This last weekend I, along with my mom and grandma, departed on our 2nd trip to California in the last 5 months, my 3rd out of state trip in the same time period. We're the traveling folks.
This trip was to Southern California. My grandma wanted to go to visit an ailing relative, mom was needed to accompany her to and fro, and I was necessary as a travel companion for them both and and adventure buddy for mom, as we'd have big chunks of time where grandma would be busy, and mom would be needing to fill the time. I also co-piloted/ navigated any and all drives, as well as spearheaded our processions through airports.
Anyways, we flew out Thursday afternoon, but the adventure started before we even got to the airport- we took an uber. A well dressed guy in a nice, new car picked us up from the house, and then essentially tried to kill us. I mean, not directly. We weren't taken to a back alleyway or anything, but we went 90 mph and swerved in and out of traffic, merging into lanes like crazy. Needless to say, we all breathed a sigh of relief when we were safely seated on our plane. Our plane appeared to be brand spanking new, and the windows were picture perfect.
Every time we fly I get so excited. It's just so exhilarating to be gliding over whole civilizations. Watching all the houses and cars whir by reminds me of what is important. There are just so many people, all fighting and working towards whatever they want, feeling like their house or car define them and are their end-all be-all. It's all just stuff, and you're just one person in the midst of it all. How are you going to stand out? How are you going to be different? Make your life count? Be remembered? Somehow just flying over it all just puts life in perspective again. I am one of so so so many, and I want to be more. I want to make my life count for something greater. I want to impact people and be remembered by them. I don't want to be just another name.
Anyways.
We arrived, got our rental car (that only had 46 miles on it!),
and met my great aunt at one of the family's favorite restaurants in LA. Here we all are (look in the mirror for me!)
There were some nice flowers outside, so I had to snap a couple shots.
We still had quite a drive ahead of us, and we arrived at our hotel a bit late. Allow me to rephrase. We arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel very early on Friday morning before a full weekend of Coachella. Yeah, it was quite the scene. The eccentric and exotic outfits and accessories, the vernacular, the cars, all which contributed to general mood which remained for the duration of our trip. Fun times, if I do say so myself.
After a solid night's sleep we were up and at it again, going and doing. Out first stop was my great great Aunt and Uncle's cute little place in Cathedral City, where we all visited for awhile before mom and I headed out to adventure further through Palm Springs, allowing my grandma time to be with her family.
Mom and I first made the trip to Cabazon, which boasts exactly nothing exciting with the exception of some huge dinosaurs.
And I now know what it'd be like to be at the mercy of an enormous beast.
Dinos. Palm trees for scale.
So fierce. The king of the desert.
Little feet on big feet.
Don't you hate it when all you want is an artsy floral picture for your Insta feed and then a dumb dinosaur ends up in the background? Such a struggle.
We then headed back to Palm Springs to mosey around the cute downtown district for a bit, where we were bombarded by bougainvillea and boutiques. (Yes, my alliteration is on point, thankyouverymuch)
After a bit of shopping, with sunset looming, Joshua Tree National Park was a must. The drive was kinda long. I rolled down the window. It's pretty exhilarating. No wonder dogs love it so much. Here's a blurry picture of me being happy.
A long while ago, back when I was little and unappreciative of general awesomeness, we drove through Joshua Tree and I just didn't care. What a loser. Things have changed now.
Now I'm as excited as I should have been as a child that OHMYGOSHLOOK A BLOOMING PLANT IN THE DESERT!
Alright, you see this cactus? Doesn't look like much, right? Does looking at this cactus tell you that the wind was whipping around at 25 MPH? Yeah, me either. When I opened the rental car door to get out and explore the wind threatened to dismember it from the car. I genuinely thought I might have been blown away, so I grabbed my backpack for some extra weight.
It just blew my mind that the desert could look so still and calm while being violently windy and cold. Cold, yes. I had to throw my hoodie on, and I was still cold. I couldn't have predicted that either.
These little guys really should shave! All their itty bitty hairs caught the light, and I thought that was exciting. So exciting that I was willing to lay on the ground. The ground of the desert. While wearing shorts. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but so worth this image. I'm slightly obsessed, to be honest.
Inc(RED)ible plants!
I began to wander up and around some of these boulders, which make up those whole mountains, as seen in the background. Again, those shorts weren't the best choice for the day, but live and learn. Anways, I get a ways up and I see this immensly bright pink flower lying on a rock, and I'm totally convinced that it is fake, but I make my way over to it just to be sure. And lo and behold, it is real! And I look up, and bam! A whole firey pink cactus lies before me a little ways off.
I am astounded. A pink flowering cactus, just growing in the midst of a rocky desert!
The more I think about it, the more it seems like that single flower was placed on that rock just so I would go up and see the whole plant. And I think that that's pretty reflective of life sometimes. A little bit of something can lead us to something greater of we're just willing to take the leap and go check it out.
A sunset across the desert.
Yay for adventures and beauty in different ways than expected!
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