Get update alerts
Locations
- .All Trips
- Art
- Car Culture
- Central America/Caribbean
- Food
- Food Tour
- Pic of the Week
- Sl;ovenia
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
Southern California is at its best in the winter
Our family lived in Southern California for several decades before moving to Eastern Washington in 2004. We enjoyed our life in the Sunny Southland but felt it was time to leave — and we have no regrets about this decision. We still love to travel to SoCal, especially in the winter, as it is the best time of year to visit. The temperatures are pleasant (usually mid-60s — while the rest of the country is chilly), the sky blue and dotted with fluffy clouds (not gray and opacified by smog), and the hills are lush and green (not brown tinder like they’ll be late summer).
We own a timeshare in Newport Beach, which we bought almost a decade ago. The Marriott Newport Coastal Villas is a …
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
Joshua Tree National Park
There’s something about the sight of “trees” (even if they’re just “pseudotrees”) that I find appealing and relaxing. For example, I think the Sonoran desert around Tucson is far more interesting and beautiful because of its giant saguaro cacti. The same is true of the thick growth of ‘Joshua Trees’ in the high Mojave Desert of California and Nevada.
I first visited Joshua Tree in 1983 when it was still a National Monument (declared so three quarters of a century ago by FDR in 1936 & received National Park status in 1994). The memories of broad vistas, desert vegetation, unusual rock formations and Joshua trees remained with me and I’ve returned many times since including on a two night backpacking trip …
