Joshua Tree to the coast

The next few days were spent exploring Joshua Tree National Park and some of the roads across southern California between the Mojave Desert and the coast at Ventura, CA.  Before heading into the park we grabbed some sandwiches for lunch, knowing that we would not have another opportunity for food until we checked into our hotel in the evening.

We entered Joshua Tree National Park from the south and before we even hit the first visitors’ center we spotted a quick circular trail that gives visitors an overview of desert plant life via interpretive signs placed along the quick loop.  We took this opportunity to stretch our legs, if only for a few minutes, before driving further into the park.

We soon made a quick stop at the visitors’ center to grab some maps and literature on the park.  We drove further into the park to our first lengthy stop at Cholla Cactus Garden where there was another short walk through a large concentration of Cholla cacti.  Cholla cactus have been nicknamed the “teddy bear” cactus, but this is one teddy bear you do not want to hug. The cactus is covered in spines that will latch in to your skin on the slightest touch.   We found this to be probably the most crowded part of the park, with maybe only 15 or so cars there.  Maybe it is the time of the year or the obscurity of the park as a National Park, but the park was very much uncrowded.

After walking among the cacti for a bit we made another stop a little further up the road at an interesting rock formation on the side of the road.  After getting out and climbing on the rocks a little bit we noticed a small dirt road leading away from the main road.  It was marked on our map but the map did not indicate that there was anything at the end of the road so we decided to see for ourselves where it went.  The road ended after about a mile at some massive rock formations that we would later learn is called Stirrup Tank.  The place looked like it would be very popular for rock climbers.  We took some time to walk about these monsters of boulders before heading further into the park.

The scenery throughout the park was truly amazing.  We had been to the park before so we skipped some other areas of that park that we had already seen.  After eating lunch literally on the side of the road we went for another short hike to an old gold stamping mill that was used to crush gold ore well into the 20^th century.  There is still plenty of evidence of the mill and the people who lived there include a few old cars rotting away in the desert sun plus scattered junk.  Along the walk we were lucky enough to even see a few Joshua trees in bloom. 

The "road" we pulled off of to eat lunch.

Walking through the park

In bloom

After leaving the park we headed for our hotel for the night, right outside of the park.  The next day was mostly a driving day.  We could have taken the shorter route to Santa Maria, CA, which only would have been about 5 hours but we would have missed out on the world’s largest thermometer which was kind of out of the way.  We opted for the longer route but we were somewhat disappointed that the thermometer was not working.  It was pretty big though!  We also had the opportunity to drive along a short portion of old Route 66 through southern California.  The highlight of this trip was an old 50’s style motel that while no longer in use, still looks as it might have 50 years ago.  

Inside, stuck in the past

We also passed the famous shoe tree on Rte 66 which has died and fallen down, but is still covered with thousands of pairs of shoes weathering away in the sun.  

Shoe tree, dead now but still covered in shoes

Along the way we also passed one of California’s agricultural inspection stations.  We pass through these whenever we enter California and we feel they are a huge waste of money.  Basically it is like a border crossing along the highway.  They stop each car and ask you if you are bringing any fruits or vegetables from out of state.  We once had an orange in the car and we thought we were going to get shot.  That is a joke but that is the way they make you feel as you enter and they question you.  We always say no whether we have something or not.

Before getting back on the road to make the several hour drive we still had ahead of us we felt that we just had to stop at the world's largest thermometer because it was on the way. While it wasn't working it sure was big!

The next day we did not really have a long way to drive so we really took our time.  We only had to drive about 100 miles so we slept in a bit and took our time getting there.  Our first stop was right there in Santa Maria for a regional BBQ that we had never heard of: Santa Maria BBQ.  This type of BBQ is a regional BBQ focused mainly around the Santa Maria valley of CA.  They use a beef tri-tip seasoned with black pepper, salt and garlic salt, grilled over red oak wood.  We found a food truck type place right in the middle of town and ordered our BBQ and ate in the car.

We also passed by Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson’s old home.  We could not see anything at all besides a fence surrounding the property and a guard booth at the entrance presumably with guards inside.  We did not try to get in. 

Entrance to Neverland Ranch

We made a couple of other stops along the coast as we drove south and we also stopped at the pier at Santa Barbara to have some dinner and a couple of beers before heading to our hotel for the next couple of nights while we attended a wedding.

Santa Barbara Pier where we ate dinner

The last day in California was spent again driving down the coast.  We once again took our time as we only had about 60 miles to drive.  We stopped several times along the picturesque coast and during one stop we watched a few dozen windsurfers out in the water.  We settled in to our hotel before waking up the next morning for an early flight home.