A New Subaru

Here he is... meet Joshua the Subaru!

We shopped and we shopped, and finally found the perfect package with the paint color we wanted... all the way down in San Diego. Obvious next step, drive to San Diego after work on a Thursday and buy a car. It even rained for us. Welcome to our world, Crosstrek XV, and we really hope you like to get your feet dirty. :)

Joshua Tree: Trip Two

Joshua Tree was just too gorgeous for one day... we headed back for a second little journey of exploring the rocks and desert. It is such a beautiful place. This also happened to be the last time my little Mazda (Emmitt) got to go for a little road trip. He had a good little last run through the desert. :)

We found an old mill, a broken down abandoned building, and a couple of old vehicles out in the desert along a long hike. We climbed around the "Jumbo Rocks" - no skinned knees this time. These rock formations provide quite a spectacular landscape, and at times, faces staring back at you.

The sunset and starry sky gave us another beautiful show. Including an amazing wind storm at the top of a peak called Keys View. It was difficult to stand up at times, with gusting wind that wanted to blow everything off the top of that hill.

(There are quite a few photos in this post, so just a tip - if you click on the first image, an image viewer will open and allow you to click through the photos, if you like.)

A Beachy Sunset

After a weekend in the desert, we went for a total opposite scene and went to stick out toes in the ocean for a pretty sunset. Somehow, these scenes always seem different and never get old. 

The Stars of Joshua Tree

When the sun goes down, things get really pretty out in the desert. Sunset is a colorful sky, followed by a darkness that allows every star to shine so bright.

The Trees of Joshua Tree

The trees of Joshua Tree are quite an interesting part of this park. From the actual Joshua Trees, to the "teddy bear" cacti (that feel nothing like teddy bears), to the "dead" plants that somehow seem alive, and living plants that somehow seem dead... the fauna is quite intriguing at times.

The Rocks of Joshua Tree

The rocks of Joshua Tree are essentially a really, really, really big playground. It's so fun climbing all over this place. Even when I stumble and cut open a knee... at least it was my knee, and not my camera. :)

The Hills of Joshua Tree

We made our first journey out to Joshua Tree and completely fell in love with this place. It's a rather small National Park, but it is rather large, at the same time. The expanse of desert and weird plants and huge boulders to play on make this a very interesting playground. Cell phone signals disappear, and in these "winter months", it actually isn't too crowded. It's a great little getaway and is as gorgeous as the desert can be! 

Venice Beach

Venice Beach. Enough said.

The Newport Beach Library

More Christmas Eve, sunny SoCal, half frame fun. The Newport Beach Library!

My First Golden Half Roll

Kim got me a cute little half-frame camera for Christmas. We did our early Christmas Eve swap of one special gift, and it happened to be a cute little camera for each of us. We headed out for a Christmas Eve walk at a little sculpture park we found in Newport Beach. Meet the bunnies! And also, notice this bizarre Christmas Eve weather! Oh, California.

Holga Fun

Some cross processed beach and sculpture park fun, courtesy of the little plastic Holga!

A Stroll with Some Old Film

An evening stroll at the beach with a lovely old camera and some very expired black and white film... a good time. 

A wavy night at Huntington Beach...

The ocean is just full of texture.

Oceanside, California

An old Pelican, a very rocky beach, and a rose made out of a palm tree branch. We took a train ride along the coast a few months ago to visit this little beach town. We had a nice little stroll on the pier and along the beach. The rocky beach was a new sight for me, and quite an interesting one. We enjoyed snow cones, some rather serious conversation, and got a cool little rose!

A Laguna Stroll

Laguna Beach... a good place to take a walk on a chilly January day in California. (Chilly = 60 degrees) :)

Let's Go Blues! And Mr. Martin Brodeur.

Happy New Year! We rolled into 2015 with two tickets to see my all-time favorite goalie take the ice in Anaheim with the Blue boys. It was a great game and a fun experience to see Martin Brodeur wearing a Blues jersey. We got there super early so we could see the warm-up skate and hang out by the tunnel to see the Blues take the ice. When the non-team Blues people were throwing out the pucks for the warm-up, they turned and threw a couple to some kids. This one guy made eye contact with me and Kim, and she yelled for a puck (she can be loud when she needs to be!). He hesitated, then tossed one directly to her. Pretty cool! Her first Blues game puck! :)