1/17/20

Joshua Tree, California

The road was straight and desolate for our drive to Joshua Tree yesterday. It was a pretty good road with little traffic.


We enjoyed the ruggedness of the landscape,


and the many colors we saw in the layers of mountains.




As we approached Amboy, California, we saw the Amboy Crater off to the side.


Our friend The Google tells us that Amboy Crater is an extinct cinder cone volcano that rises above a 70-square-kilometer (27 sq mi) lava field in the eastern Mojave Desert of southern California, within Mojave Trails National Monument. It is estimated to be 79,000 years old and was formed during the Pleistocene geological period. The interior has a lava lake. Lava flows as old as Amboy Crater itself blanket the surrounding area. The most recent eruption was approximately 10,000 years ago.

Amboy Crater was used as a location in the 1959 movie Journey to the Center of the Earth. Fires were set inside the crater to simulate a volcanic eruption. Amboy Crater was also featured in the Viceland network show Abandoned.  It is designated a National Natural Landmark by the Bureau of Land Management.

Across the road from the crater, there were hundreds...maybe thousands...of these pyramid-shaped mounds of dirt.


And so I inquired of my friend The Google once again to learn that these are part of two large, active salt mines that produce much of the sodium and sodium chloride used in high school chemistry classes. Indeed, this dry lake bed was caked with what appears to be sodium chloride, aka salt.


Have I said lately how much I  the internet?

In another 50 miles or so, we passed through the town of 29 Palms and the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.


During our last visit to Joshua Tree, we paid for three nights inside the national park. Only, the weather was so cold and windy, we were blowing through our propane at an alarming rate. We ended up cutting our stay short by one night.

This time around, we're trying an RV park I read about online in the town of Joshua Tree, near the west entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. As it turns out, the place is nearly abandoned, and it's a good launch pad for our visit. Once we were set up, the kitties settled in for some hard-core napping.


Later, Smitty spent some time on the catio...


while Sadie snuggled up beside me for some slow-stitching time.


It's time to switch back to the Snowflake project. This will be the second of 12 snowflakes.


These are worked mainly with one strand of DMC floss; however, I've taken to using three strands when I'm doing satin stitch. Maybe that's cheating, but I get better coverage, and I like the little bit of "poof" it gives the satin-stitched sections. This one also uses a metallic floss I've not tried before. This is Diamant from DMC. It comes in a dozen-plus colors.


It's a three-strand floss, and like every metallic floss I've tried, it wants to untwist, which makes it a bugger for threading a needle. Nevertheless, I like how it feels and how it works once I've got it threaded. I tried using just one strand, but it barely showed on my piece, and so I'm using all three strands.


Also, it seemed like a good day for baking. I made Caramel Bread Puddings for Two. I've made this before. It's easy and so tasty. The recipe will tell you to make these in a cup, but I like using the 1-cup ramekins.


Finally, I found this stray picture on my phone of the sunset our last night in Laughlin, Nevada. So pretty.


And that's all I have for you today. We'll be doing some hiking in the national park today. Mainly, we're just killing time until we can check into a space in Hemet on Sunday. We'll be spending two weeks there, with a visit to the Road to California quilt show next Thursday. I can't wait.

8 comments:

Julierose said...

How exciting that you'll be attending the Quilt Show;)))
It is 19 degrees here and windchill is 13--so an INSIDE day for sure...
I'll be making a chicken and rice casserole for a heart-warming meal...
hugs, Julierose

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I think I just saw a news report that they found the body of a missing person at the state park. Of course, knowing you are in that area it made me think of you. Sorry. I tried to use one of the Kreinik threads and one from DMC on the project I am working on. I found both too unruly to be using them. I have never seen the one you are using. I have a friend who lives in Hemet. I'll be interested to read your posts from there.
xx, Carol

Cathy Smith said...

When I saw the photo of the mountains just above "As we approached Amboy..." my mind immediately saw an art quilt! The desert really can be beautiful.

Oh, I almost forgot. Yesterday's yellow flower is brittle bush. It's a native. One of those one man's weed is another man's wildflower plants.

TTFN!

Linda said...

I love "rugged" scenery also, so I'm enjoying your travel photos. Be careful hiking at Joshua Tree! I read about a man who disappeared there in 2018 and his remains were recently found. You might warn your shadow selves also. ;)
I am taking notes on your Snowflakes progress - they are looking beautiful. I purchased the same thread and have never worked with metallic thread before. I have all my supplies, I just need to copy the pattern.

Kate said...

Love the beautifully colored skies in your photos. Looking forward to more interesting photos from your stay.

piecefulwendy said...

Those Joshua Tree photos remind me of our trek through that park. The landscape is really quite something. The sunsets are amazing! We got about 5" of snow; today it's blowing and cold. A good day for more sewing. Enjoy Road to California!

Lyndsey said...

I thought about buying the snowflake patterns but realised i have loads of hand stitching to complete. They do look beautiful especially with the metallic thread. I love the sunset photo at the end of the post.

QuiltGranma said...

that so very straight piece of road you showed sure reminded me of the part of Forest Gump where he stops running, turns around and says he wants to go home now.