Vacation in "sunny" California!

For several years now we've taken a week's vacation in the middle of January - after the craziness of the Christmas holidays and Nativity. And we try to pick someplace warm and sunny. Other years have been big successes, as our trip to Big Sur, California and Big Bend in Texas.

But this year was different. The Thursday before we left, Andy came home from work announcing that he had really bad news. I couldn't imagine what could be so terrible until he said that the weather in California was going to be storm after storm for the whole week of our vacation. I wondered how bad could it be. After all, we were going to the desert side of California: Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave Desert & Death Valley.

He worked at canceling our plane tickets and rescheduling our trip to a different date, but ran into issues with hotel reservations that were not going to refund our money. So we decided to go anyway.

We left on Sunday, Jan. 17th. It was pouring rain here on the east coast and it was pouring rain on the west coast, too, when we arrived that evening. We got to our hotel after white knuckling it on the California freeways in pouring, driving rain in the dark with drivers who are crazier than NJ drivers (if you can believe that!).

On Monday morning we drove to Joshua Tree National Park. It was raining when we left the hotel, but as we got closer to the park, the rain stopped and we even saw some patches of blue sky. We were able to enjoy the park for several hours, even getting in some hiking, before it started raining again. The terrain in Joshua Tree is very unusual. The mountains look like giant piles of rocks just thrown around. The Joshua trees and desert vegetation is so unique and interesting, so different to what we're used to in south Jersey. The Joshua tree isn't actually a tree, although it looks like it could be one. It belongs to the yucca family, so it's just a big cactus.

A Joshua tree "forest"

As you can see by the terrain, it is desert like. The Park Ranger told us it doesn't rain very much in these parks, but El Nino was bringing in the storms. We witnessed water pouring down gullies and alongs the sides of the streets with huge puddles in some of the streets. This is very unusual for this area.

On Tuesday, we left Joshua Tree and drove to the Mojave desert. The Mojave is a national preserve which is a different classification than a national park. The difference is that hunting is allowed in a preserve. People hunt mule deer and big horn sheep there. We drove most of the day, but did get in a good hike on the Teutonia Peak trail - a 3 mile round trip hike. We thought we were going to get rained on again, but made it back to the car without getting wet. It was pretty chilly and the wind was fierce. We were dressed warm enough, although Andy could have used a hat. I had a hood on my coat which helped me.

The terrain in the Mojave Desert is diverse and interesting. Some areas are nothing but scrub bushes, other areas have Joshua trees and other vegetation. There there are piles of rocks and mountains, as well as plains and flat lands, even some sand dunes (although not as many as you might expect when you think of a "desert").

View from the top

We made a stop at a ghost town where mining had been done in the 1800's - the town of Calico.

We also stopped at a train depot named Kelso. It had been active during World War II providing iron ore and other metals for the war effort.

We still had plenty of time so decided to drive on over to Las Vegas, NV. We went into Harrah's Casino and walked around and through it, but didn't buy anything or even try the penny slots. I was amazed at how many people were there (in a supposed recession).

It rained most of the day on Wednesday, although it wasn't heavy enough to prevent our seeing and doing what we wanted. We drove a lot this day and made it to Death Valley. What an education that was! What comes to your mind when you think "Death Valley?" I thought it would be all sand dunes and hot and flat like a desert. But...Death Valley is the largest national park in the lower 48 states. It covers 5,000 square miles and is 150 miles long. It consists of snow covered mountains, painted canyons, sand dunes and salt flats. It is actually very beautiful and awe inspiring.

Here is a place we found along the road called Artists Drive. We were able to get out at one point and hike along a dried "river" bed. The cliffs were all different colors from different minerals in the rocks.

We also drove down to a section of the park called Badwater which is the lowest spot in Death Valley, as well as the whole US. It is 282 feet below sea level. As we drove toward it, from a distance it looked like we were driving toward a river, but when we got there, it was only salt flats with just a little tiny "pond."
That evening we stayed at the Amargosa Opera House Hotel. It was ancient, built in Spanish architecture style. There was a sky light in the bathroom - a novel idea - natural light in the bathroom. With all the rain, it was leaking significantly in the morning. After I got my shower and dried off, I needed to keep my towel handy because I kept getting dripped on.

On Thursday morning, it wasn't raining when we left the hotel, but we drove into another storm - the 4th in 4 days. We saw more sights and did a little more hiking before deciding to head on out of the park. On our way out of Death Valley, we crossed Towne Pass at 4,956 feet elevation. There the rain turned to snow and it was almost a white out up there. The mountains, as well as the vegetation were beautiful with all that snow, but driving was pretty nerve wracking. We thought we'd get down off the pass and out of the snow, but we never did. We drove through 50-60 miles of snow, around curves and over mountain passes, with the snow getting deeper and deeper. We both were really scared and praying earnestly!
Thankfully, we did make it out to Lone Pine, CA by about 4:00 pm. We found a Comfort Inn and felt very comforted and thankful to have made it. The people in this little town told us that just 20 miles down the road, there was no snow. The next morning (Friday), the sun was shining and everything was so beautiful. The roads going out of town had been scraped, but were snow and ice covered.
I took these pictures out the car window as we were driving along.
We had plenty of time to get to our hotel reserved for Friday evening, so decided to stop at several state parks along the way to get in some hiking. At the second park, we came across the Pacific Crest Trail which is supposed to be a west coast Appalachian Trail wanna be. It goes up and down the coast, but there are sections where it stops, then takes up again a little further on. We were on the trail for quite a while before we decided we better head back. We got to the car after hiking for about an hour and a half. As soon as we got inside the car, the heavens opened up and poured down rain. Wow...so glad we decided to turn around when we did. It was a beautiful hike, but thankful we didn't get wet.

We found some plants that were actually blooming, which just goes to prove that January isn't usually so cold for California.
We were told that the average rainfall for Death Valley is 2 inches a year. I think in this past week they got enough rain to last about 10 years! And we were there!

It was a good break to be away from our normal routine and duties. And we got to see and experience a lot in spite of the rain and snow. We both feel like we'd like to go back again some day.

I thought after Christmas was over, life would settle down into a more predictable routine. But I was dreaming! I haven't been overly stressful busy, just enough to keep me from blogging.

Today is a beautiful day and for the first time in several weeks, I went outside for more than just a dash to the car or in and out of stores. The temperature is up to 50 degrees and the piles of snow are finally melting.I took a stroll out to the pond and it is very full right now and still very frozen. Our neighbor told me he and his boys were playing ice hockey on it and having a ball. I'm so glad they can enjoy it. I just don't feel like I should be ice skating any more, even though I would love to. At this point in my life, I'm too nervous about falling and breaking something.Andy and I took down our outside Christmas lights and put them away. It's kind of sad, because with the lights on the bushes and around the porch, the house looked so festive.I also cleaned the kitchen windows inside and out. They had a number of bird prints on them where birds had tried to fly through! Now those poor birds will really be confused with those shiny clean windows.

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, Andy and I worked around the house and got our chores and odd jobs done, then took a drive down to Lebanon State Forest for a hike. It was extremely cold, but we dressed warm. With it being so cold, at least we didn't have to worry about ticks. Pakim Pond was frozen, but the cedar water flowing out of it was not.This past Tuesday, we drove up to Christy's and spent the day. She and I did some cleaning; I worked on the bathrooms, while she did her bedroom and then made lunch for us. Andy and Christian worked on framing in 2 windows in the addition they had built, then some bookshelves in the dining room. We also took them a "new" dishwasher. Andy's mom and dad decided to get a smaller one for their place to give them a little more room in their dining area. When we called Christy to ask if she would like the one Mom and Dad were replacing, we received an emphatic "yes." Their dishwasher was 20 years old and was literally falling apart. It wasn't going to last much longer. So Andy and Christian also worked at getting the old one out and the new one in.
A very productive day. And there was still time for me to read books to the kids and Andy to wrestle with them.
I had a meeting here at the house on Thursday evening with 9 women, planning our next Ladies' Night Out at church. I had made some snacks to munch on while we were doing our planning. It helped us to accomplish lots!

And now I'm making lists and getting ready for vacation.

Living Nativity - Behind the Scenes

Out of the 7 days that the Living Nativity was scheduled, 4 had to be canceled because of rain or snow. It seems a shame to go through all the work of organizing and setting it up to only be able to run it 3 days. But believe it or not, we still had just a little under 5,000 people come through to see it. Many people are blessed because of the true story of Christmas and it's a good reminder when all around us the emphasis is so secular.

Every September, Andy starts planning which scene he will rebuild for the coming season. Last year the whole "town" of Bethlehem was rebuilt. That was a huge job that required his attention every Saturday from September till December. He has a couple people who work with him, investigating and researching 1st century architecture, towns, etc. to try to make the buildings as authentic as possible.

Here is Bethlehem, complete with a 30 foot tower, a guard on top of the wall and a well in the town square.
The project this year was to rebuild the scene of Herod's palace, where the wise men come in to find out where the baby Jesus was born. This project didn't take as long as last year's - I think they only started the end of October, but it still turned out pretty awesome.
Can you believe all the work that went into this scene??? The panel behind the throne was hand painted by several very talented ladies. The columns were "marbelized" and the throne was built by a master cabinet maker. The whole set was designed by an interior designer. Isn't it beautiful? - fit for a king!

But now it's all over and it has to be taken down and put away. Andy had a crew of guys last Saturday that spent the whole day taking down the sets and storing everything in the trailers we have on the property. Actually when the trailers aren't storing the sets, they're acting as backs for the facades of the sets. The weather was so windy that they weren't able to use the crane to take down the tower so that still needs to be done another day.
I guess they left the soldier up to keep watch over that tower!

The Nativity itself is tightly run with many details to think of. When people come in to the church, they are ushered into the auditorium to wait to be assigned to a group. While they wait, there is "entertainment" for their enjoyment. We schedule different ensembles, groups and individuals to come on different nights at different times and perform on a rotating schedule to keep the crowds occupied. Sometimes the wait is a long one so it's nice for the people to have something to do. Examples of the entertainment: singer with guitar, handbell choir, singer on piano, puppet/muppet show - you get the idea.

Groups are made of 50 or more people (depending how busy the night is) with a guide that then takes that group to each of the 12 outdoor scenes. At each scene, there is music and narration that explains that scene, with actors and sometimes animals to act out what the narration and scene is about.

After completing all the scenes, the group is brought back into the church gym and treated to hot chocolate and cookies. Thousands of cookies are made and bought by our church people to give to our visitors. We have "minglers" who walk around among the people to engage them and be available to anyone who might have questions about what they've seen and experienced.

Andy is busy all night that Nativity is going on by being available to put out "fires." If the electric is out at a certain scene, he gets it taken care of. And there are hundreds of other things that need attention during the evening.

What do I do on the nights of Nativity? I usually go over to the office around 2:00 pm to be available to answer phones. A lot of people are using the internet to get directions to the church, but when they're on their way, they'll call if they're lost. I've had some interesting conversations. As an example: "I'm on Route 38, can you tell me how to get to your church?" Me: "Well, which direction are you going? And from which town?" If someone is lost, they don't know where they are. And if I'm not in the car with them, it's very difficult to figure out where they are. But I enjoy the challenge.

Because I'm at the church so long and over dinner time, I make up some wraps and take them to the church. When Andy gets hungry, he comes to see me and we eat together. Or sometimes he has to eat on the run.

We both love these wraps so thought I'd include the recipe.

Buy a large spinach wrap at Whole Foods
and spread with garlic and herb cream cheese.

Spread diced tomato down the center of the wrap.

Spread with baby spinach leaves.

Top with 4 ounces of smoked turkey and sliced Provolone cheese.

Roll up and cut in half.

Even though we don't charge people to come through the Nativity, it is a huge part of our church budget. But the gospel is free and we advertise it as "our gift to our community." Think about the huge cost to God to put on the first and real Nativity. And He did it as a free gift for all of us.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

New Year's Day 2010

What could be better than celebrating Christmas on New Year's Day - great way to start off the new year! Because the girls all have their own families and in-laws, it makes trying to schedule our family Christmas a bit more challenging. So although Andy and I were by ourselves on Christmas Day, we enjoyed the quiet and being together and looking ahead to when we would celebrate with the kids and grandkids.

Yesterday was the DAY!

The first to arrive was Dawn. We got a call at 6:40 am to tell us she was on her way. Tommy dropped her off and went on his way to the shore to go surfing. She put little Kira down for a nap and just hung out with me while I baked a cherry pie and got ready for everyone else.

The others arrived around 10:30. We waited till about 11:00, then started opening our gifts. Tommy arrived, too, in time to open his own gifts!I ordered panzarottis for lunch and served a Caesar's salad and cookies. After lunch we all bundled up and headed out to take our "Christmas Day" hike - a tradition we all love. This time we drove over to the Rancocas Indian Reservation. The weather couldn't have been better. It was pleasant, mild and clear. There were still some piles of snow here and there - perfect for some snow ball throwing.

Yup, that's a buffalo!

Every time Asher sees a camera pointing at him,
he squints up his eyes! Too cute!Taking a break

After the hike, we came back to the house and just visited and played games until dinner time. I had a chicken dish, rice pilaf, rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip bread and broccoli casserole. We also had 2 pies, but hardly anyone ate pies because we were all so stuffed. I have so much food left over, I could have another party.

Dawn & family left as soon as we ate to get Kira home for her bedtime. Amy and family weren't far behind. Christy and her family stayed and watched a movie with us. They were going to loan it to us, but decided to stay and watch it with us so they could explain it and laugh with us. It is one of Christian's favorite movies. I'm glad we watched it with them, it made it more fun.

Today was spent in cleaning the house. It needed a good overhaul. On our hike yesterday, we all picked up tiny little pieces of leaves in our shoes and they were everywhere in the house, not to mention pieces of Christmas wrapping and toys under furniture, too. But it's a good feeling - spending time with the family AND having a clean house when it's all over.