California in August
San Diego and Big Bear Lake
We arrived in San Diego and began three weeks in sunny Southern California. We drove up to Big Bear Lake, high above the Los Angeles basin, at around 7500 feet. We seem to like this altitude, as our two trips to 7500-feet-up Mexico City (one of our favorite cities in the world) will attest! But the air in Big Bear is crystal clear, fresh, and cool. What a treat after our sultry Southern summer at home! Long, sunny walks and fishing during the day; blankets at night. Summertime Big Bear is gorgeous.
Seamless days of hiking—Mission Gorge, Torrey Pines, among others—relaxing by the pool, and resting.
Los Angeles
Following an afternoon at the beautiful Descanso Gardens near Pasadena, I headed to the home of my dear friends, Jeff and Kathy Shapiro (I grew up with Jeff). My gracious hosts gave me a wonderful week in their beautiful home, and our visit was superb—laughter, great discussions, good food, and time by their pool. Nothing better than a good visit to reinforce close relationships. We were lucky, also, to enjoy a long, leisurely lunch in San Diego with another childhood, dear friend, Lisa Spigai.
Back to San Diego
We made our first visit to the San Diego Botanic Garden. It’s the perfect size for a leisurely walk—not too big—and it is divided into areas according to where plants originated, ie. New Zealand, Mediterranean, South Africa, etc. Fascinating, for us plant nuts, to see so many exotic plants displayed so carefully and beautifully. The terrain is hilly, which adds to the drama.
And here’s WHY we travel: For the THRILL of new discoveries. Two we experienced on this trip: the Yuha Desert, east of San Diego, and Joshua Tree National Park, north of Palm Springs.
The Yuha Desert is barren, with an alien landscape (to us, at least) and textbook desert scenes. Plus a border and big fence and, oh boy, a furnace, too!
The last few days of our trip were spent in the desert east of Los Angeles. Joshua Tree National Park: WOW!!! Joshua Tree lies in the northern, higher part of the Mojave Desert and the southern, lower part of the Colorado Desert. Most of the Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia)are in the Mojave portion. We hiked the Split Rock Trail. Because of the altitude, the temperatures were tolerable, though the sun was fierce (and humidity around 10%). We were literally the only people on the trail, and all we could hear was the wind. It was heavenly, and starkly, hauntingly, tear-jerkingly beautiful. We roared south through the park, on our way to Palm Springs for the night, listening to U2’s Joshua Tree album and music by the oh-so-right-for-California Lana Del Ray, at full blast. What a day! Unforgettable.
And what better way to end a fantastic trip than dinner in Pasadena with our dear friend, Michael Bowman. Michael is a champion for the growing of industrial hemp across the country.
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