We had planned a long stop in Joshua Tree, California to accomplish a few things.  One was to spend time with my family who live nearby.  I also planned to do some projects around my Mom and Sisters house.  We also wanted to spend some time in the local area and seeing local attractions.  It is also a time to recharge and get ready for part two of our trip which starts in San Diego in March and ends in Albuquerque, NM in Oct.  The plan is to travel up the west coast all the way into Canada and then turn around and head south on the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains back into the southern California desert and then head west to NM for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.

So I plan to post a few times while here.  First is some of the off roading I got to do with my Nephew, who lives nearby and is a retired Marine and knows the local off road trails.

We did celebrate my Birthday with my family…

We also spent a day going to the Palm Springs Tramway, to climb the mountain and have a great lunch overlooking the valley and get reintroduced to the white stuff, called snow…

 

A shipmate from work was passing through the area and we took the opportunity to take some photographs of the sunrise in Joshua Tree.

So that is enough for this post, stay tuned…..