Up, Up and Away

On a recent visit to Palm Springs, we stopped by the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway on our way out of town. For those of you who are not native to the Coachella Valley, the tram is essentially a oversized gondola that traverses the front of Mt. San Jacinto. The car features a rotating floor, so passengers are able to enjoy a full view on the 10 minute ride up to the top.

You gain about 6,000 feet of elevation (the parking lot is at 2,643 feet and the top of the tram sits at 8,516 feet) and go through five different habitat changes, which is pretty rad if you're used to living somewhere that isn't very diverse (like the desert or the beach.)

Once we got to the top of the tram, we walked through the Mountain Station and out the back door to the paved trail that takes you down to a couple of different trail heads. There was several inches of snow present at the top that we weren't prepared for, so we took it easy and headed down the Desert View trail which is 1.5 mile loop that boasts some awesome views of the valley below.

Valley view from Desert View trail

We headed westerly back to the ranger station to check out some of the wilderness trails. Permits were needed to hike past the ranger station so we decided to turn back and head up to the mountain station.

The meadow where I had my meltdown

After I recovered from my worst nightmare, we headed back up to the mountain station to warm up and have a much needed cocktail at the Lookout Lounge before heading back down to the valley floor..

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

As a token of their gratitude, my employer gave everyone free passes to Universal Studios. This was the outcome:

Nope, not preggo, just an unflattering jacket

I just signed up for my first half marathon (!!!)

Huntington Beach Half Marathon, February 5th, 2012.

Yikes.

Carpinteria State Beach

A group of friends, along with the mister and I decided it was high time to check out the camping at Carpinteria State Beach. Because it's such a popular spot, the nearest reservation we could get was months away.... but we had all heard that the camping was supposed to be great, so figured it was well worth it.....

Our first stop on our way up to Carpinteria was at Emma Woods beach. Although this is usually a good surf spot, the waves were itty bitty on this particular Halloween weekend. Bingo surfed a little while I checked out the shore line.....

Next stop: Carpinteria State Beach!! I've only heard good things about Carpinteria, so imagine my disappointment when we arrived to a tiny campsite, crammed between two RV's!! Our site was about 100 yards to the beach, the bathrooms were dirty and did I mention the site was $42, plus $10 for parking? Bummer! 

The best thing about camping here was that our campsite was raided by racoons in the middle of the night who managed to eat all of eggs and veggies, forcing us to go into Santa Barbara for breakfast the next morning. Our neighbors were a bit rude, the staff was very rude and there is a very strict lights out policy at 10 which put a damper on roasting marshmallows! This made for some very unhappy campers.


The beach did have some small tide pools where we found these guys:

I love beach camping, but I don't think I'll ever go back to Carpinteria State Beach unless I make a wrong turn on my way to Santa Barbara.

Sailboat off the pier in Santa Barbara