Another Trip to Cali

 You read that right, another trip West for Ryan and I.  As odd as 2020 and 2021 were, 2022 has been unique for us as well.  This trip marks our 4th flying trip of the year and our third solo, kid free trip of the year.  We NEVER flew this much pre-COVID and honestly, if it wasn't for all of the airline miles Ryan's accrued over the past few years I'm not sure if we'd have been able to do so many trips this year, but, we're making the most of it and you can bet that we're enjoying ourselves along the way!

This trip was planned because Ryan's friend from college, Brownie, was being promoted to Lieutenant  Colonel and while that means very little to me, having not grown up with much exposure to all things military, this promotion is apparently a big deal and, if we're honest we needed a reason to catch up with this group of humans!  We haven't seen Brownie and his wife Sarah since their wedding in 2009 and we hadn't seen Collette and Josh since our trip to the Outer Banks in 2018.  

We left the kids with my parents yet again (they are saints!) and flew out on a Wednesday early morning.  Thanks to the time change we arrived in the LA area (we flew into SNA) around 10 am leaving us the entire day to explore.  We rented a car (a convertible - maybe my first time ever!) and headed east towards Joshua Tree.  You know, we're obsessed with our National Park book and while the drive to Joshua Tree took us about 2 hours from the airport it's about, I don't know, 40 hours closer than driving from Marengo.  We had a whole day to explore, so why not make an adventure out of it and see something unique!?

Our take on Joshua Tree is that it was hot, and interesting, but it wasn't our favorite National Park of all time.  I think, if we had it to do over again, we'd try to find a way to camp there overnight for one night so that we could see what I believe to be the real draw of the park, the unobscured night sky.  Joshua Tree is one of the dark sky parks in the US and we've not experienced that side of a park yet.  

The Joshua Trees were cool (I guess).  You can see one in the picture below and two above.  But, I'm not sure we got the appeal.  The other cactus that the park is known for is called a Cholla (pictured directly above) and, in my opinion, "Seussical" is the perfect description for it.  It looks like something Dr. Suess would draw into a book about the desert.  

We spent a few hours driving around the park and did a small hike.  It was over 100 degrees the day we were there and there were heat warnings everywhere.  Without knowing much (if anything) about where to go and what to see there we landed on a hike that was less than ideal.  By the time we decided we wanted to explore a little on foot we'd passed the major sites to see and just pulled over on a random trail to what appeared, to me, to be nowhere.  I'm not sure if it was the heat, or a lack of hydration on my part but I didn't fair well and ended up feeling pretty miserable by the time we got back to the car to head back home.  I wouldn't consider myself a baby when it comes to hikes, but that day just wasn't in the cards for me I guess.

Thursday was the big day for Brownie so we got all dressed up and headed down to Camp Pendleton for the ceremony.  Never have I ever felt so much like a fish out of water.  I tell you what, I probably understood about 30% of what they said during that ceremony...but, nonetheless it was super cool be be able to be there and see it.  I'm not sure I'll ever stand on a marine airfield next to those big helicopters, listening to machine gun fire (practice) in the background while watching two people being celebrated (the incoming and outgoing officers).  It was a pretty cool experience that most people never get to have.  

Friday morning Brown took me, Ryan and his mom back to the base and gave us a tour around.  It was maybe my favorite part of the entire trip because it meant that I could ask all of my questions and I got a chance to get to know Brownie a little more.  He's one of Ryan's really good friends, but I've only met them at their wedding and believe it or not, that's not the best time to actually get to know the groom.  

Friday evening we ate dinner as a big group (13 in total) on the pier which was quite lovely.  We had seafood and got to spend some more time with the Brown family.  All in all it was a wonderful, low key day.

Ryan and I flew back home early Saturday morning, so it was a quick trip for us, but as always, we crammed a lot in and most importantly we got to spend time with some friends we hadn't seen in so so long.  We're already trying to plan another trip together - I'm lobbying to rent a big beach house where we can fit the three families (6 adults and 6 kids) and keep the kids entertained while we all hang out.  We'll see - you know me, I'm always planning our next trip!