Paul Getty Villa

Incredibly spectacular recreation of a Roman villa buried by Vesuvius volcanic explosion at Herculaneum near Pompeii. Detailed down to the last piece of marble, pottery and plants there is no limit what a vision coupled with a huge oil fortune can achieve! Sitting in a canyon that opens to the Pacific Ocean, the villa is a paradise of beauty and peace!

Reagan Presidential Library

Never been to a Presidential Library ever! This was not a "library" but an exhibit celebrating a spectacular life full of achievements and highlights the major successes and change in our lifestyle and the status of the United States in the eight years of his presidency. A truly impressive experience (politics aside!) and the designers really put his life experience together amazingly well... and you cannot fail to be impressed with the enormity and full scope of what Ronald Reagan touched and changed.

Ventura

Green trees and green grass at last after a scorching month in the desert!

Coachella Valley Preserve

Sitting right on the San Andreas fault where water seaps out of the fractures and feeds an oasis in the middle of a barren landscape. Ponds with fish and crawfish, Californian palms and rushes all make this a wonderland. The trail travels through the undergrowth on a boardwalk with the North American tectonic plate to the east and the Asia-Pacific plate to the west. The fault is separating about an inch a year and is much less dynamic than the fault further north in the SF area which means major earthquakes every 300 years as opposed to one hundred years!

General Patton museum

Having experienced WW 1 with French Renault tanks, Patton was the only general with the knowledge to build up the US Army tank corps in WW II which he did by creating the Desert Tank Training area in the Mojave and training over a million men to fight tank warfare. His legacy with the third army is a legend...
Under Patton's leadership for "281 days of incessant and victorious combat, your penetrations have advanced farther in less time than any other army in history. You have fought your way across 24 major rivers and innumerable lesser streams. You have liberated or conquered more than 82,000 square miles of territory, including 1,500 cities and towns, and some 12,000 inhabited places. Prior to the termination of active hostilities, you had captured in battle 956,000 enemy soldiers and killed or wounded at least 500,000 others... France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia bear witness to your exploits."

Cholla cactus garden

A little loop trail in Joshua Tree National Park - yes we revisited - included the Cholla cactus trail and much caution as the vicious spikes were in harm's way desperate to stab you though out this half mile trek!

Palm Springs Tramway

Two Swiss companies had the engineering skills to build this cable car system up San Jacinto mountain. It takes 10 minutes at approx 20 mph for the two cars with rotating floors to transfer 80 passengers up and down simultaneously through 6,000 ft of elevation. Several rock outcrop formations had to be blasted away to provide clearance and some optimistic helicopter pads have been placed on rocks and on towers to handle maintenance and emergency evacuation! Make sure you swallow up and down to keep those ears popping!

High altitude hike

Easy getaway from 90+ Palm Springs temperatures and exchanged them for low 50's on top of Mount San Jacinto at 8500 ft. Straight out of the station we did a three mile round trip hike along the streams and snow covered notches with overviews of the Coachella Valley below. Interesting gap in the mountains creates a wind tunnel with thousands of wind turbines spinning as far as the eye can see. The flow of heavy haze and pollution from the Los Angeles area also billows through the gap in the mountains and is evidence of the teeming west coast masses out of control lifestyles!

Desert Hot Springs sunset

Somewhere in the deep left hand corner there is the snow covered San Jacinto mountain which reminds me of the storm that swept the NE this week... it just reminded me.... meanwhile at campsite it's been mid 90's and time for AC. We are close to Palm Springs and Indian Wells and trying to figure out our next destination that not quite so hot!.

Relax at the Palms at Indian Head

Desert getaway for Marilyn Monroe and other discrete Hollywood stars for that romantic weekend in Borrego Springs - can you believe a three course dinner for $19! Last evening (for awhile at least) with our boondocking masters Bob Martel and Lisa Sessa whom we traveled with on South West Adventure 2016!we have learnt so much from Bob & Lisa!

Indian Wells Open fan club!

Roger Federer relaxes between training sessions while in the background Caroline Wozniacki keeps on volleying with her training partner. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in training sessions on the practice courts which is as close as you are going to get to these two legends without taking a mortgage for a front row seat in Stadium 1.

Indian Wells treat!

Great day out to Indian Wells ATP Tennis Tournament with mostly shady seats in Stadium one but not terribly interesting matches, relaxed Italian Restaurant lunch, and the highlight close up training sessions with Rafa Nadal and after lunch with Roger Federer! This was a scorcher of a day with the truck reading 116F when we went back to leave the parking area! Beautiful tennis facility successfully developed by Larry Ellison of Oracle in the Palm Springs desert area! Reputedly the largest tennis stadium in the world!

Fresh fruit abundance

They are even giving it away around town like at the post office. Grabbed a $5 bag of oranges and indulged in fresh orange breakfasts!

Farmers Market

Can't resist a farmers market anywhere and must perform an in-person visit and assessment! Less than 20 vendors at Christmas Circle, Borrego Springs, California but a very nice setting, perfect climate and lots of space! Spent $40 on huge bag of local oranges, five varieties of hummus, sourdough bread, strawberries and many other veggies! Love my Tappahannock market but have to hand over the management after six years, but do miss it! Just keep traveling and enjoy someone else's efforts!!

Blue Angels air show

Amazing display of aviation aerobatics at the El Centro Naval Air Facility in Southern California. Highlight is head on crossover with closing speed of over 1,000 mph! Nerves of steel stuff!

About to be arrested!

Beware of storm troopers especially when Darth Vader is around! Close scrutiny and ID check at the Naval Air Facility El Centro...

Borrego - desert longhorn sheep

Hiking up Palm Canyon to the Palm Oasis we spot a flock of a dozen or more desert longhorn sheep and their newly born lambs known locally as Borrego! The Anza-Borrego state park takes its name from the 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and Borrego is the Spanish for bighorn sheep. I'm sure the young lambs must taste good on a spit however they are an endangered species and protected!

Blossoming Borrego!

Hiking up Coyote Canyon reveals a spectacular array of wildflowers. In one cluster alone there are Desert Lilies, Sand Verbena, Prickly Poppy and an Onyx plant. Anza-Borrego has the most varied blooms in all of California assisted by a perfect amount of rainfall this spring to make the desert landscape really blossom!

Pico de Gallo

My routine every three to four days is to make a batch of pico de gallo from scratch including chopped cherry tomatoes, shallots, spring onions, Jalapeño and Serrano peppers and cilantro with a dousing of fresh lemon juice. Around Borrego Springs there is so much fresh fruit they are giving it away!

Boondocking at Borrego Springs

Nestling under Coyote Mountain about 30 miles north of the Mexico border and west of the Salton Sea we join about 50 other campers scattered far and wide in the public lands near Borrego Springs. Nearest folks are between 200 to 300 ft distance so turning up our DirecTV music channel will bother no one! Great temperature range between low 50 to high mid 70's is perfect. There is about to be a flower blossoming event so the hordes from LAX may appear at the weekend! Meanwhile we visit with our co-travelers Bob and Lisa, grill, relax and enjoy our new found freedom!

My new head gear!

On a cold hike the wind was whistling through my sun hat ventilation grill so Margaret lent me her Swiss Miss hat with pigtails which attracted lots of attention from other hikers however I was toasty warm for the rest of the hike!

Lost Horse Mine

9,000 ounces of Gold extracted from them there hills in Joshua Tree park back in the late 1800's. The owner went back to the mine after it was closed down and died there...

Joshua Tree camp

Nestled among the distinctive Joshua Trees in the NPS campground at 4000 ft altitude the night temperature drops below freezing! No hookups in these park sites so totally reliant on solar and propane. Our daily schedule is pretty laid back, a couple of hikes, one to the Lost Horse gold mine and a limited access tour with ranger of the Keys Ranch. Cold temperatures are pushing us south and to lower altitudes for comfort!

Another Route 66 iconic stop

Somewhere in the Mojave desert Route 66 winds its way from LA to Chicago and in the days before interstates many thriving businesses prospered along its way...

Last day at Death Valley

An entire week in the Texas Spring campsite at $8 a night! Last day we took a long circuitous ride to check out the view over the entire valley at Dante's View at 5,476 ft altitude on the east side in the Black Mountains. What appears to be water is simply a mirage on the flat salt bed of the dry lakes! In the distance the snow covered over 10,000 ft Panamint Mountains frame the other side of the valley....

Chilling out at Death Valley!

Bob and I relax in the non-generator Texas Springs campground overlooking Death Valley. Note Bob's Eddie Bauer luxury edition Airstream with full opening rear door and six solar panels generating over 400 watts! We spent six chilly nights up here in this beautiful location!

Sunset at Furnace Creek

Waiting for the sun to drop below the mountains, last rays reflecting on our two Airstreams, grill fired up ready for lamb burgers, satellite antennas tuned to tennis channel, cocktails in hand, end of another beautiful day in Death Valley

Death Valley Panoramic

Death Valley hike day 3

Midday sun in Death Valley... brisk walk out to lowest spot in North America at 282 ft below sea level.... lake floor is made of salt and snow has dusted the peaks around the valley... spectacular!

Badlands to Golden connector trail - Day 2

Between the Badlands loop and Golden Canyon there is a mile long traverse across the steep slopes of Manly Beacon which surprised us! Bob leads the way followed by Lisa and Margaret... It was a little more treacherous than we anticipated! I only fell once on loose gravel! No injuries except to pride!

Death Valley Golden Canyon - Day 2

Headed west from Zabriskie Point and did half the Badlands loop before joining up with the Gower Gulch trail and after a daunting transit across the lower slopes of Manly Beacon we took the gentle Golden Canyon trail down to 100 ft below sea level. Made easier by having two vehicles and dropping one off at our destination thus allowing us to do a one way 4 to 5 mile hike though these amazing geological formations.

Mosaic Canyon - Death Valley - Day 1

Our first hike was nearly two miles one way (approx 1,000 ft ascent over 10,000 ft) before we ran into a rockfall that blocked the canyon and would have required determined rock climbing skills from all four of us! Bob and I take a break and re-evaluate our plan! Note RivahFest staff neon green t-shirt!

Death Valley campground

Beautiful evening colors after a storm went through the area. Death Valley has highly changeable weather from high winds, sandstorms, intense rain, and bright sunshine. We are hoping our one week stay is bright sunshine since we are totally reliant on solar power! Photo by Margaret using Pro-HDR.

Arrived in Death Valley

Must be the coolest it's ever been here at 73F! World record highest recorded temperature on earth is 134 F at this location in July. Strong winds create a lot of dust storms....