear, and until you came to a very popular spot there was ample parking. Which is good, because with the snow, there wasn't as many places to pull over.
Our first real stop was the Cholla Cactus Garden. If you've ever seen the cartoons or movies where spiky cactus balls stick to the backsides of unsuspecting victims, these are the cactus that do that. You have to be very careful walking around and near these cute little bushes. We were warned about the bees ahead too, but never saw any of them, probably too damn cold.
The Arch Rock trail wanders amongst a gathering of rock mounds, all uniquely shaped and placed in this desert landscape.
The rock structures are amazing, worn away and shaped by time and weather, many have nicknames such as skull rock... I can't imagine why. Many have unique nicknames based by what you see in them from that angle and that particular time of day.
Arch Rock itself is an arch shaped rock suspended over a pile of rocks, and seems to be Instagram girls dream photo shoot location. She doesn't care that other people would like to take their picture their too, or maybe get a picture of the rock without her in it. She just needs 42 more candid photos in assorted poses to get just one more like to feed her ego. Does that sound bitter? She can see everyone standing there with their cameras.
After waiting 15 minutes for her to finish her glamour shoot, we wandered around the narrow trails and had to squeeze through a narrow passageway to get back to the trail. This was definitely a short hike worth doing.
The landscape as we move to higher altitude and further west definitely starts to change, more snow, more closed trails, and certainly more dramatic. Some of these scenes are straight out of the Red Dead Redemption game I have been playing for years.
The trail to Ryan Mountain was closed due to the snow, but this scenic poised rock was still worth stopping in the parking area.
Really, it didn't matter what parking lot you pulled into, there was something scenic.
Our final stop was Barker Dam, a small pond created by ranchers to water their cattle. It's a very icy/slushy trail leading up to the dam, and there is a fair amount of people along the way, but it sure is pretty.
The reflections in the small exposed area of the pond make it a beautiful stop. I'm sure it's even nicer when ice isn't covering most of the pond, but the snow really adds something to the views.
The path above the damn wall that leads to the next section of trail is extremely Icy, and most of the tourists turn around and go back the way they came. Perfect, we would get the last half of the trail almost completely to ourselves.
As we walk along the meadow trail, the sun sets behind the rocks, then appears to rise again as we get further along.
The weight of the snow has definitely done some damage to some of the larger Joshua Trees, but that all makes up part of the landscape that changes year to year and season to season.
You may have heard of the Disney Petroglyphs. When Disney was shooting the movie Chico the Coyote in the 60's, they decided the original Native American petroglyphs weren't dramatic enough, so they painted over them to make them more vibrant, and possibly even added some new ones. There is no information to know if Disney was prosecuted for this, and all that indicates their travesty is a simple sign...
"petroglyphs have been traced over with paint. This type of vandalism prevents others from seeing the petroglyphs in their original form. Please help us by reporting any vandalism you observe."
Although not a huge hike, Barker Dam was definitely a highlight of our time in Joshua Tree National Park.
As the sun was heading down, we left Joshua Tree through the busy end of the park, but it wasn't too bad since most people must have finally headed off for their New Years Eve activities.
For our New Years eve, we had a nice fire, then sat in the hot tub and drank champagne while watching the stars.
A very nice way to welcome 2020.