Mojave Desert Roadtrip 2013

 Joshua Tree National Park on the California side of the Mojave Desert

After Brooke and Marc's wedding, we thought it would be fun to drive from Palm Springs, through the desert, to Las Vegas for a little bit of child-free time. It's about 250-mile trip depending which way you go, and we did it roundtrip, so it was about 500.

Hitting the road in Palm Springs

Our drive north from Palm Spring to Vegas

Although our original plan (after the weather forecast) was to enjoy the desert from the car, we got adventurous as we got to Joshua Tree National Park. Our "early to Vegas" plans were thrown over in favor of getting out of the car at lots of little sites at the park. Generally speaking, Kevin disapproves of this system of seeing nature and often quotes statistics on how many minutes the average visitor spends outside his car at national parks. But it was 120 degrees! Even with the arid temperature, it was still pretty hot. So we drove around, took some pictures, and agreed to come back and actually hike one day- in a temperate season. This is one of the most amazing national parks I've been to, right up there with our trip to the Grand Canyon, a little over 5 years ago. The rock formations are a crazy natural occurrence, and the Joshua trees (or yucca palms) are beautiful and unique to the Southwest deserts.

Rock mountains of Joshua Tree National Park *

The View from Keys Point in Joshua Tree National Park

Kevin with "The Tree of Life"

Crazy rock formations

This one looks like an elephant to me

We continued on our drive to Vegas. One of the amazing things about this drive is how quickly the terrain changes completely. I took hundreds of photos of the drive back but I will limit myself to some of the more dramatic vistas. These are in chronological order as we drove from Palms Springs to Las Vegas. Also, we leaned that there is a town in California called Zzyxz. Really!

 

California road with black mountain and visibility forever.

 

California road with only desert sand and shrubs visible

 

My guess is that those are salt deposts or sand? It certainly can't be snow!

Gorgeous view of red earth and mountains in the distance

So it was basically an amazing drive, though I was sometimes afraid our car would break down on one of the back roads and by the time AAA or a random stranger came by we would be Clou prunes. Passing the Death Valley sign really hammered this point in. Not only were we in the place with the hottest recorded temperatures on Earth, but we were there during a record-breaking heatwave. While we were basically okay in Palm Springs and at Joshua Tree, we got out at some random town along the drive for gas, and the second I exited the car I felt like my skin was burning. We got into the store quickly, but we felt the same way on the way back to the car. Suddenly it felt like how we imagined 120 degrees would feel. Luckily we only had to endure that for less than a minute total.

Death Valley holds the record for the hottest temperature on Earth 

at 134 degrees, recorded on July 10, 1913- 100 years ago!

After that, we quit getting out of the air conditioned car. We had already driven through the Mojave Desert Preserve on the way to Palm Springs, but I neglected to take pictures so we did a very quick detour so I could snap some photos. The preserve is a little underwhelming after Joshua Tree, but we had technically seen it first so we liked it at the time. Then we left for "date night" in Vegas!

We were pretty much alone on the back roads of the Mojave Desert Preserve

Blurry, but you get the idea.

Off to Vegas!

Palm Springs, CA 2013

Brooke and Marc's wedding was in Palm Springs and while we were there we got to explore  Palm Springs a little. It's a desert resort town, and it was pretty quiet in June. The population is about a third gay and you could tell with all the artsy awesomeness and the good food and coffee. We walked about a mile up and down Palm Canyon Drive, the main street in Palm Springs.

Palm Canyon Drive, the main street in Palm Springs


View of side street off Palm Canyon Drive

We had the chance to grab pastries at Koffi, where they serve really good coffee, and sit outside in the shaded Corridor area. We also had breakfast Green Palms Cafe, which is delicious and has a lot of healthy and/or vegan choices. Our breakfast was somewhat healthy but not vegan. Though I didn't have time to check out the art museum, I took lots of silly poses in front of the huge "Forever Marilyn" statue outside the museum. 

Don Quijote? inside The Corridor area

Marilyn outside the Palm Springs Art Museum

Me and Marilyn!

Even the actual wedding venue was a very "Palm Springs" treat. It's an artist colony, called Colony 29, and soaking in the pool all day is definitely part of what you're supposed to do in Palm Springs! We got a pretty good taste of the city before we head out on our Mojave Desert Roadtrip. We even drove by the huge and alien wind farms on our way out.

Colony 29

Kevin wandering around Colony 29

 

Kevin, me, Marc, and Brooke soaking for 8 hours in a pool at Colony 29

Wind farms of California

Brooke and Marc's Wedding 2013

Brooke and Marc got married! I have known Brooke for over 10 years, but I only know Marc a little bit from my visit to LA in 2009, and from his performances and television shows. It was nice to spend a weekend with both of them, especially since their wedding was small and intimate and we actually got to see and talk to the bride and groom a lot. It was also a good chance to observe all the ways in which they are perfect for each other.

First off, their wedding estate which was both their ceremony venue and hotel for guests, cancelled on the Wednesday before guests arrived! But they are both overly smart and capable and managed to nab a beautiful venue last minute, and the guests were all redirected in time. Not only that, but the new venue was gorgeous. It's basically impossible that the original place was more beautiful.

 

Marc and Brooke find a new wedding venue with two days to go!

We were invited to spend time with family and friends on Friday night, and we learned immediately that they have awesome Southern family and top-notch friends. Even though they found each other in LA, Marc is from Louisiana and Brooke is from Alabama, so their families blended so well that sometimes we weren't sure which family was which. And everyone was awesome, though that's not only a Southerner trait, it probably helps. Oh, but they're also both Irish, so their awesomeness might actually stem from that. Or maybe both.

Relaxing with family and friends on Friday night

Also, we were all blessed with record-breaking 120-degree temperatures the day of their wedding. But since they are considerate, they encouraged everyone to dress comfortably, had the ceremony early to take advantage of cooler temperatures, kept our time outside to a minimum, and had the entire reception in a swimming pool. 

Brooke hiding out from Marc before the ceremony

Marc feeling the heat a little before the ceremony- but noticeably happy

It is worth repeating how wonderful their family and friends were. Before arriving, we knew almost no one. Their families were extremely hospitable. And their friends were both great to talk to and very focused on helping the wedding weekend go well. People worked together to direct others to the new venture, assign rooms, cook food, make drinks, and generally do anything for Marc, Brooke, and each other. Numerous people commented that they felt like they were on some awesome family vacation together. We felt that way too.

Marc and Brooke's friend playing the violin at the ceremony

John, Allison, and Palmer whom we hit it off with so well that we are visiting in NY

 

Brooke's beautiful mother Alice

 

Larry is a super-involved father, and he's pretty funny too

Their ceremony was very personal. Marc's vows were both touching and funny. Brooke's vows were romantic and expressed her deep commitment to Marc. They incorporated the tradition of Irish hand-fasting into the ceremony. And I since this is my 38th wedding, and I can safely say I am an expert in this topic, the officiant gave the best service I have ever heard. It gave a lot of very useful advice on how to love each other and how limited our time is to do so. I seriously want to copy the service and put it up on my wall at home to remind me. Their ceremony also incorporated their love and dedication to Marc's (and now Brooke's) daughter Kenzie. She is a lucky little girl to be enveloped in their love.

Looks like they're going to have a lot of laughter and happiness in their lives

Irish hand-fasting.

Smooooooooch!

Totally married!

A huge lizard wedding crasher watched the whole ceremony.

Their new family of three!

After the ceremony, Brooke and Marc waled out to "The Best is Yet to Come," which I loved. Then we all went back inside to cool off and have some lunch. We had cake pops that looked like perfect version of Brooke's wedding flowers calla lilies. Actually, they looked so realistic that I was confused about which parts were edible. It was all edible. And shortly after the bride and groom returned we all changed into bathing suits and hit the pool for about 8 hours of chatting, drinking, snacking, and laughing.

Brooke with some pre-LA era girlfriends: me, Kristy, Brooke, Allison, and Nikki

Some of my wedding buddies hanging out after the ceremony

Kevin and me with a wedding cake pop

One of the best parts of the pool party reception was that there was a high comedian ratio and a high Irish ratio. At various different times the comedian ratio was higher or the Irish ratio was higher but it was always good. Even at over 100 degrees, I was never hot in the pool, and Kevin and my new buddies kept delivering cold drinks. Also, since we were there for such a long time, and the gathering was quite small, I got to spend oodles of time with Brooke which made the big trip so much better.

 

Pool at Colony 29, where we spent 8 hours soaking.

 

Hanging out with Brooke in the pool

Brooke and Marc in the ultimate wedding reception photo (first piggy back ride?)

Congratulations Marc and Brooke! We're excited to see you guys again soon! 

Bachelor Parties Woo! 2010

For all the things my wife complains about, you would think she would object to my attending three bachelor parties in fifty days, but she doesn't complain about this. To her everlasting credit, she understands how important it is for me and my Brown College friends to gather every few weeks to eat steaks and ride inflatable water slides.

Cory's bachelor party was in Vegas during the first weekend of March Madness. As a result of unspeakable hours of gambling preparation, I won 9 of 11 basketball games. As a result of unspeakable numbers of Manhattans, I went on a remarkable blackjack and craps run with Brady, who lost every other time he touched a card. The hot tub was just right. Lucky Robin!

Cory's bachelor party in Vegas

Lukas's bachelor party was in Cooperstown in mid-April. This did not prevent it from snowing. Fortunately, we stayed in a warm cabin where we played cards and cooked hamburgers in the oven and drank beers. There were several bear sightings, as well as statues of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and James Fenimore Cooper. Lucky Sarah!

Lukas's bachelor party in Cooperstown, NY

Jeff's bachelor party was in Palm Springs last weekend. Mostly, we stayed in a palatial estate hurting each other and ourselves with water balloons and kegs and bacon explosions. Everyday it was cloudless and sunny. Several people fell asleep in the pool. Only once did we venture into town, where we scared everybody. Lucky Inga!

Jeff's bachelor party in Palm Springs

Fun with numbers!

Personal round-trip bachelor miles logged: 10,962

Average day-time temperature in Palm Springs: 95

Average day-time temperature in Cooperstown: 30

Total pounds of steak cooked Friday night: 18

Total bachelor party attendees: 17

Total dune buggies rented: 13

Personal wins betting on teams named "Bears" in 4 games: 4

Bachelor parties attended by Brady and Cory: 3

Bachelor parties attended by Briggs and Jeff: 2

Total grills burned into ground: 1