Take a right at highway 62

I know I am dragging this out. But I took so many pictures of my day and a half in the desert.
It really is too big for one post.
Plus, there are sort of themes to them.
So you get this post and then one final post. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow will wrap it all up.

This post will be some shots of the general landscape of the Joshua Tree / Twentynine Palms area.

I know some of my regular readers are very familiar with this, but I also know that they still enjoy the strange, singular profile of a Joshua tree, which is much like a snowflake in that no two are alike.

So, fasten your seatbelts. Let's go for a drive.

The road from Desert Hot Springs back to highway 62 to take me through Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree into Twentynine Palms. Yep, that is snow on those distant mountains. But that is not where I was going. This was heading west to get me to the road that would eventually take me east to 29.

This is a bleak-looking stretch of road from Joshua Tree to Twentynine Palms. Bail bonds office included. The court building for the area is not too much farther down the road.

Welcome to... Well, really, to what seems like a smaller and smaller town every time I go there.

This is heading down into the main part of town. See what I mean about small town?

But the drive-in is still there! Good thing, too. Without that there really would not be much to do unless you are somehow connected to the Marine Corps base out there.

I do not know why, but I like these kinds of windmills. I think it is something about the pattern and shape of them. But when I see one, I want to take a picture. Luckily there was a beautiful sunset going on when I happened upon this one at the Schoolhouse Museum in Twentynine Palms.

End of day one, Sunday. As I was driving back to the hotel after dinner, I saw this huge, bright moon coming up over the hills. When I got back, I grabbed the camera and the tripod.

This was the best I came up with after taking about 50 shots. Not bad. I'll keep that one.

The next day I made a couple spots in town then started to head home. I took the long way, through Joshua Tree National Park. Here are a few snaps from that drive.

Joshua trees are bizarre and alien things. This one seems to have cracked under the pressure of its own weight. Which is not uncommon. Some of the older trees have dozens of bits branching out from them.

Joshua trees in an area that burned at least a couple years ago. This is pretty much what it looked like when I was through here a couple summers ago.

This is the road to the Split Rock picnic / day-use area. The park is popular with rock climbers. Not these little boulders, but there are some nice sheer rock faces in several areas that draw people who look like little bugs climbing up the side.

There is a spot called Keys View. It is a little drive off the main road through the park, but I figured with the wind that day, it might be nice and clear. This is about the best I have seen it. That is looking down into Coachella Valley, onto Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, etc.

Looking a little to the west, there is Mt. San Jacinto.

Driving back down Keys View Road to the main park road before heading into Joshua Tree and back to the big city. This area was thick with some of the bigger Joshua trees I saw that day.

And finally, all the way back down highway 62 to the 10 freeway, west to Los Angeles.

This is the point where I feel like I have left the desert.

So, that is it. I had a lot of pictures, but really, they were rocks and Joshua trees. A lot of rocks and a lot of Joshua trees. It is a strange place, a place I did not appreciate as a kid. But a place that calls me back once or twice a year.

Because while I love where I live now, the desert is still home to some degree.

Crazy desert genius

I grew up in the desert. So I can speak from experience about the crazy genius that can only come from too much exposure to sun and cactus.

A prime example of this is Cabot's Adobe Pueblo.

Check out the Web site. Read the history of the place. I think you will agree with me.

In the meantime, pictures...


On the I-10 freeway, just before the turnoff to State Highway 62.

From here on the photos are from Cabot's Adobe Pueblo in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

Click on the link above to find out more.

It is an odd place. Sort of the dream of Hearst Castle meets a shack in the desert.

Cabot Yerxa was a genius. Cabot Yerxa maybe was a little crazy.

But Cabot Yerxa had a dream and a vision. And he saw both to fruition.

For that, he is a man to be admired.

I remember coming to this place as a child, my father bringing me here.

I did not appreciate it then the way I appreciate it now.

Just like I did not appreciate my father then the way I appreciate him now. Now that he is gone.

From him I learned that sometimes it is OK to be different. From him I learned to appreciate Monty Python. And from him I learned a little piece of desert history that many people probably drive by everyday without even seeing.


And that those are not bad lessons to learn.

Here's to embracing the crazy genius in us all.

Desert sojourn

I am trying to plan my (gasp!!) 20-year high school reunion and figured a good way to get inspired and to get information on possible venues was to take a quick trip out to Twentynine Palms.
I left Sunday morning, planning on returning Monday afternoon.
There were a few places I had in mind for my stay. At the top of the list was Roughley Manor.
My 10-year reunion was here, and while I did not stay here then (all booked up!), I figured I could give it a try now. And see if they still did parties like that.
Turns out they don't.
But I was still very happy to be staying here.
The original part of the house is to the side of this. It was a small homestead that was added onto to create the beautiful stone house.


There is a separate entrance to the office area, which is in the old part of the house. This is the main entry. There are a few bedrooms upstairs.



There is a nice great room where breakfast is served. They also put out cookies or dessert and tea service in the afternoons. There is a sitting area, piano and fireplace. For a rather large room, it is very cozy.


A pair of great horned owls lives in the big tree out front. I wish the eyes had not gone screwy here. But he was high up in the tree, so I was just glad to see him at all. The other one was in a darker, higher spot.

Once I was checked in, I headed to my room to drop off my stuff before heading out for a little walk.


It was a good size room, with a big, fluffy bed. The bed was rather high, even for someone tall like me. But it was the kind of bed you sink into easily. Everything about the room was immaculate.


There was a little dining area and kitchenette with mini-fridge and microwave. There also was coffee and tea service provided if you wanted to make your own in the room.
The TV had satellite hookup and a VCR. They had a tape library in the main house.
There also was wireless Internet access.


I was in what they call the Pool Room. So there were French doors from my room right out onto the pool area. No one else used the pool the one day I was there. I don't think the pool was heated. But the hot tub was. Since no one else was interested, it was like having my own private retreat under the stars. Later that night I enjoyed a soak, watching the stars and having a beer.


That little building at the end of the pool was my room. I was a little worried about noise from the pool, but there was none. Now, if I was staying there in the summer, I may want a room farther from the pool since more people would be likely to use it then.

After I got settled in my room, I took my camera and wandered around the grounds. The property is several acres. There are a lot of little outdoor sitting areas all around the grounds. It was a perfect clear day, about 65-70 degrees.


This is the tower of an old windmill. The engine and windmill were damaged in a storm, so they were removed at some point.


There also is an old water tower on the grounds. Behind that you can see a couple of the out buildings. These buildings are all guest rooms.


These are more of the guest rooms. The one above is a building of three rooms.
The buildings look rustic from the outside, but the rooms are all done up very nicely.
There is one on the far end of that building that had all the drapes open. Being nosy I of course peeked in since no one was staying there. It was quite nice, all done in a pretty black and white color scheme. If I stay here again, I may request that room.


The three pictures above are of what is called the Museum Building. Apparently the original owners built is as part art gallery, part art studio. It now is divided into a couple guest rooms.
I did not get a look at those. But the inn's Web site has a lot of good photos of all the rooms.



Next to the Museum Building is an old pool/reservoir. This has not been used in quite a while as a swimming pool. But I guess they do still use it to hold water for irrigation around the grounds.


I find this thing fascinating. It is solid. The steps lead up to the edge, which is about a foot thick. I was not sure what I would find when I climbed the steps and looked inside.


Ha! More steps. I guess that was how you got in and out if you were using your reservoir as a swimming pool back in the day.

Of course, being nosy, I had to go all the way in. The angles in here where even more interesting. I also loved the colors and the dilapidated look of it.

By the way, the pool is about 6 feet deep. The top of my head just reached the top of the wall.

Just a couple more shots, below of the lovely steps inside the pool. These rank right up there with some of my favorite photos that I have ever taken.

I know it is not always at the top of everyone's list of vacation destinations, but if you happen to be going to Twentynine Palms and need a place to stay, this is a great place to try.

The owners, Jan and Gary Peters, are great hosts. And they run a top-rate place.

Oh yeah... and there was breakfast. Pecan-praline French toast with fresh berries. And it was divine.

Stay tuned for ... A funky stop on the way to Twentynine Palms, plus a drive through Joshua Tree National Park.

Chicken soup for my soul

I eat soup all year long, but it is especially nice in winter to be able to reach into the freezer and grab a handy portion of homemade soup. They are good for taking to work for lunch. They are great when you get home and don't want to cook but cannot face another takeout meal.

And, for me anyway, making a big pot of soup is the same as making a small pot of soup.

So I stocked up a bit a couple days ago by making a shortcut chicken and rice soup.

It looks and tastes like you were cooking all day. But I had this done in just over an hour, including the time to take the chicken off the bones.

And I swear, I have been doing stuff besides cooking. I'm just lazy about the blogging. It goes in cycles. I will recycle myself soon!

One last bite of the holidays

Here it is, the last of the cookie recipes.

That only took a week.

These have white chocolate instead of real chocolate. But they were still quite popular with the work crowd, the family crowd and the friend crowd.

They were tiny, but packed with lots of flavor.

I may just have to break out this recipe for cookies with white chocolate, cranberries and macadamias even when it is not Christmas.

Going green

I am still catching up with recipes from the past week or so.

There is still another cookie recipe to post, but I wanted to get some real food posts done.

So here is a great recipe for chile verde that I made on Christmas Eve. I wanted chile and usually make a red chili with beans and ground beef. But this version with green chiles, tomatillos, pork and potatoes sounded like a nice change.

Wrap some up in a tortilla with some rice and cheese and you have a delicious burrito. Or just eat it from the bowl like a stew.

It was perfect for the cold snap we had last week, and it makes great leftovers to go in the freezer for later.

So I made a huge pot of it!