Fall Break at the Gettys and Joshua Tree National Park

 We left on Thursday and came home on Monday and had a great trip in between!  It was a long drive, but uneventful.  As we were coming down Cajon Pass I thought of stopping by to see Aunt Georgia on our way by Riverside.  We called and got her address and then had such a nice visit with her.  She's so much better off than Paul's mom in her health at 96 years old.  She has to use oxygen and has some glaucoma, but she's still able to be at home and cook and clean for herself.  She can't drive.  She has her two daughters there in town to help her out as needed.  They are both single.  I'm so glad we stopped by.  She's the last one of my mom's family still alive. (With kids/friend on her 96th birthday.)

Then we went on and got to our hotel in Hawthorne, CA where we spent two nights.  On Friday we spent the day at the J. P. Getty Museum enjoying the art and the gardens.  It was wonderful.  We had a picnic at the end at a great spot we found!  

On Saturday morning we got the the Getty Villa about an hour early and enjoyed peaceful time visiting the Gardens with it pretty much all to ourselves!  Then later we enjoyed a couple of tours - one about the art and one about the architecture.  They were both great and we learned so much.  We also just enjoyed touring the whole place for the rest of our time there!  We had a picnic at the end in a great uncrowded spot.  

 

On Sunday, we went to a great ward in Twenty-nine Palms.  Afterwards we drove to Joshua Tree National Park with a quick stop at the visitor's center first.  It was so fun to drive and hike through this park.  We went to the Cholla Garden, the Ocotillo Forest, hiked to the Arch and Heart Rock and stopped at other viewpoints all along the way to read about what was there.  We did a little plant interpretive trail that was very interesting as well.  And at the end of it all we found a great shady picnic spot for our afternoon snack.   This was such a great trip!  The freeway traffic was crowded and crazy mostly when we were in town, but not too bad out of town.  The car did great and got fantastic gas mileage.  The hotels were good but expensive.  The food was great.  Sunday night we microwaved TV dinners in our motel room.  They weren't bad!  Fun trip!  

This rock cracked us up - it looks like a monster or an old man with a toothy grin!