California Love

Long post alert!! I've been out of town all week, visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Palm Desert, California. You know how it is when you visit a beautiful place--you want to do all the things and that is what we did! By the end of the week, my feet were sore and I was tired. I'm heading home today, with one day to recover before I return to work and life on Tuesday. It should be interesting, considering the 2 hour time difference between California and Chicago plus the 1 hour time change this weekend. 

In the meantime, I've recapped this very full week here on the blog. Thanks in advance for reading!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: travel to California

Monday: trail run 8 miles/1200 fr

Tuesday: hike 5 miles/800 ft

Wednesday: trail run 9.25 miles/1825 ft.

Thursday: hike 8 miles/1625 ft

Friday: road trip to the coast

Saturday: Fluid Running (shallow water)

After a long travel day on Sunday, I tried to stay up late to adjust to the 2 hour time change. On Monday, I woke up at 5 am (7 am my time). I had a cup of coffee, and I headed to the mountain trails adjacent to my sister's house to try to catch the sunrise. It was a little smoky! I literally blazed up the trail in record time to get to the peak where the giant cross is located. I was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise! 

I headed back down the trail toward my favorite segment, Hopalong Cassidy. I love how this trail winds around the mountains and goes up and down. It's also less popular than some of the other segments. I connected to the Bump and Grind trail, looped around, and headed back towards home. My hamstrings were really talking to me!

Later, while my sister worked, my brother-in-law and I took a ride to explore the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is the largest inland lake in California. Back in the 1970s, it was a bustling resort area. Due to environmental factors, the lake became heavily polluted and highly concentrated in salts. This led to the collapse of the area's economy. The surrounding towns became ghost towns, but people still live there--artists, hipsters, and off-the-grid types. We visited Bombay Beach, imagining what it must have been like back in the day. We saw a lot of graffiti and abandoned buildings, but there were also some, well-kept homes. We had lunch at the Ski Inn, a bar with dollar bills stuck to the ceiling. Anthony Bourdain once visited there and had a patty melt, which is what I had for lunch. Bombay Beach is 223 ft below sea level. There was salt crusted on some of the lower spots on the beach, reminding me of our visit to Death Valley last year and Badwater Basin, a large salt flat. 

We also visited Slab City, located near the south end of the Salton Sea, which is a community built on the slabs from an abandoned WWII Marine Corps training camp. Known as the 'last free place on earth', it attracts people looking to live off the grid, as well as artists and snowbirds. Everyone lives in RVs or trailers--some very nice and some that look uninhabitable. There is no electricity, running water, or sewer. We were greeted at the entrance by Salvation Mountain, one man's tribute to God. 

We made our way around the area to East Jesus, an area of art installations mostly created from trash. To be honest, the artwork was a little bizarre. There were a lot of old TVs, tires, and cars. There was also an old treadmill made into something. You know the saying: one man's trash is another man's treasure. It was an interesting experience. Desert dwellers are a different breed of people. 

My sister had to work on Tuesday again, so my brother-in-law took me to a really fun trail for a 5 mile hike. 5 miles, easy peasy, right? Not so much. This trail was similar to Joshua Tree, with lots of cool rock formations and narrow passages. There were also a couple of steep climbs up to the top of the mountain with a trail along the crest. It was just a beautiful trail and I really enjoyed the hike. You definitely could not run this trail and I think that was a blessing.

It was overcast when I woke up on Wednesday, so there was no rush to catch the sunrise. I was out the door by 6:30 am, with plans to complete the loop on the Bump and Grind Trail, something I had never done. The trail I normally run on links to it, so it worked out well and gave me lots of miles and vert. The sun came out eventually and it warmed up in a hurry!

When I got back, we drove up to Idyllwild, which is a cute little mountain town about 45 minutes away. The road that took us there is a curvy mountain road with lots of hairpin turns. We eventually climbed to 5000 ft of altitude. The temperature was significantly cooler--46F and the landscape changed from desert to mountain, with lots of pine trees. We had lunch at a brewpub and did some shopping. It reminded me of a northern Wisconsin town. Oh, and the mayor of the town is a golden retriever! 

On Thursday, my brother-in-law and I went on another hike--this time an 8 mile out and back on the Art Smith Trail. Most of the ascent-we gained over 1800 feet on this hike- is within the first couple of miles on this steep, rocky trail. Last year when I hiked here, we saw Bighorn sheep. We didn't get so lucky this year. But the weather was perfect for our hike--bright sunshine, but cool temperatures around 70F and a gentle breeze. 

No workout on Friday--we took a ride to the coast! After a 2 hour journey on some twisty mountain roads, we arrived in Carlsbad, a cute beach town where we first stopped for lunch at a roadside taco bar. Then we headed down to the beach to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. 

After some exploring on foot, we got back in the car and drove through several other towns--Encinitas, Del Mar, Torrey Pines, ending up in La Jolla. We walked around the seaside village and along the shore, hoping to see some sea lions. There were hundreds of them playing in the water and lying on the rocks that lined the beach. I'm not sure why so many of them were there that day, but it was really fun to see them! Day made and after some more walking and dinner, we headed back to Palm Desert for the night. 

On Saturday, I skipped a planned trail run and got in the very cold, unheated pool for some shallow water pool running. We took it easy the rest of the day and went out for some shopping and dinner in the evening. My legs and my feet thanked me. 

How was your week? Have you ever been to Palm Springs? Or the southern California coast? Do you like to visit quirky places or do you play it safe? We did a little of both this week! If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown. I may take a little longer than normal to comment on your posts this week.