The closest thing we have to real lilacs in California is Ceanothus. It doesn’t have the heavenly fragrance, but the color is quite beautiful, especially at sunset. . . .
The plants in the background? Echium, another favorite.
Great weekend, everyone, and Happy Mother’s Day to my readers in the U.S.!
{carole}
The Cotswolds area of England is one of my favorite parts of the country. The climbing roses everywhere, the quaint villages and that gorgeous golden limestone make it unbelievably picturesque.
I took this in the little town of Chipping Camden. According to Wiki, “Chipping” is from Old English cฤping, “a market, a market-place.”
Hope your week’s going well. I’d like to welcome the new subscribers. Feel free to comment anytime–I’d love to hear from you.
{carole}
No, we didn’t climb it, we took the tram. ๐ My son and his friends did climb it, though.
We drove up to Valley Station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which was already at 2643 feet above sea level. The ten-minute tram ride took us up the remaining eight thousand-or-so feet.
Here’s our tram.
This is the “Worldโs Largest Rotating Tramcar,” which means there are no bad seats. It also means you can’t really hold onto the railing because it moves too. Once everyone got used to that, it was a lot easier. Some people didn’t want to let go. ๐
And, we’re off. I’m not a fan of heights, but for some reason looking down didn’t bother me. Whenever we crossed one of those tower things, there was a big bump and that was a little scary. Kind of like when the ferris wheel suddenly stops at the top. Strangely, looking at the surrounding rocks made me feel a little faint:
Just told myself I was in an airplane and tried to keep my footing while taking photos in a vehicle that went up as well as around. The tramcar rotated slowly, so I didn’t have to worry about shutter speed so much. It wasn’t that late in the day, but the mountain was already blocking out the sun.
A partial view of Palm Springs down below. Those white things on the left? Wind turbine generators, otherwise known as windmills. They generate a lot of power for the Palm Springs area.
Almost near the top. Trees and snow! When we left Palm Springs, it was 85F. The temp at the top of the mountain was 55F.
More rocks and views.
When we reached the top, I took this photo of the docking area. I’m sure it’s much more sturdy than it looks.
Long Valley Deck with great views of Palm Springs, etc.
A really nice paved path with railings.
This is either Peaks Restaurant or Pines Cafe. We weren’t eating, so I didn’t pay close attention to the names.
I was kind of excited to see snow after more than a year without. It was also exciting to leave it when I wanted to. ๐
Remnants of the sunset. There was dust or fog down below, but the blues were still beautiful.
Rock formations along the path.
It was getting dark and pretty chilly, so back down we went. . . .
Hope you don’t have vertigo.
Back to solid ground. So glad we went up!
Great weekend, everyone. . . .
{carole}
I was leaving a nursery the other day, and liked the light on this hanging basket of petunias. The image made me think of summer, hence the title.
Hope your week’s going well so far. . . .
{carole}
Meanwhile, back at the park. . . .
We were here after pretty heavy rains. The shoulders of the main road are composed of sand and a lot of them had washed away. It has to be a lot more brown in the dry summer months.
This is Skull Rock. See the eyes and nose?
Here’s a side view with a kid in a white baseball cap so you can see the size of the rocks:
From then on, it was Joshua Trees and more rock formations.
According to geologists, this landscape is more than 100 million years old.
We drove up to a lookout called Keys View. On a clear day you can see pretty far, but there dust storms that day. . . .
The mountain on the left is Mt. San Jacinto, which we visited the previous day. More on that in the future. The peak on the right is San Gorgonio, which is visible from northern San Diego County.
A closer look at San Gorgonio:
Kind of fun to see snow when it’s 90F.
If a Joshua Tree doesn’t bloom, it won’t form branches. Yucca moths pollinate the trees and then feed the seeds to their young.
I would have loved to be there at sunset when the rocks turn orange, but we’d already been there most of the day. My son said the stars at night are just incredible there.
I’ll be posting on Tuesdays and Fridays from now on. Gives me more time between posts.
Great weekend, everyone!
{carole}
During our stay in Palm Springs, we drove over to Joshua Tree National Park, a place I’d wanted to see for years. The park covers 790,636 acres, an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. It also includes two deserts, the Mohave and the Colorado. We started at the southern entrance.
This was a first view of the park:
Quite a few wildflowers were in bloom.
A large part of the park is designated wilderness, which is pretty obvious in these photos. There are campgrounds scattered throughout the park, but there are no amenities. Not even a vending machine in the visitor centers. Luckily we brought water and snacks with us. My son camped here with friends a while back, and my hat is off to them. A bit too desolate and rugged for me.
I did like the way the mountains changed color. Here they look almost lavender.
After a while, the landscape changed to boulders like these:
Rock climbing is pretty popular here, along with hiking. I would not hike here in the summer, because it was nearly 90F. in April. There had been recent flooding, so the main road was being worked on. Even with all that, it didn’t take that long to see everything.
After a while, I was beginning to wonder where all the Joshua trees were. I should note here that Joshua Trees are not trees at all–they are succulents called Yucca brevifollia. Mormons came up with the name because the shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer. The “trees” grow in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
Finally, a sighting:
We were lucky to be there when the Joshua Trees were in bloom. . . .
I loved the way the trees contrasted with the boulders:
More on Thursday.
{carole}
After much pleading with my scanner, I finally got it to work and was able to scan this photo of the Great Bath, which is part of the Roman Baths in Bath, England. A truly beautiful city.
We found the entire site to be fascinating. I’ll post more pics in the future.
We’ll be out of town next week, but I’ll be back here on the 23rd. Great weekend, everyone!
{carole}
Apologies here. I meant to have my posts on Joshua Tree ready this week, but yesterday was my husband’s birthday and we’re getting ready for a trip. So, just a photo of Indian Hawthorn today. . . .
I finally got my scanner working again, so hoping to do more scans of my older travel photos. I’ll have one for you on Thursday.
Hope your week’s going well so far.
{carole}
So, we spent a few days in Palm Springs last week. . . .
I’d been there before, but it had been ages, so I forgot about all the mountains with nothing on them. Nothing but rocks–so unusual. Not sure I could get used to that. . .I need more green. In town, there are flowers and green grass, but the minute you leave the city limits, it’s dry, dusty and brown.
There was bougainvillea everywhere:
I shot this while waiting for my husband to check us into the hotel.
This was in the outdoor breakfast room. It was heavenly to eat outside again.
The weather was pretty much perfect: dry, mid-80s with a breeze. One day it was 90F, but that didn’t bother us. After living on the humid East Coast, this was easy.
Palm Canyon Drive is kind of the main drag in Palm Springs. Lots of colorful shops and restaurants.
At night, the place really came alive. People everywhere, spilling out of restaurants. A great party atmosphere every night, warm enough to walk around without a sweater or jacket. There was no way I’d use flash or a tripod there, so took these less-than-stellar shots with my iPhone:
The skies really were this azure color at night.
The Plaza Theatre is home to the Palm Springs Follies. Vaudeville is not our thing, so we passed on that.
I love this old lantern next to the bougainvillea, the white stucco and wooden door.
How great is this old Caddie with the license plate “Buttah”?
Finally, a statue of Marilyn Monroe:
I thought “Forever Marilyn” was permanently moored in Chicago, but evidently she’s touring the country. Did you know the sculptor is Johnson & Johnson heir Seward Johnson, age 80? Here are the specs:
Materials: Bronze and stainless steel
Height: 26 feet tall, 17 ft. wide, 18 ft. deep
Weight: 34,300 lbs.
Marilyn was discovered at a racquet club in Palm Springs and had a bungalow there.
On Tuesday, Joshua Tree National Park.
Great weekend, everyone!
{carole}
I’d almost forgotten one of my favorite California plants, Echium, or Pride of Madeira. They’re in bloom right now and the blue-violet color amazes me every time I see them. . . .
Close-up:
Did you find the bee?
I once saw a hillside landscaped with nothing but echium and green agave plants. So beautiful.
Echium plants are great for covering large areas, because they get huge. Eight feet tall and three feet wide.
They are native to Madeira and the Canary Islands, and are drought-tolerant.
Hope your week’s going well. Last week we went to Palm Springs for a few days. I’m still editing the photos (I took a lot.) so will try to upload some in my next post.
{carole}
Pearls & Prose 