In the spring of 2008, during my last year of university Master's degree studies in France, I had the opportunity to do an internship for 6 months in a High-Tech company in Sunnyvale, California at the heart of the Silicon Valley. This was literally a dream which came true and I really enjoyed my time there, I was able to discover during weekends the fantastic national parks of the West, and made great friends there, with whom I am still in touch. Right after this internship, I obtained my master's degree, and this company offered me my first job immediately after, in their small European office in Geneva, Switzerland. Following this 7-year working experience with them, I had the joy to travel through Europe and the US on an almost weekly basis, and went back to see my colleagues at the Bay area HQ at least once yearly.
Those few lines of introduction are just to say that California, and especially the region of SF still hold a very special spot in my heart, and it's always a pleasure going back there, for business or vacation.
I maybe went in total 20 times in California since 2008, including the world's famous Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, but I never had the occasion to stop in Joshua Tree N.P, located in the area of Palm Springs, a couple hours away to the East of Los Angeles. Given that I had a couple days to stay in California, landed from Tahiti in LAX and was supposed to fly out of SFO 3 days later, this was the perfect opportunity to visit Joshua Tree.
Picking up the rental car in LAX was a formality and I was soon after on one of the tentacular highways Los Angeles consists in. After about an hour driving I had to stop for one of the best culinary experience you can get for 10 bucks : A double-double combo from In and Out burger, with Fries, extra spread and unsweetened Ice Tea with a fresh slice of lemon. I felt being a student again for 20 minutes :-)
Together with FiveGuys, In and Out is simply the best in my opinion in that price range (and this is California style !)
I continued my drive to Palm Springs where I booked a Holiday Inn express near Belmont using IHG points for the 2 nights. I tend not to choose the downtown locations when I am in the US since I usually rent a car (exception being New York and SF maybe), this one was not located in the fanciest area, but it was comfortable, rooms were large, breakfast was included as usual and access was convenient.
Drive to Palm Springs with hundreds of wind turbines...
After checking in and dropping my stuff in the room in the middle of the afternoon, I decided to visit the factory outlets nearby for a shopping end of day (I usually do that in the US too :-)
The next morning, I went to Joshua Tree NP, but stopped first in the middle of the wind turbines to take a few pics and play with the drone (did not see any signs forbidding this and I was indeed on public road. Being an engineer by education, those things fascinate me, the Americans are usually not ranked very well compared to Europe in terms of carbon footprint and sustainability, but they can also do wonders like this.
Wind turbine cemetary?
Taking advantage of the wind and sun (the latter was shy that day...)
Turbines and miles long train...
Drive to Joshua Tree NP
There is no doubt in which country we are :-)
After stopping at the visitor center at the entrance of Joshua Tree NP where I bought an Interagency pass for the year and buy a picnic for the day at the local supermarket, I entered the park and started my first Nature walks in the late morning.
I love how those National Parks are organized the US, with the rangers having plenty of advice on what to do depending on how much time you have and the intensity you want and the parks are usually very well taken care of. That day was not very busy in Joshua Tree NP, the sky pretty cloudy but the temperature was just perfect for me, around 15 degC, given that this region can get crazy temperatures in the summer...
That's a Joshua Tree :-)
Somewhere in the Hidden valley
Another picnic with a view...
Hello you... :-)
After a first couple of walks in the Hidden valley area, I continued towards the Barker dam...
And then at the Keys point of view
Hey you :-)
Keys viewpoint
Before continuing my visit with Skull rock and the hall of horrors, where rocky formations coming straight from a horror movie can be seen...
Follow the sign to...
...Skull rock
You again ?!
The end of the day was approaching and I finished my visit of the park with some Cholla Cactuses at sunset, but since there was not realyy much sun that day, the cactuses showed glowly colors, and looking at the pictures now 2 years later, it looks like I was inside an aquarium !
Cholla Cactus nature trail
I got back to my hotel around 8pm and had dinner. As I was ready to watch a movie comfortably in the room and already did the check-in for my flight the next day at 9.40 am to SFO from PSP, I received an email from Alaska airlines indicating that my flight was cancelled around 10.30pm. This ticket was originally booked via British Airways using avios and my first idea was to contact BA for this but their US call center was already closed and the European one not yet open. After staying 45 minutes on hold with Alaska Airlines call center, my ticket was reissued shortly before midnight for the 6am flight, and I immediately performed the online check-in for this flight, taking the opportunity to pay additional 39 USD to upgrade to first class which included a check-in luggage allowance (just checking my luggage-in would have almost cost that price as no luggage allowance or BA status benefit was granted on this award ticket).
The reason for this cancellation was weather related, and expected delays in SFO. The weather was indeed quite hectic that next morning, but that's for the next episode... That night had been for sure, quite short !
My ExpertFlyer subscription saved my trip that day, especially as I had to be in San Francisco downtown by 2 pm the next day !
Next : Intra-state travel with all kinds of weather (PSP-SFO on Alaska First class)