Sunday, January 31, 2010

a trip to the high desert

This weekend we went on an overnight visit to the high desert. Why? Just for fun. Probably it's more typical to travel in the opposite direction for a little getaway, but it's fun to see a different locale. And the desert is beautiful it its own way. I was amazed at the lack of green and color. It was cold there too. Here are a few photos from the trip.
We could see snow on the distant mountains from the recent rains.

Dieter was thrilled to find this on the ground.
We ate a a burger place called Tom's. It's a chain that is apparently only in the desert cities of Southern California.

It was really fun! We had yummy burgers and zucchini fries.
We visited the the exotic feline preserve in Rosamond. It was really rather creepy seeing so many big and exotic cats in such small cages. Definitely interesting though.
They had a whole bunch of peacocks roaming the grounds too.
We finished the day at the playground in Lancaster. The boys loved it!

The temperature was in the low 50's and windy. Finally Rainer agreed to wear a jacket (Dieter has a luscious new jacket I got on sale from Hanna and he refused to wear it all weekend. I love to see a child appropriately dressed for the cold, but on the other hand it's not worth a major battle either. He insisted he was not cold).

This trip was one of those "we can have fun in less than ideal circumstances" situations. We specifically wanted to stay in a hotel with a hot tub/spa and we got there and it was broken (there was a heated pool, but it was not the same--being outdoors in the cold and all). We tried to go to a children's museum in Lancaster and it was not only closed but gone altogether. That sort of thing went on, but still it was fun being together and having an adventure. What was your favorite part of the weekend?

Please scroll down for the giveaway winner. Thank you so much, all of you, for your sweet response to my little giveaway and for all your kind words and interesting questions. I'll be getting back to you on those!

5 comments:

Joy said...

It sounds like a very different trip than you intended to take, but pleasant none-the-less. What is it about kids having different internal temps than the rest of us? Lovely dessert pics! My favorite part of the weekend was the insane amount of snow we received here in NC. The most in over a decade. :) Have a great week, Mary Beth!

Anonymous said...

This looks like a fun trip after all. It's always so nice to get away for a little bit as a family.

Andrea said...

I love the desert! And 50s sounds absolutely tropical to me right now.

Its_Lily said...

Dieter has a great find.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the Antelope Valley :) I recognized all those places instantly from the pictures. Next time you come out here be sure to visit Big Rock Creek & Littlerock Dam. In the spring and summer you can go fruit picking in Leona Valley. Saddleback butte is beautiful and while you are there you can visit the AV Indian Museum. Its almost always windy here so be sure to dress in layers.