Roving Cooks

April 4: Williams, AZ to Desert Hot Springs, CA. 350 miles, 6 hours

April 4-17: Palm Springs/Joshua Tree area

Our original post-Kanab plan was to head to Moab and check out the many parks in that area. But, upon discovering that Moab was hosting a “Easter Jeep Safari” in early April (clearly a great time for many, and unlikely to be our scene), we switched routes to go to the Grand Canyon and then spend 2 weeks outside Joshua Tree. We stayed at a KOA (Kampground of America) in Desert Hot Springs with a nice playground, putt-putt, pickleball court (which I cannot recall having played ever before), and a pretty big pool (fed by the local Hot Springs). We swam just about every afternoon; nothing like a warm bath when it’s 95 degrees out! Grayson wanted to do nothing but go to the pool every day, and most days we convinced Madelyn to come with (once in, neither kid was keen on getting out).

The best part, though, was that Aunt Christine coordinated with us and had a nearby Airbnb; so we got to have family dinners with her, one sisters’ night out, and TWO sleepover nights (Greg and I took advantage to celebrate our 8th anniversary). All three of us grown-ups found COVID vaccines in Arizona on our way to California; that plus nice weather for outdoor seating (oh, and no kids) made going out actually fun and relaxing!

One of our daytime outings was to the Living Desert Zoo; despite the heat, paths between different creatures felt short. My favorite were the wallabies, which hopped right next to us inside the Australia exhibit. Grayson cycloned through the reptile house about 5 times, which boasted snakes in Pottery Barn décor; Madelyn liked the eagles.

Aunt Christine took a Friday off and found a great hike at Indian Canyon through a palm tree forest with a cool stream at the end for our for hot feet. We saw several little lizards and stepped cautiously after a rattlesnake rumor passed our way from hikers ahead. For my birthday, Chris took the kids for the afternoon and I sat by myself in silence with an iced coffee overlooking the mountains. Blissful!

Our first week, the kids and I did our now habitual “National Park scouting trip” to Joshua Tree. For whatever reason, Grayson and Madelyn were just not feeling it, and pretty much refused to get out of the truck. But – the park has an easily drivable horseshoe that offers many scenic stops (and a visitor center on each end). And we had plenty of snacks. Saturday we returned for our all-family trek through Joshua Tree. With 3 adults to 2 kids, we were able to make a couple stops. While the first couple were accompanied by excessive whining, things perked up after a shaded lunch. Suddenly, climbing a rock sounded fun instead of terrible! The scenery at Joshua Tree is full of boulders and yes, Joshua Trees of Dr. Seuss style. We found lizards, birds, and scat evidence of other creatures (coyotes, we think).

Another kid-favorite was the Cabazon Dinosaurs. In addition to robotic dinosaurs at every turn, there were cute activities like digging for fossils (exchange a rock for a toy) and panning for gems (keep as many rocks as you want! ya-ay!). At the end of the garden path was the giant (Easter themed) T-Rex that we could walk up inside of. We strode bravely into the belly of the beast, (Grayson) dashing up the stairs until the very top where we could look out through the banana-sized fangs, and (Madelyn & Mama) roar out at the highway.

As a final note, when the RV’s rockin’…the winds are super high. Several days of our stay were marked by high wind advisories, and I found myself googling fun things like “wind speed that knocks RV over”. A staff member I chatted with told me that strong winds were normal in this area at this time of year. As I’ve found myself saying things like “watch where you’re going” and “you need to be aware of your surroundings” rather frequently these days, I can’t help but ruefully take these as decent adult reminders.

When you are staying a couple miles away from hundreds of windmills, you perhaps shouldn’t be surprised that it’s windy.