i am packing up to go back home right now it's scary it's been a minute since i've
been back in southern california and i have limited solo trips left before i'm not gonna
be able to do them anymore so i'm headed out to have an adventure in joshua tree anza borrego
what is this do a whole bunch of hiking and see if i even like cancer how stupid is this i
kind of want to just turn around and be done hope everything goes well water is a good thing to have
if you're gonna go into the desert by yourself gonna be packing down to the last minute here
hello from california so i just touched down in burbank and i'm in a really sweet car now that
i'll show you guys a little bit later currently in traffic because la but anytime i'm here i just
feel good because this is where i was born and raised and home is always going to be home i'm
heading out to the desert now heading out to joshua tree and generally be in solitude
hi you said perks pass right here you go all right okay thank you you too i see them so
what's pretty special about the joshua trees is they really only grow in the southwestern u.s
and right now they happen to be blooming and this is not something that happens every single year
so you kind of get lucky with this and i totally did i wanted to see desert blooms
while i was here and it hasn't been a super heavy rain here so that might be tricky but i get to see
the joshua trees i'm gonna pull off here let's take a look at some
what do i believe what makes me feel it to write you this song
well this is fun found a little random dirt road to drive down
i mean i'm not much of a planner in my everyday life this is a park where i feel like it is
so fun actually to just drive around take random roads and just like see where it leads
because the big event here is joshua trees and i'm seeing them everywhere
by now you've probably noticed this gorgeous ride toyota's 2022 rav4 trd off-road my road
trip buddy for this trip i was stoked on the ability to head off road since i have some
dirt and deep sand adventures ahead of me but also just look at how beautiful she is
this place is obviously adorable and that is a big reason why i
booked it but the bigger reason is because of what it has outside
heart filled with worries
no more in a way
um right i am going to bed now because it's 10 what the hell am i talking i'm going to bed
because i'm getting up for sunrise tomorrow but i got a little bit of a drive into the park
so um it's not gonna be a lot of sleep but it's gonna be really wonderful day
see you in like six and a half hours i'm so ridiculously tired right now it's
the five
this thing has a seat warmer yes okay i'm up so early because i'm going to the
paula chala cactus garden for sunrise i feel like the sea is silent but i wonder
if that's just because i'm thinking of the bread about 40 minutes away
far away you know what i just realized it's probably a cholla cactus like c-h-o-l-l-a right
apparently these cacti are kind of dicks because their spines like really love attaching to things
and they're like for real and hard to get out of things so i'll keep a respectable distance friend
that sure was nice worth the wake up it's always worth the wake up i am one ravenous beach so
it's time for breakfast
water is a good thing to have if you're gonna go into the desert by yourself
wow this is amazing i haven't been to this part exactly of california i mean i've been
all over the southern part in the deserts and all that but there's always new little corners
that you can explore and discover and this is just amazing all the colors all the layers
continue on painted canyon road for five miles i actually have a rocking dirt setting settings
is the painted canyon there's like ladders and climbing and stuff
you'll see how i do navigating it with a bigger belly but i think i got this
so lame when people do that i'm all for like
expressing yourself on city walls that no one cares about but this
is gonna be here for such a long time just so someone could be an idiot for like five minutes
there's the first ladder that's tight
this is a weird way to go down a ladder you know the fact that
you're watching this means i did it twice so i could record it oh it's fine one more
how many chins do i have at this
angle right now
so
that looks like a geocache box who else grew up with a nerdy mother sorry mom i love you
but you can't deny it it's getting hot i think it's like 62 and i'm sweating
i kind of want to just turn around and be done but i also would have fomo you know like most of the
hike is still left so what if there's really cool stuff i'd be missing i mean this is nice it's nice
you can kind of see the canyon down below now i'm
up out of that now i'm up on the ridge for probably another couple miles
before descending back down into the canyon so wondering if i made the right choice but here i am
made it to the highest point of the trail so it's literally all
downhill from here and i'm feeling much better now
you know what an arrow with two pointing ends is [ __ ] pointless oh this is marble
cool back to the arrow where i started
that means the end is night hello hello old friend oh my god we're twinning look at that
car actually has a seat heater that i used this morning and a seat cooler
and it like it's working right away i love it
okay cars becoming a mess it's arrived at this place called palm canyon resort it's
like an rv resort and i didn't realize that it was gonna be this like very cute western vibe
i mean let me just show you it looks like it's supposed to be like an old western town
oh my gosh
many hours later now it is sunset time and i just want to drive around and find these
sculptures that this area has like these big metal sculptures that are kind of famous out here
because i want to go back at 4 00 a.m and take a star shot with them
it's just it's an early morning thing and i just don't want to be looking in the dark
so let's scout so here's like a camel is that a dinosaur what is this
man that will be so cool for a star shot so i just need to find the southern part okay so the
milky way should be here so i'll have to be on this side okay i feel like we tend to find the
people who love weird strange ridiculous things as much as i do when you head out to the desert
and whoever organized this started it just to put this out here so people could come enjoy it
i'm into it back in the room in bed i got just one job to do until it's four see you then
we are about to see honestly the best sunrise in california
um
um i hate all of it i realized though i didn't have dinner last night because i fell asleep
so early so yeah i don't regret it had a shower and now i'm heading to temecula for the night
not necessarily to see what there is in temecula but because it's very close to lake elsinore
where i'm really hoping to see some poppies tonight i've invited my mom to come meet up
with me and temecula neither of us have ever really explored it we've only just driven through
so i'm excited to see it this is very cute my mom already checked in hello
it's beautiful this is really nice
oh yeah
this is good dears
now do you think this stripy thing is going to land or yeah how long is this going to go
they keep like looking like they're gonna land and then popping back up
well i can't do the hot air balloon right now because of this but it is really fun to watch
it from here surprised and impressed i've only ever really passed through
temecula on the freeway it's pretty cool mom right yeah it sure is unexpectedly so yeah i really
had no expectations but it's actually pretty cool here all right goodbye beautiful winery
okay last big stop i wanna see if i can find some poppies doesn't look like a great year for it but
maybe there will be some cross your fingers and toes for me well i see some flowers not many
but some so i will see some california poppies today but when it's at its peak
these hills are like orange but still even in a non-super blue mirror it'll be a nice walk
see all the places where people have made their own trails
and how it really kills all the vegetation so that's why we're supposed to stay on
the trail so that these can still survive because that's what happens
maybe i didn't get a super bloom but it's always amazing being out here
exploring the desert by myself and then being able to finish with time spent with family
i cherish every time i get to come back to my home state and happy to put this into the memory books