Bill Keys

6/24/2018

We booked a tour reservation yesterday that we had to arrive for at 7:45, so we got up at 6. Our morning was a rough one. The hot plate didn’t get hot fast enough to boil water for oatmeal or coffee,  so we had to leave the house without either. That’s never a good idea. We tried stopping at a coffee shop on the way, but there was a long line that wouldn’t have given us enough time to make the tour.

We knew we wanted the tour, so we took the risk of not having breakfast. We got to the tour early - we met a ranger and other guests at a gated road to start the tour. The tour was all about Bill Keys, a guy that ran a ranch and gold mine in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park, aka the desert. We learned about how he, as well as indigenous peoples long him, survived in the desert. It’s pretty incredible to see how resourceful they were, having a garden filled with corn, beets, carrots, etc., and a bunch of fruit trees. They did this because the nearest “grocery store” was a 4 day trip away. They survived on their property, making money and making food for themselves and the other folks living and working in the property. Here are a few photos, but I’ll add a bunch at the end with descriptions.

After the tour, we found a quick hike to a dam nearby that showed how despite the dry conditions, there is actually plenty of water if you know where/how to find it. By 11am it was already super hot, and we had seen some really cool stuff, so we headed back to the Airbnb for the day. On the way home we remembered that the hot plate this morning blew a fuse. We didn’t think much about it as we were in a rush to get to the tour, but we’re now realizing our lunch and dinner were in the fridge, in the 98 degree weather...

Lots of feelings happened, and when we got back our host let us inownhow to fix the problem, and all of our food was still good to go. Lunch was just leftovers from last night (we got way too much food), and dinner was the carne asada with salad and zucchini.

After plenty of postcarding and reading, we made dinner on our camping stove and watched a quick episode of Handmaids Tale. Such a messed up show, such a messed up episode (season 2 episode 10). It’s an amazing show, but it’s super stressful and not at all a mood improver. We took another evening soak beneath the stars because why not, and hung out with our host and her friends.

Our host had some friends over and they invited us to join them for the evening. It was super cool to chat with them, share stories, and hangout with other people living in LA and Nashville. It’s cool how easy it can be to connect with other good people if it’s in the right situation. We ended up staying awake until 2am, which was not the plan, but sometimes you don’t want to leave a fun night, and since it’s summer vacation, we didn’t!

The chart showing how much growth Joshua Tree NP has had in visitors - they need more funding for employees 

Indigenous people used rocks to crush leaves etc. for medicinal and food uses 

One of the ways they extracted gold from the rocks 

Their mailbox that moved locations as postal services improved 

They hung wet cloth over this to create a refrigerated area in their house. The wind would hit the wet cloth and cools down the items inside 

They had a school onsite for their children, but also the children in the surrounding rural areas

Desert Markets

6/23/2018

A relatively early morning started with a snack and heading to the Swap Meet in town that our host told us about. It’s essentially a giant rummage sale, but with permanent vendors and a combination of crap and cool stuff. We didn’t end up getting much there, but it was a cool thing to see - these happen every Saturday and Sunday. One of the vendors we spoke with was from Seattle and lived a 10 minute walk away from where we lived near Green Lake.

Right down the street they also had their farmers market going on, so naturallly we went. It was already getting too hot at 8:30am so we grabbed some breakfast and wandered the market. We got lots of veggies, soup/dips, and  some carne asada for dinner/lunches. We also finally got a beautiful pot for our car plant Larry (not it’s axtual name, so I’m open to suggestions), and chatted with the vendor as he tried to convince us to get into ceramics.

The rest of the day was the best. Because it’s 100+ outside, we hung out by the pool reading, writing postcards, and enjoying the cool windy shade. I definitely expected to spend more time in the National Park, but it’s actually dangerous and miserable to try to hike after 10-11 am. 

We had a reservation at Pappy and Harriet’s at 7:30 when it finally cooled off. This place was highly recommended because of the food, but also the live music. We got the last table of 2 they had for the night, and it was probably the best seat in the house. We were right behind the dancing area, which people didn’t use until the end, so we basically had front row seats while we ate dinner. The place was fun and we stayed fairly late before heading home and calling it a night. Our Airbnb host told us about a solstice party, but we chose the live music over the astronomy nerd solstice stuff (but it would have been cool if we didn’t have plans). 

Seals and Sand

6/22/2018

Our last day on the California coast! We got up early because we had to get some stuff done before heading to Joshua Tree. We grabbed breakfast with Kevin and Dante at the Little Lion Cafe, a place with really good food, and really big dogs. Super random but two giant dogs about the size of a horse came with a family and they asked if they could sit outside. The restaurant reluctantly said sure, and after that point the family lost control of the dogs. One dog almost pulled the owner into the road in front of a car, later one dog walked into the restaurant (their heads standing would be above our heads sitting down), and both dogs would bark and jump at anyone that walked by. They took their food to go but it was entertaining/ridiculous. Leave dogs of that size at home.

Their creamer cake in little dog containers

After breakfast we stopped by the Sunset Cliffs, apparently the best sunset viewing spot in the city of it’s a clear day (which it never was). Our last stop in SD was La Jolla Cove, to see all the seals!

Sunset Cliffs

While it was tough to find parking, La Jolla was incredible! There were SO many seals, some little babies, and some that were the size of a car. Some waddled, while some just rolled around. It was very busy, but a very different experience being able to see all these seals in one place (that isn’t the zoo).

After La Jolla we said our goodbyes to Kev and Dante 😢😭, stopped by Belching Beaver Brewing to use the gift card kevin gave me for Christmas, and weren off to Joshua Tree. It was another cool drive, different from all the others. The temperature quickly rose from 70s to 108. We finally got the sunshine and heat we’ve been complaining about missing in LA and SD...quite a bit of it.

We also saw a ton of windmills on the way into the desert 

We checked into our Airbnb and quickly hopped in the small pool. It is a dry heat, which is better, but it’s insanely hot here, so this small pool is going to be amazing to have the next few days. The property here is incredible - I’ll include some pictures in future blogs of the actual property, but she has a few spaces for guests to stay and a lot of communal desert space to explore. But keep your shoes on unless you want a cactus thorn in your foot. We wandered into town and stumbled upon an artsy area hosting a concert celebrating pride before getting dinner. 

We headed back to our place and chatted with our host about the area and what she does. She’s a super interesting person that knows all the natural remedies to everything! Before calling it a night we filled the communal bath with water and chilled in it under the stars. Our host of course gave us Epsom salts and all the other bath goodies she had. After star gazing we called it a night and looked forward to the next few days here!

The outdoor bath tub 

Cloudy Beaches

6/21/2018

Today Kevin, Dante, and I slept in while Alex went in a run to Sunset Cliffs. Some days you just need to sleep in, ya know what I mean? We walked to the Kombucha and cold brew bar before grabbing açaí bowls. I’ve never had an açaí bowl, and I knew there was hype around them, but they really are the real deal. There so much more in the bowl than I expected. It has the fruit and smoothie section, but also nuts, granola, coconut, and other crunchy things. Highly recommend a good açaí bowl if you have access to them.

Pure amazingness

It was already like 11 or so by the time we were done, so we headed back and all showered before meeting Dee for lunch. Obviously going from one meal to the next, with little in between. We met Dee at a Mexican restaurant called Volcano Rabbit. The food was amazing - short rib and grilled octopus tacos, hard to go wrong. While the food was great, the feel to the place wasn’t my type. It was a bigger restaurant with lots of space for lots of people. Fortunately it was super empty for lunch, but I can see it being a rowdy, maybe bro-y spot on weekend nights.

At any rate, we went from lunch right to Coronado Island to catch some sun and waves. It was sunny and hot when we left downtown, and became cloudy and windy once we got to the beach. The homes around the beach were massive and fancy, which was cool to look at, but also mind boggling how expensive these places must be. We hung on the beach for awhile before realizing that it’s actually cold and windy, despite our best efforts of trying to make it nice out.

Fancy neighborhoods

Us trying to move clouds

More grey 

We stopped home to rinse off before heading to dinner. Al and I met up with her Dad's best friend Dave Getch (spelling is based on the sound) and his family. They have a beautiful home about 30 minutes from our Airbnb and have super fun kids and cats. We shared lots of fun conversation about our trip, stories about Doug (Alexs Dad) when they were younger, and what the kids are up to this summer. Truly amazing hosts, providing an impeccable cheese and meat plate before serving steaks 🥩 and multiple veggie offerings. Thanks for the amazing hospitality!

After dinner we headed back to Pacific Beaxh to meet Kevin and Dante for a beer and some skeet ball (I think that’s the name?). Dante also sang karaoke “I’m feeling good” by Mike Buble again and killed it  again. Unreal that guys voice. No one else wanted to sing so we headed back and prepped for tomorrow’s busy day. We have to eat, head to La Jolla to see seals, and leave SD by 12ish. It’s a Friday and people will be heading in that direction for the weekend. That’s it for today - see ya tomorrow!!

More snippets:

Tons of aircraft flew over us while we sat on the beach - likely the Navy base nearby

Bridge to Coronado 

SD in its cloudy glory 

Fun card for our Seattle Athletes 

The Whale City

6/20/2018

Kevin had to get up early to pick up his boyfriend Dante from the San Diego airport, while Alex and I got up early to get a quick yoga and breakfast in. We went to a tasty place (don’t remember the name) and tried to buy me a new swimsuit, but the shop wasn’t open, and didn’t provide their hours of operation online or at the storefront. It was almost 11 so we didn’t feel like waiting any longer and we’re off to San Diego.

We met Kevin and Dante at the Airbnb and waited a bit before the host showed up with the keys. We got changed and walked to the beach, which was once again only about 10 minutes walking. There were more surfers to watch, but a cloudy day did not inspire us to get in the water. 

We chilled for a bit at the place before exploring breweries and the farmers market for food and people watching. At the beginning go the crowds were tolerable and we found food, but the lsternitngkr the less space there was available to move. It was a great market that had live music and an entire crafts section. I tried on some sunglasses, but they just didn’t fit my face. Andone with sunglasses recommendations I would truly appreciate them (not trying to spend $1 million tho. 

The amazing East African food Alex got

We went to the Belching Beaver brewery to wash down our food with some dessert beers (A Peanut Butter Stout, which was bomb, and again, highly recommend). Later on Alexs friends Dee and Chris met up with us for a beer at our place and a night walk to the beach. It was super calm and quiet, but there were a few fire rings lit up by some folks. It’s super cool that on these public beaches they have fire rings, and that people actually use them and don’t burn fires everywhere. 

That was pretty much the end of the night. We chatted a bit more back at our place before we all headed to bed. Tomorrow is our full day in SD and we’re hoping for more sunshine. 

I only took 2 other pictures today - I swear I’ll grt better

Old Friends

6/19/2018

LA is the most walkable city we’ve been to so far. People complain about the traffic but if you only need to walk within one neighborhood the traffic is nonexistent. Since Al and I are on summer vacation, we have to set time aside to actually exercise. This morning we both went in runs and did some pushups, sit-ups, etc. especially being in LA, we have to make sure we keep the beach bods toned up.

The three of us grabbed a quick breakfast; açaí bowls here are amazing, but I chose a breakfast sandwich because it was what’s best for me and my family at that time. The morning started out cloudy, but the sun fought its way  out while we walked down the beach paths. We decided to walk down, and scooter back on the Bird electric scooters. Everyone looks ridiculous riding them, but as soon as we figured out how to start them, they were the best decision of the trip.

I realized none of my previous videos uploaded - they showed up as pictures 😑

All that scootering worked up our appetites so we at healthy/pure grain bowls at Great White (highly recommend) before beachtime. The beaches here are expansive and bright, and provided entertainment. Aside from the people watching, there’s surfer watching. It looks so easy but I know it’s actually so hard. I wish I had some pictures of surfers, but didn’t think to pull it off.

After a few hours we cleaned up for dinner, which included amazing pizzas, grilled veggies, and cocktails. We met up with my friend Nick and his girlfriend Amy. I went to high school with him, and spent a lot of time with him in high school. We unfortunately both failed to keep in touch, but hanging out was very normal, as you can expect with great friends. Time doesn’t really change all that much.

After lots of good conversation and catch up we both agreed we need to actually keep in touch. We headed back to the Airbnb, completed a puzzle, and called it.

Venice really proved to be a perfect town for what we were looking for. A warm, beachy, shoppy, foody town that we could wander by foot or by laying on the beach.