sand and sun

When you go into a shoot totally unprepared for the weather and conditions, but it somehow manages to all work out. We drove a few hours to the sand dunes east of San Diego, dipping in and out of Mexico's cell service, and weren't quite ready for the intense heat and whipping sand. Real talk: I had 1+ meltdowns and had to take a few breaks in the car with the AC on in between outfit changes. But when the hot sun finally gave way, it was a whole new kind of sunset - soft, pretty, and seeming to go on forever over the smooth, sandy hills. We drove the long way home covered in grit, sunburns just beginning to show, happy to have seen the sun set somewhere new. 

shoes: Ridgemont Outfitters

shirts: Hello Apparel

from the passenger's seat

when you're a terrible driver and the type to get a bit stir-crazy in the city, the passenger's seat is the best place for you to be. 

cowboy coffee

My mom calls it cowboy coffee, and it's one of my favorite parts of camping. We'd taken the rain cover off of the tent the night before, so on this morning I was woken by the most beautiful pink-gold clouds moving quickly across the mountain valley. We'd wanted to get to the lake by sunrise, but the sky's dance coming through the open tent was too entrancing to move. I watched for a few minutes before crawling out of the tent to light the stove and put cool water on to boil. When the bubbles surfaced and Evan had stumbled out with sleepy eyes, we poured our coffee and walked to the lake in quiet gratefulness of what nature was offering us. It was the most peaceful and content time I could remember in so long. It's time to get back into the woods again.

Campsite 48

We almost postponed our annual anniversary camping trip a few weeks because so many California campgrounds were full, closed for the season, shut down due to plague, or under extreme fire/drought restrictions. The thought of camping without a fire just made me sad and I was getting pretty bummed about it all when Evan found a campground near Yosemite with one spot left. We grabbed it and a week later, we were pulling into the loveliest little campground!

It was mostly full of fishermen and hunters staying for a few weeks with their campers & pup companions, so it was quiet and clean. In the mornings we walked to the lake with our coffee and at night we slept (fairly) soundly with our tent open to the stars and full moon above. The campground and lake were situated in a little valley, so we had beautiful mountain views on all sides and watching the moon rise above the cliffs each night was sort of magical.

We were both a little drained after a h-o-t summer in the city with little traveling, so I can't tell you how much this peaceful respite soothed our souls. This is my very favorite of our traditions.

Coffee with the Giants

We only had about an hour to stop at The Avenue of the Giants this trip, but made the most of our time with a coffee break and a stroll under the magnificent Redwoods. Looking back at these is making me feel a little stir-crazy, as we haven't really taken any trips since we got back from this one & I'm feeling slightly claustrophobic here in LA. It's time to plan a weekend trip - Salton Sea is up next! Where are you going next?

Roaming through Joshua Tree

What a strange, cool place. The absolute opposite of where I grew up, and mostly different than I had pictured it. 

The most interesting part of the Park is how the plants and landscape changes as you go--we entered in the south entrance, where the cacti and rocks are short. The chollas guard the land here, with their stubby, almost translucent green arms and prickly puffballs that fall off in the wind (and get stuck in your shoes when you attempt to roam off-trail). As you travel north, winding through the curvy roads, the Joshua Trees start to burst forth, one here, two there, until you're in a forest of the park's namesake trees. Did you know that, according to legend, Joshua Trees got their name from Mormom pioneers who thought the trees' branches represented the arms of Joshua, outstretched and leading them to the Promised Land?  So fascinating, I read that in this book I got for $2 at a garage sale--it's full of places we want to visit. 

We're eager to travel back to this strange land, next time to stay overnight--there are so many gorgeous Airbnb's close by! That is, as soon as the Coachella madness is over. I'm too old for that circus.