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.