Hollywood and Malibu

 

After spending the night in a hotel in Los Angeles, we drove around the Hollywood Hills before stopping at Griffith Park to hike for some better views of the iconic Hollywood sign. Poor Luca was car sick by the time we had winded our way to the trailhead but he felt better after we hiked for a bit.

"There's some letters over there!" Liam exclaimed in amazement 

When mama tells you to hold hands...

His face when he saw a bird flying BELOW us!

After hiking at Griffith Park, we drove along the coast to Malibu. Malibu is well known for being the home of many celebrities who build their mansions on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

It was a very beautiful beach

Trying to catch a seagull

Luca, as always, was terrified of the waves

Yes, my son can levitate ;-)

Lots of seaweed but not many shells on this beach

A Disturbing Juxtaposition

 After saying goodbye to our friends in Palm Springs, we decided to swing over to Los Angeles to see the sights before we made the journey back to Yuma. I have heard of the state of Los Angeles but wasn't prepared for just how truly shocking and awful it is. The politicians of the area have enacted policies, whether out of laziness or a messed up view of compassion, which have devastated the city. Homelessness is rampant. Most of the homeless are drug addicted and/or mentally ill and rather than providing help to these people, the leadership "compassionately" allows them to set up camp along sidewalks, streets, freeways, under overpasses, and in all the parks. 

Someone sleeping under a tarp in the rain in the park 

Makeshift dwellings lining the streets

Camped out next to a 7 Eleven downtown

The scene as we waited at a stop light. Notice someone is camped in the median between the traffic lanes as well as both sides of the street.

The streets and sidewalks are scattered with incredible mountains of garbage and piles of human waste and needles are scattered everywhere. Addicts are given free reign to shoot up in the streets, many of them overdosing every day. "Medieval" diseases have cropped up in the area such as typhus and tuberculosis due to the unsanitary conditions. 

Someone carrying their belongings down the middle of the road

Many windows were smashed out of businesses downtown from recent riots

An encampment next to the ramp to the interstate

As we drove through the downtown area, huge multi-million dollar skyscrapers lined both sides of the street while at the base of these buildings people huddled under tarps and piles of filth blocked the sidewalks. The amount of filth and garbage is something you have to see to believe. It was truly incredible. 

As we made our way out of downtown toward the Beverly Hills area the filthy streets suddenly gave way to huge mansions, tall metal gates, manicured lawns, and luxury cars. We wound our away around the streets in Beverly Hills and admired the homes of the ultra wealthy and celebrities who live there.

But I had to think, the people who live in Beverly Hills have no choice but to drive by the incredible poverty and human suffering occurring at their doorsteps. And yet somehow the wealthy and powerful in this place have decided that allowing people to live in filth and die of typhus or overdose is more compassionate than taking measures to help these people. It was hard to believe as we drove around the streets of Los Angeles that we supposedly live in a first world country. 

"For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, "You shall open wide your hand to you brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11

Palm Springs, CA

 

One of my very best friends from my college years lives in California and I always thought it would be so neat to be able to go see her, never imagining I would end up living just across the border from California. This past weekend we finally had the chance to meet up in Palm Springs and visit the Palm Springs Air Museum together -- an obvious choice as we both have airplane loving little boys!

A mere $1000 and you can hitch a ride in this plane too

California is still largely closed down and there are few places that are open. Thankfully the air museum is made up of several huge open airplane hangers and an outdoor lot full of planes so I guess it is open enough to be allowed to remain open. The museum abuts the Palm Springs Airport so the boys were delighted to watch airplanes come and go throughout our time at the museum. 

They were a little shy at first but soon bonded over a mutual love for rock throwing and plant uprooting

After we had seen everything there was to see at the museum, we went on a mission to find food. Unfortunately, the governor of California has decreed that both indoor AND outdoor seating are illegal and most restaurants are completely closed down. So we got fast food tacos and spent the rest of our visit sitting on a curb in the parking lot eating and visiting while our little boys played in a ditch and dry desert area next to the parking lot. Certainly not the swankiest of dining experiences but our children were thoroughly entertained the whole time while we enjoyed our time visiting.

U-Pick Citrus

 Our little corner of the world outside of Yuma is surrounded by hundreds of acres of citrus groves. We drive by them every day and see busloads of workers harvesting oranges, lemons, and grapefruits and big trucks laden with crates of citrus fruit rumble by our RV park all day every day. 

Today we had the opportunity to get our hands on some of the delicious local grown citrus when went to a small farm owned by an elderly couple a few miles from us. They have a u-pick citrus grove and we had SO much fun picking tangerines and grapefruits to take home.

Liam ran to and fro filling up our bucket with grapefruits.

Alvin enjoyed talking to the owner and learning all the interesting facts about farming in the desert and the irrigation system that makes it possible. It has been more than a year since this farmer has seen any rain at all! 

Luca enjoyed picking up grapefruits and then tossing them to the ground.

As with everything, eating fresh citrus fruit straight from the tree is much more delicious than store bought. We filled a five gallon bucket (for only $5!) and now have fruit to last us awhile. The farmer said the fruit ripens all at once and will stay good on the tree for months so we are welcome to come back for more as long as there is still unpicked fruit on the trees. I am sure we'll be back! 

Liam was excited to find some "baby oranges" (limes)

The Grand Canyon

Early on our first day at the national park, we drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I have heard all my life that pictures can never do it justice and you have to see it in real life to comprehend that scope of the Canyon. That is definitely true! It is a spectacular sight to behold and I am thankful I finally had the opportunity to see it in person. 

There are trails that wind their way down into the canyon and we could spot hikers all the way down there. I would have loved a chance to hike down into the canyon but toddlers, snow, and freezing temperatures ensured we didn't get the opportunity this time.

The mighty Colorado River winds its way through the Canyon. From the rim it looks like a tiny strip of blue but I imagine it is quite huge up close. 

While we didn't get the chance to take a helicopter ride into the canyon, we did get to park by the airport and watch a couple of them take off. The boys were thrilled. 

As we left the park, there were cars lined up for miles to get in to see the Grand Canyon. I am thankful we went early!  
 

Camping in a Frozen Forest

For Alvin's extended New Year's holiday weekend, we took the opportunity to drive 6 hours north to Grand Canyon National Park. The drive took is through a wide range of terrains. It's hard to believe it is all the same state! We started off in the agricultural farmland around Yuma which soon turned into desert wasteland. Eventually we drove up to higher elevations and miles upon miles of ranchland. We saw roadrunners, coyotes, and antelope as well as fields of cattle and horses. Finally, we entered forest land where the roads are lined with majestic ponderosa pines. We expected it to be colder, but weren't quite prepared for just how cold it was once we reached our destination. I had done some research ahead of time and had found some county fire roads that RVers can boondock off of. We soon discovered the road was covered in ice and snow, something we haven't seen in almost a year.  

Once we were parked and setup at our new campsite, we settled in for the night. I cooked hot soup--the first time I've felt like the weather called for soup in quite some time. We then made hot chocolate and snuggled up to tell stories. Liam has reached the age where he is fascinated with stories from our childhood and so we went back and forth telling different stories from when we were little. Liam listened with wide eyes and rapt attention and I was reminded of the many times throughout my childhood when we would beg Dad to tell stories from his life. Such sweet memories!

Unfortunately, the camper battery chose the middle of the night, when the temperature was in the teens, to go bad and we woke up to see our breath coming out in great clouds of steam. I bundled the boys up as best I could but they were thoroughly unimpressed with the cold and wailed when I took them out from under their cozy blankets.

The weather warmed as the day progressed and the cooler temperatures were quite refreshing. We enjoyed exploring the woods around our campsite. We discovered an elk head and hide just a few feet into the woods. We enjoyed collecting pine cones and looking for signs of wildlife. 

We were a little more prepared for the cold temperatures our second night in the forest. We went to bed bundled up and piled every blanket we own on top of ourselves. Alvin woke up early and hooked the truck battery to the camper so we could warm the camper up a bit before we had to get up. It was a mostly fun adventure but it never felt better to get back to Yuma and a balmy 75 degrees! 

Christmas in the Desert

 Living in the arid desert where nary a snowdrop or an icicle is to be seen made it especially hard for me to comprehend that it was actually Christmastime this year. Some people put up Christmas lights and occasionally I heard Christmas music in the grocery store, but if it weren't for that you'd never know. Thankfully, two of my siblings, Rose and Zeke, took the opportunity to spend their holiday vacations with us. 

The Wednesday before Christmas, after seeing Alvin off to work, I strapped the sleepy boys into their seats and we embarked on the almost three hour drive to the airport in San Diego. Liam was SO excited to see Uncle Zeke and Auntie Rosie. After we greeted them at the bottom of the escalator and Uncle Zeke swooped Liam up in his arms, Liam held the biggest grin on his face until I'm sure his face hurt from smiling so much. 

Fun times with Auntie Rosie! 

Luca wanted to walk...

We loved our time with family. While we are certainly thankful for Alvin's job and a warm winter, we sure have missed our family and friends back in Kentucky! We spent our weekend visiting the Ghost Town at Castle Dome, the Painted Desert Trail, and Alvin and Zeke and their buddy Wayne hiked to the top of Castle Dome. 

Rosie and Zeke must have brought some clouds with them from Kentucky because their first day here was the first gray day we've seen. Thankfully, the clouds dissipated and the sun came back out for Christmas day

On Christmas morning we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 at breakfast. Then the boys were delighted to open their presents from family back home. That day we made a deep fried turkey and I did my best to make several courses to go with it in my tiny kitchen with my tiny stove. It may not have been the fanciest of meals but it was delicious and the company was even better.

So, we proved snow and freezing temperatures aren't necessary for a delightful Christmas with family and friends!