Joshua Tree

Out of the City


Yesterday Kevin and I decided to get up at 5:30am - a time that I normally only become acquainted with during the week for early-morning runs - to go rock climbing in Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree is about two hours Southeast of LA in the middle of the California desert and gets its name from the odd little trees that make their home in the area. It's beautiful and, plainly put, hot as hell.

My first visit to Joshua Tree was in the Summer of 2004 when I first arrived in Los Angeles. It was the first trip I had taken in California and proved to be a very rewarding one. When Kevin and I were first dating, I spoke to him about my first trip to Joshua Tree. I was going out of town that weekend and was giving him suggestions about what he could do while I was gone. "When you step out of the car in Joshua Tree," I explained, "your ears just open up to the silence and calm of the desert. You could hear a pin drop." I reminded him that it got really hot in the summer months and he should do it now before it got unbearable.

Six months later and we were finally making the trip - right in the heat of the July. The night before we spent a good two hours in Kevin's garage slightly intoxicated and behaving like children. First we unloaded the surf boards from the truck. Next we played with Kevin's mountain bike. Then we found the climbing gear. Kevin taught me about all the different carabiners, ropes, and belay devices. He showed be a water knot - a knot that is surprisingly simple, yet I'm supposed to expect it to hold my entire weight while dangling off of a cliff! I'm not yet convinced.

I was half asleep in bed the next morning when I heard the sprinklers going off outside. This is normally my 5am alarm, so I knew I only had another half an hour. The time past quickly as time normally does when one is fast asleep and slightly hungover. "You ready to drive for two hours," Kevin said. I didn't know I had driving duty, but I anticipated a great day trip and finally got myself out of bed.

Joshua tree is amazing, and the trees themselves are pretty fascinating. They are a monocotyledonous tree with large branches and greenish cluster spikes that grown in the Southwest. It's not a bad trip down I-10 and well worth it if you're into hiking, rock climbing, and camping. To first time visitors, the area can appear pretty stark and barren, but it is actually filled with a variety of wildlife and fascinating rock formations.

Survive The City Tip:
You can find many books on the area - everything from road maps, to campsite information - at any local book store, REI, or even once you get to Joshua Tree. The Joshua Tree visitor center is open all year round from 8-5pm. Plan your trip and make sure to bring lots of water! For more information google "Joshua Tree" or check out some of these sites. http://www.joshua.tree.national-park.com/
http://www.joshuatreechamber.org/

Kiss The Carabiner

While we were in Joshua Tree last weekend, Kevin and I went rock climbing. I've never really rock climbed before. Unless, of course, you count that one time I climbed on an indoor rock in Anderson, South Carolina. Something tells me that that setup of fake plastic rocks and some redneck yelling "Climb Cletus, Climb" while holding a beer in one hand and a belay rope in the other just isn't the scene most rock climbers are looking for. Even my good friend April who took me rock climbing that day didn't seem incredibly thrilled with the experience she was sharing with me.

Anyway, Kevin and I unloaded the truck in the middle of the Joshua Tree Desert. It had to have been at least 100 degrees and it was only 10am.
Dogs weren't allowed off the road, but we couldn't resist the chance to break the rules a little bit. We freed Marley of her leash and let her run amongst the desert creatures she'd been dying to chase. It's quite entertaining to watch her dart back and forth through the brush and sand as she chases an unsuspecting rabbit or two.

So here we are, walking through the Joshua Trees towards these amazing rock formations. With backpacks filled with gear and water bottles in our hands, we sought out the perfect rock to climb. The evening before, I had told Kevin I didn't like the feel of chalk on my hands, so today he insisted I carry the chalk bag. "Since you don't like chalk, you carry the chalk." Perhaps this was his way of making sure I bonded with the chalk before the climb. As we walked, I carefully filed my nails in preparation. For those of you who know me well, having long nails is quite unusual. I bite them, and when I don't in an attempt to make them grow, they usually break or peel. However, on this particular day my nails were long. I'd spent the last two weeks putting some form of Sally Hansen Miracle Grow on them and it was finally paying off. As I filed them down to their usual stubby state, I noted the irony of the situation.

We found one particular rock that didn't look too difficult to climb. Later I'd quickly learn that a rock's appearance is often deceiving. It looked easy, but for this first-timer, it was not. We checked out the face of the rock and then moved to the back to climb up to the top.
Here we'd prepare the ropes. Kevin walked me through the process step by step as we created our support system. I wanted to trust the ropes, and I wanted to trust him, but I couldn't help but think about my mother and the horrible dreams she has of me falling off a cliff. So as Kevin hung from the edge, I placed myself firmly on a solid rock and watched him safely from afar.

Then we started the climb. It was easy at first as I placed my feet and hands, but the farther I got, there weren't as many places to put my feet or grab on to. Then Kevin picked the perfect time to take pictures - right when I was completely scared to death. "I'm going to take a video," he yelled up at me. "Kevin please! I'm freakin out here. Don't let go of the rope." "Now how can I hold the rope and take a video," he joked. I didn't find it funny. I don't like to give up though, so as tough as it seemed to be, I continued climbing as Kevin yelled, "Kiss the Carabiner baby, you gotta kiss the Carabiner." He later made fun of me for actually having kissed the thing.
"Hey, watch it Kevin," I said, "It was my first time; you should be proud of me, not making fun of me!" No worries though - I got back at him when it was his turn to climb. I told him I know how to belay, but I'm not so sure I had a clue as to what I was doing. "Honey, of course I wouldn't let you fall." But remember folks, it was Cletus who taught me how to belay.

I Go Rough

Okay people, let's face the music - the advertising music that is. If you ask me, owning a Chevy, unless of course it's a 'Vette', is about as classy as going to the prom with your cousin or serving Twinkies at your wedding. And don't even get me started on Dodges. Dodges suck. I will never own another Dodge again. Ever, ever, ever. The only reason they make Dodges is so that junkyards won't be left empty! But the war of trucks will continue and I have to hand it to Chevy for coming up with a pretty kick-ass ad campaign that has stuck in all of our heads over the years. In fact the "Like a Rock" campaign was so successful that Chevy is now looking for a new jingle for its passenger car division that will get the target market humming again.

But I digress. As you can tell,
my loathing of American vehicles is strong, so you can imagine that I'm thrilled by the fact that Kevin drives a Toyota. I love this truck. In fact, I think it's the first time I've ever felt emotion towards an inanimate object -(don't tell her or her owner that I called her inanimate!).


This weekend we went "four-wheeling" and had a blast. At one point we got the truck "stuck" so we got out to take a few pictures. It wasn't a problem though - this vehicle can handle just about anything.

As we drove, I told Kevin a story about how, when I was a child, I didn't quite understand the lyrics in the Chevy commercial. "I go rough," I thought it said. I sang to Kevin as we rode along, "You know... Ohhhh I go rough..." He got a big kick out of it. Actually, at first he thought I was saying "Like it Rough...oh I like it rough." Now if I were singing those lyrics as an eight-year old, that, my friends, would be comparative to marrying your sister in a shotgun wedding and serving ding dongs! Yeee Hawwwww!