Travel

R&R

Every now and then, a grand adventure needs a day of rest, relaxation, recuperation, and all the other healing “r” words. And that’s exactly what Monday and Tuesday were for us!

We woke up Monday morning in Newport Beach. We grabbed a spot in a coffee shop for a couple hours of work, then we met one of AC’s favorite former colleagues from UTexas athletics, Joy (a different Joy from the one we met up with in Oregon). This Joy has 70 years of life experience and the spirit of a 25-year-old. She loves to travel and regaled us with some of her adventures over breakfast and wanted to know all about our journey. She also showed off her tiny house right in the harbor. Joy’s got it going on!

We said our goodbyes to Joy and headed for Big Bear, CA. Shout out to the Caraways for sharing their vacation club points with us for this stop! Big Bear is a ski town in the winter and a giant mountain bike trail in the summer. The end of October is a slow time in Big Bear and that meant that we pretty much had the entire resort to ourselves! We took advantage of the lovely apartment we had and lounged around for 2 days. On Halloween, Big Bear closes their main street and invites their residents to go trick-or-treating from shop to shop. When in Rome, right! We joined the throngs of families with their adorable little ninjas and princesses and baby Yodas. We were in it mostly for the people watching and the band. The Spazmatics, an 80s cover band out of Austin, wrapped up the night with a fun 90-minute set.

Charli and AC post in front of a valley overlook
The drive into Big Bear
Many costumed-people crowd the streets of downtown Big Bear, CA
Halloween in Big Bear Village
Two pairs of feet are crossed on a coffee table next to wine glasses and a champagne bottle. A gas fireplace is lit in the background.
Enjoying some R&R at Big Bear

On Wednesday, we headed to Mojave National Preserve. Along the way, we stopped at Amboy Crater and AC hiked to the top. I was a weeny and stayed at the bottom–I’m not the most graceful person (heck, I dropped my phone 4 times today!) so it didn’t seem like a good idea for me to try to climb up a steep 80-foot slope of loose Volcanic rock. AC assured me I didn’t miss much anyway.

A ghostly white shrub grows in the black volcanic rock of Amboy Crater.
This seems to be the only shrub that can survive in rocky, volcanic soil
AC scurries up the steep black rocks that litter the side of Amboy Crater
AC conquers Amboy (turns out there was an established trail on the backside of the crater, doh!)
AC poses for a selfie. Behind her is the black-rock basin of the Amboy Crater
AC’s view from atop Amboy Crater

Our next hike was much better! It’s called “Rings Trail” because there are two spots where you have to pull yourself up narrow slots with the help of rings that have been embedded in the rock face. It was a fun, short hike AND it dumped us right out at an empty parking lot with potable water and a toilet. We found our sleeping spot for the night! AC pulled the truck around to our new spot, then we cooked up some fried rice and took “showers” in the water pump. That was an experience! We stripped down to our undies, splashed ourselves with the cold water, lathered up and rinsed off as quickly as we could because (1) the water was cold and (2) the temperature dropping as quickly as the sun. In AC’s words “that was the hippiest we’ve felt this whole trip.” We pulled out the thick sleeping bag, crawled into the truck and read our books for a while because, even though it was dark, it was only 6:45p. We made ourselves stay awake until 8p, then we were gonners.

  • A yellow road sign reads "Drive like a tortoise."
  • A brilliant orange sun peeks over the slope of a mountain in the distance
  • AC and Charli pose for a selfie in front of the entrance sign for Mojave National Preserve
  • AC climbs up a rock face peppered with small cave-like holes
  • A setting sun creates a yellow sky that fades to blue in between two rock walls
  • Charli, back to the camera, "bathes" in a water pump in just her underwear.

Here are a couple videos of us hiking Rings Trail.

Until next time,

Charli