Road Trip - Paso Robles, Joshua Tree Nat'l Pk., Palm Springs,Cambria & Carmel - March/April 2025 - Part I of II

On the road we passed mostly empty spaces punctuated by: wind turbine farms; solar farms; agricultural farms of pistachio, almonds, cherries, avocados, citrus, & vineyards; oil pumps; pick-ups; campers; r.v.’s; semis with brightly painted, in primary colors cabs; the most common trailers seen were Amazon Prime.

Driving our 2012 MINI Roadster a.k.a. Miles, was a blast. Miles handled the roads beautifully & the gasoline mileage was excellent. The weather was quite chilly so we had the top down only when we were in the Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP) & in local areas.

The drive to JTNP is over eight from our home. We decided to break it up by spending a night in Paso Robles on the way down & coastal Cambria on the return up.

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Historic El Camino Real now ca. 1926 US Highway 101.

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We stayed here, a ten minute walk to downtown Paso Robles.

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We got to FISH GAUCHO Restaurant, Paso Robles in time for Happy Hour specials.

"EL GAUCHO COMBO”

“1 short rib taco + 1 draft beer + 1 shot mezcal.” The beer was the local Firestone Walker Brew Co. ‘s 805 (that’s the local area code) Cerveza. The red wine, Oso Libre “Carnal” 2020 was local too & one of the best red wines I have ever tasted. We tried but it’s not available in wine shops.

FISH GAUCHO Happy Hour special - OAXACA FLOCKA NACHOS Half Order corn chips, Snake River Farms wagyu ground beef, Oaxaca queso blanco, refried black beans, pico de gallo, avocado crema, pickled onions.

Ca. 1907 Carnegie library in the town square.

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Studio of the artist Dale Evers from the previous sculpture.

Guitar gate at the Dale Evers Studio..

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H. Cheval Coffee, Paso Robles. Good coffee. He also filled up our thermos with coffee for the 5+ hour...

...road trip to Joshua Tree.

It was a lot of nothing,

& nothing.

Then something.

Then nothing.

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I caught this train going around a bend. Later we discovered it was...

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It was not a planned stop. On the map, its location looked perfect for a lunch stop.

I had noted that there was an airport in Tehachapi. Most little airports have an eatery. I figured we’d eat & watch planes take off & land. Alas, the airport was deserted.

Then we noticed this building.

We got a spot right in front.

It was chilly & windy up at 4,000'.

The day's soup was German style potato-leek. Delish. We planned to stop here again on our return trip north.

Tehachapi.

Tehachapi.

Who knew?

CA 58 from an overpass.

CA 58 from an overpass. We later found out what the white was in the distance. Boron.

A tumbling tumble weed caught in the MINI's bonnet.

MOBIL - 282 Old Woman Springs Rd, Yucca Valley.

$5 Pizza Place. 282 Old Woman Springs Road, Yucca Valley, CA

$5 Pizza Place & Misfit Pilates. Yucca Valley.

Elluisa's Vibrant Myrmade Jewels 282 Old Woman Springs Rd, Yucca Valley.

$5 Pizza Place truck. Yucca Valley.

Entrance to the Bungalows by Homestead Modern in the in the historic Joshua Tree Retreat Center.

The Bungalows by Homestead Modern

59700 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree.

The Joshua Tree Visitor Center was 7 min.(3 miles) from The Bungalows. We drove over to gather info. & ideas for the next few days.

Olivia, a National Park Ranger, was great & even helped us find out info. about the birding walk that we planned on taking the next morning in the next door state park.

Cholla cactus at sunset from the Bungalows by Homestead Modern.

Sunset from the Bungalows by Homestead Modern.

From the Bungalows by Homestead Modern sunrise.

While planning our road trip I had noticed this in the Points of Interest section of the AAA Automobile Club of Southern California Joshua Tree National Park map. Yup, I still look at maps.

We met a regular birding group on a Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walk.

In Texas, the cattle find shade under umbrella tree like this one.

A huge mesquite tree in front of a local home.

I was having trouble sighting the birds & got carried away by the local architecture.

Dan lived down this road, was responsible for tending the bird feeders around the preserve & was quite knowledgeable. This list he caries around. He can tell the change of seasons by the appearance & disappearance of birds. He had just spotted his first Lawrence's Goldfinch of the season. His "life list” of sightings is kept safely at home.

This nest has been used by many birds over several years.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walk.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walk.

Ca. 1876 Warren Family Homestead, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walk.

The Serrano Indians were the first inhabitants of the Morongo Basin.

One of the birders, Kurt, told us that this rock formation is billions of years old. Note the horizontal boardwalk slats in the bottom of the photo. As we were near a fault line, they’re intended to allow for shifting during an earthquake. No one has seen them change position yet.

Kurt. He was full of bird & local knowledge. Note the cup holder in the rest/oberservation station for birders.

There's a nest in that cholla cactus.

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Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walk. There are some well done boardwalks over marshy areas.

We had just come out from this section; dangerous but doable. Kurt said that they had a permit to enter.

The drive to Palm Springs was longer than we thought; 45 minutes.

But it was worth it. Finally we were in a place were it was warm enough to sit outside. We had been to Tac/Quila in the past & enjoyed another great lunch here.

Tac/Quila.

The Cork 'n Bottle Bld'g c. 1935 Palm Springs, CA.

Palm Springs.

Saguaro castus shaped mailbox stand. Palm Springs.

Palm Springs, CA.