上山入海，看花车走荒漠 (w English)

南加州的冬天就是好，可以上山看雪，下海泛舟。新年有玫瑰花车展，如果想避开人群，还可以去荒漠走一走。

 

老宅男、老宅女的女儿也很宅家:)) 没有远行的计划，这个岁末就去家附近走走吧。

 

12/27 去洛杉矶和Santa Monica海滩(见上一篇  冬游)

 

12/31 2021年的最后一天开车上山看雪景。或许天晴了雪就开始消融了, 消融后的雪山没有了想象中的洁白和壮观。倒是因为积雪，好几处景点都关闭了。

 

 

 

 

 

被啄木鸟啄得千疮万孔的树干

 

 

1/1/2022   新年伊始，开车去看玫瑰花车展。$20一张门票(现在得记下这些价格，for future references)，走了不少冤枉路，排了一个小时的长队，终得一见缤纷妖艳的花车。看图说话:

 

虎年迎新春:

 

 

 

中间用黄椒点缀:

 

疫苗也是一主题:

 

 

 

 

 

 

花车的照片太多了，就先贴这些，眼睛太累了。

 

1/2/2022 再接再厉，进军Joshua Tree National Park ($30一辆车)。 女儿开的车，去两小时车程，回来黑灯瞎火的三小时车程，她一个人开下来，不出状况，也算是她个人的milestone (当然有某人把关). 在西雅图她是属于没车族，以前上下班有公共汽车，近一两年在家上班，更是少出门。这次回家，头两天也没有动静，突然有一天就想起练车。1/1她开车去看完花车，吃完点心，买完菜，她还兴冲冲地要开夜车，某人居然也同意。 这一趟远距离的驾驶给了她信心，也奠定了1/2/2022来回开五小时车程外加在公园内一两个小时开车的基础。

 

因为是一天来回的行程，我们没有上次(12/2019)看得仔细，不过却也爬了一座石头山，走了一条新的trail, 在夕阳的余晖中登高看日落。途中看见一只肥兔在草丛中觅食; 日落时分又遇见一只漂亮的柴狗，只见它望了我们一眼，便转身消失在广阔的大漠里。匆匆一瞥，未能将之摄入镜头。

 

沿途见到的雪山

 

 

 

 

攀岩的勇士

 

 

 

 

 

 

都是旧地重游，却仍有新发现和新收获。

 

01/02/2022:  This is our second visit to Joshua Tree National Park, two years apart from the first one in December 2019. J was in a driving mood that day, and with the dad sitting by the side as a guide, she drove to and fro with confidence-- two hours nonstop to the park and three hours back in the nightly darkness, in a row. Asked why she was so into it this time, she answered that this is the last skill that needs to be mastered.

It was a perfect winter day, sunny and windless. As we entered the park at noon, the temperature outside the car was 50s F. Inside, the temperature was set to high 60s. Sitting at the back seat on the right side, I may not have the best view, but was compensated by the warm sunlight slanting through the car window. Like the Joshua trees that stood by the sides embracing the sun, I felt enveloped in the sunny air.

We stopped by a rock mountain. While J and I lunched in the car, he ventured alone to explore. “The daunting mountain isn’t what it looks”, he said after he safely descended. So under his lead, three of us, sometimes on all fours, made it to the summit. Standing atop, we saw a floor of withered grassland, dotted by numerous scrubby Joshua trees. A road in the middle snakes up. Elevated at the end of desert are mountains forged by varied rocks-- small, big, round or pointed. The formations could be random but often geometrical. The scene was sedate, and we found peace in front of the wilderness.

Two-hour-drive must be exacting for a new driver. As J took her nap in the car, he and I sauntered around.  The air was crisp. The recent rains must have freshened the tips of Joshua trees, as they looked greener than what were in our memories. The needle-like spiny cacti were silvery and shiny in the sun. Later on another trail, we saw a fat gray rabbit scurrying for food among the dry bushes. At our last stop, a coyote was spotted before it disappeared into the depth of the desert. The land looks barren in our eyes, still it is home to dozens of plants and animals, who choose to live in this harsh but spacious desert, surviving and thriving as they adapt themselves generation after generation.

The temperature soon dropped to 30s F in the afternoon. As our shadows dragged long over the rocks, the sun suffused its last rays over the mountains.  At twilight, we were headed home, driving out of the park, down a long slope that was illuminated by the city lights.