Our time in California got cut shorter than planned, because of the car trouble. But we did get at least 1 good day in Joshua Tree National Park. It is a unique place with so much to do and see. There were so many hikes we couldn't do, but we enjoyed what we could. Jake referred to the Joshua Trees as Dr. Seuss trees. I couldn't argue they have a whimsical feel about them. And the teddy bear cacti (we can't take credit for that nickname, it was on the cholla garden sign), better known as cholla cacti, were also cute. Here are some highlights.
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| Before we got to the park we found this gem of a shoe store along the abandoned highway (trust me there is a whole lot of desert and lack of civilization along the road) |
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| Our first look at the Joshua trees |
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| Enjoying the Cholla Garden, they naturally grow this close together |
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| Teddy Bears! (they were not actually fuzzy, Pace tried to touch one and got a whole lot of tiny cactus hairs stuck in his skin, they have a barb in the end that really clings, took us 3-4 days to get them all out) |
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| Split Rock |
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| Rock hopping |
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| That's my climber |
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| Skull Rock (its official name) |
Pace opened his restaurant while we were road-tripping
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| Elephant Rock (not official, we made it up, but looks even more legit than skull rock) |
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| Keys View |
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| A random grave site along the way |
After that we continued on to San Pedro. We stayed at Ft MacArthur Inn for a few days and then spent some time with my aunt and her daughter. While there we visited Disneyland, Cabrillo Beach aquarium, coastlines, USS Iowa, and La Brea Tar Pits (who knew that there were tar pits in LA?). So a big thanks to my Aunt Doris for letting us come visit and spend time with them and a big thanks to the Walton family for getting us in to Disneyland. We had so much fun!
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| Love that smiley face |
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| Lobster Pace |
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| Grant just wanted to cuddle with the sea horse |
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| Swinging at Cabrillo Beach |
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| The happiest place on Earth (not sure that is true for me, but we were happy there) |
Excitedly awaiting Casey Jr.
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| Hanging out with our friend on Casey Jr. |
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| Meeting Mickey |
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| His dreams do come true! |
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| Playing at the lovely grounds of Fort MacArthur (If you are military and looking for a place to stay in LA, this is a good place) |
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| Tar Pool at La Brea Tar Pits (they found all kinds of ancient mammal fossils in these tar pits) |
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| Hanging out with the giant bear (one of the many animals found in the pits). There were lots of carnivore bones because they liked to eat the animals stuck in the tar and often fell in themselves(especially wolves, but saber tooth tigers and others as well) |
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| On USS Iowa with Danica |
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| A sea lion we found outside the maritime museum |
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| Dress-up fun |
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