Yes To Earth Month

April is Earth Month... and what a month it's been! I swear I've been outside every chance I could get—exploring, biking, hiking, dining on patios, and just taking it all in. Last week, I posted on the Yes To blog about what I'd be doing during Earth Week (April 22 was Earth Day). To read my post, Yes To Celebrating Earth Week, click the link!

What did you say "yes to" during Earth Month?

The Valley of Fire

The day we left Palm Desert to make our two-day drive home to Idaho, we stopped in Nevada at the Valley of Fire State Park. When Daniel took the turn to the park, I had no idea where he was taking me. He said, "Just wait... you're going to love it." And love it I did.

We explored the red rock formations, searched for lizards (and spotted so many), and hiked all over the park. It was beautiful and I'm so glad Daniel took the little 2 1/2 hour detour so we could go experience a new place together!

A desert iguana.

Two chuckwallas warming themselves in the sun (no, they were not mating).

Throughout our whole vacation, we experienced 5-parks, hiked for hours and hours, took way too many pictures, ate the most delicious food, enjoyed the best donuts from the most hole-in-the-wall place in 29 Palms, caught basking rays at the pool, and even got to hit the gym a couple times. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that I introduced Daniel to his very first In-N-Out experience—at which he dined on a hamburger and I loaded up on a Double Double and cheese fries. Heck, when you only have it once a year, the Double Double is the only way to go.

All in all? What a trip!

Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Posts:
Joshua Tree National Park │ Indian Canyon │ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway │ The Living Desert │ The Valley of Fire │ Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Video

The Living Desert

On our last day in Palm Desert, Daniel and I visited The Living Desert. It's a zoo and desert nature system that is absolutely incredible. It features desert landscapes from all over the world, as well as many mammals, reptiles and birds that can also be found in desert habitats. We made our way all over the park, exploring the ins and outs and weaving our way through each exhibit. 

What amazed us most was all the wildlife that could be found in the park—animals that weren't part of exhibits—just hanging out in the wild. Everywhere we went, we crossed paths with spiny lizards, hummingbirds, butterflies, and lots of different birds.

These macaws were really funny!

This is a desert iguana that we found that was in the wild right inside the park.

What a neat park! We arrived at the park at about 10:00 am, so we beat the heat and left just in time to catch some good rays at the pool. We didn't let one moment go to waste during our trip to the desert, that's for sure!

Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Posts:
Joshua Tree National Park │ Indian Canyon │ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway │ The Living Desert │ The Valley of Fire │ Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Video

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

On our third day in Palm Desert, we drove with my dad and his girlfriend to experience the famous Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. My dad has taken my brother and sister up the tramway when they've visited, so now it was our turn!

I'm not a big fan of heights, but the tram car felt secure and even though we went up in elevation almost 6,000 feet (the Mountain Station's elevation is 8,516 feet), I did just fine. The view from the top was great, and we saw lots of wildlife. We also hiked down to the Mount San Jacinto State park and marveled at the height of the giant Lodgepole Pines found there. We finished the trip off with a bowl of chili at the Lookout Lounge. What a trip!

The 5,873 foot climb.

Looking down from a high, high tram car.

Made it to the top, where it was at least 30-degrees cooler than in the valley.

A little mountain squirrel.

When you get off the tram car, you can walk down to great trails in Mount San Jacinto State Park.

Walking down to the trails.

Giant Lodgepole Pines in the park!

What a cool experience that was. I'd love to take the trip again and go on a long mountain hike over one of their forest trails... I would have liked to have done it this time, but we'd done quite a bit of hiking already—as you can tell from my dirty & dusty shoes!

Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Posts:
Joshua Tree National Park │ Indian Canyon │ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway │ The Living Desert │ The Valley of Fire │ Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Video

Indian Canyon

On our second day in Palm Desert, after hiking Joshua Tree for a bit and not seeing much wildlife, we decided to head back down to the valley where it was warmer to try a different hike. We ended up at Indian Canyon, a desert oasis that offers trails that travel by waterfalls, scale some hilly terrain, and was literally crawling with animals.

A little spiny lizard.

The first oasis we traveled across.

Rocky terrain surrounding a desert oasis.

We found a chuckwalla!

Daniel scaling the rock to get a better look at the chuck.

He got right up next to him! This chuck was very laid-back.

A waterfall oasis.

Of the many hikes and places we went, Indian Canyon was our favorite on this trip. The wildlife was everywhere to be found, it was very scenic, and the oases scattered along the trail made for such a beautiful hike. And at 5-miles and a 78-degree day, it couldn't have been much more perfect.

Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Posts:
Joshua Tree National Park │ Indian Canyon │ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway │ The Living Desert │ The Valley of Fire │ Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Video

Joshua Tree National Park

After over 2,000 miles, 5 sightseeing & hiking adventures, many delicious meals, bronze suntans and hundreds of lizard-spottings later—we're home! This last week was spent driving to and from Boise down to Palm Desert, California, and exploring everything in between.

The day after we arrived in Palm Desert, we took the quick drive out to Joshua Tree National Park. It was cooler than we expected (60 +/-) and incredibly windy, so there wasn't much wildlife out and about. But that didn't stop our 2-hour hike adventure.

Flowering ocotillo.

Hiking through the hills.

A teddy bear cholla cactus, which is anything but cuddly.

Ocotillo blooms.

Looking out over the park.

Cholla garden (and notice, I'm stepping on one! That was a hassle to get out, let me tell you!).

More parks & photos to come!

Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Posts:
Joshua Tree National Park │ Indian Canyon │ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway │ The Living Desert │ The Valley of Fire │ Palm Desert Road Trip 2013 Video