Out of the frying pan...

Into the fire. You'd think when you leave Tucson that anywhere you go would be cooler. Yeah - not so much. Especially when you stop in the desert to camp over night. We opted to revisit a favorite climbing spot from college - Joshua Tree. We couldn't really appreciate it when we arrived as it was dark & we needed to quickly cook something up for us to eat for dinner. Let me advise any of you with small children - Easy Mac is only easy when you have a microwave. Just adding boiling water won't cook it. On the other hand - if you cook it too long over a coleman stove, it turns into mush. The five year old wasn't pleased, and Wade & I felt like extremely bad parents. Of course - we were eating something different (cup of soup - which does need only boiling water). To appease the masses we offered whatever else we could find which didn't require cooking. I think chocolate was the main course. Arghh...

Did you know lots of critters live in the desert? Yeah - like Jackrabbits, Kangaroo rats, and my favorite snakes. Let's just say one of my favorite things about living in Alaska is that I don't have to worry about snakes. When I tell people (who are not from AK) this, they always respond, "Yeah, but you have bears!". Sure - but I'm not going to step on a bear. When I squat to use the woods, I'm not going to squat on a bear. I'm also a terrible singer, so my voice is enough to scare off any bears within a 50 mile radius. See - no worries! Okay - I do worry about bears a smidge when I'm out traipsing around in the woods, but still - I'm happy there are NO SNAKES!!

Fortunately we didn't see any snakes while we were at J. Tree. The jackrabbits and kangaroo rats are a completely different story. Those turkeys came out in force when we arrived & were not necessarily scared by us. The kids actually named one of the rabbits "Joshua". They didn't bother me as much as the rats. We were worried the vermin would either chew through our screen or climb under it, so we slept with the back of the van closed. Yikes - it was like sleeping in a sauna. We did get to witness a beautiful moon rise (almost full). Too bad the little point & shot digital couldn't capture it adequately.

After an early breakfast & drive through J. Tree - we were off toward LA to pick up Wade's mom & check into our hotel. The drive was interesting - vast desert & then hoards of humanity. The traffic alone is enough to remind me why we don't necessarily want to move back to So. Cal. (That & the cost of living on teachers' salaries might make it difficult). We missed an exit & ended up very close to San Diego when we discovered our mistake. Oops.

The plan is to visit Disneyland over the next 2 days before we depart for San Diego on the 4th. The weather forecast is calling for "extreme heat" here over the next several days. Wonderful. Just when we thought we were escaping the heat. Last summer when my friend Lisa & I traveled through Europe for 3 weeks for the World Cup Soccer tournament & fun, it was hot, hot, hot. We dubbed ourselves "The Climate Queens" as we never escaped the heat - we seemed to bring it with us. I guess my title is intact. I am still a reigning climate queen. Yikes.

I'll leave with a photo of the Roach & Sivils clan. Can't wait to see them again, perhaps next March. On the knitting front - the mojo has returned. I've turned the heel & hope to complete the gusset today.


Ciao ~