Home James

The last day of any trip is always emotional. So much to be thankful for but also some sadness that good things have to come to an end. This was our first international trip as a family post pandemic and it felt good to be travelling again. The children were so relaxed and we had some great family conversations!

We woke up to crazy winds which slowed our journey back to the coast somewhat. Luckily we had shops to stop at, and free space in our luggage. The rest of the drive back to LAX was fortunately uneventful. Car drop off was efficient, and we soon found ourselves waiting to board our evening flight back to Sydney. Sydney immigration was also surprisingly efficient, as was luggage pick up! Super grateful that on our multiple leg journey around the world none of our suitcases were lost. Until next time!

The driving scenery

The driving conditions...

Might as well stop and spend some money

It was MASSIVE!

Last chance for Starbucks

Gotta fill up space in the suitcases!

We did manage to refrain buying more for the dog...

A G&T for the road...or rather for the air

And we made it home safely as did ALL our bags

Bouldering

We made it to the other end after "scrambling"

We wouldn't be Albanys if we didn't finish our last full day of the trip and with a bang. Add bouldering to the list of "never done it before but let's do it on this trip" activity. We organised ourselves a guided bouldering adventure back in Joshua Tree National Park. Our guides were cool and patient but probably thought we were chumps. Bouldering was very physical and very hard! We all overcame a few hurdles, copped a few scratches and left feeling strangely proud of ourselves. We finished by "scrambling" through the Chasm of Doom! Not for the claustrophobic or for the obese as spaces were super tight. Great way to end our day as it was a lot of fun!

Really early start to beat the heat of the day. Even though it started at near zero degrees, we were soon ditching the layers

Lugging the gear to our first set of "boulders"

About 15 min walk from the car park

Not as easy as it looks! This was per-school level. And I took several attempts

yeah...stuck!

It was an achievement to make it to the top!

The start of scrambling through the Chasm of Doom

This was a wide pass...

This pass affectionately known as "The Coffin" you have to lie flat and pull yourself through with your head sideways

Bump And Grind

The plan was to hike the Bump and Grind Trail. The hike was full on grinding. Sorry trail, there was a lot of hard work with minimal reward! The trail was quite mundane scenery wise...To be fair, it didn't help that we weren't prepared for hot weather. The vote to turn around at around the halfway point was unanimous. We all wanted to go into Petco instead to buy things for the dog...in the cool of air-conditioning. 

Bump And Grind Trail. Dry and rather bland

The "bump" pre hike

The offending "Bump"ee

Down jacket...bad idea!

Getting tired by now

Ok that will do. Let's take a selfie and head back down

A nicer capture of the valley below

Just what every dog needs. Toys made from Kevlar

The children were desperate for some In-N-Out Burger, and the adults didn't have any objections. In particular, they wanted to try the "animal style" fries from the "Secret Menu". We were intrigued and gave the green light. Still not quite sure what it was that we ate...I mean...what makes it "animal-style"!? What it was, it was tasty! With lunch out of the way, we put our sightseeing plan back on track and headed out to scope out Joshua Tree National Park via Pioneer Town. Pioneer Town was...interesting. It was originally built in the 40s as an old west movie set. It is a tiny street and fun to walk down but it will take you a total of 5 minutes. There were shops but nothing too exciting in it, not for us anyway. So if it is on the way, then by all means stop. Otherwise it is a long drive for not much.

Joshua National Park was busy. We had to battle the instagrammers at the major sights but we were motivated to make it to the other entrance as that was where our dinner reservation was. Kitchen In The Dessert came highly rated and it didn't disappoint! Definitely our highlight of the day

In-N-Out burger time

Animal-style fries. 

Stocking up on important avocado seasoning to take home!

We need to work on our wild west poses

Pioneertown

Just in case, like me you had to google what a Joshua Tree looked like

Skull Rock. Had to be posted because we waited SO long for our turn to take a photo!

Best virgin mojito ever

Really lovely setting to have dinner. The heaters were warm and they provided blankets

California Drivin'

Inching our way home around the world, we flew from MCO to LAX today. The new Clear Reserve system worked really well to get us through a disorganised airport full of people who know their rights and live to express them. We were there at 7am and we shuddered at the thought of what the airport would have looked like later in the day...

The flight itself on United was fine. It somewhat grated that despite having round the world business class tickets, we were unable to use the United lounge at MCO. I was kind enough to be "gifted" as entry as a member's guest. Anyhow! We arrived at LAX safely and luggage pickup was surprising quick and painless. 

We hired a car from an ultra budget mob called Fox, but so far they've been great to deal with. With 3 nights before our flight home we decided to try something different and head to Palm Springs as a base to explore the Joshua Tree National Park. Along the drive, we discovered that Driver Mal driver and Navigator Lara was a much better combo than Driver Mal + Navigator Bel. Hurray for me, I get to play with my phone lol! Mal and Lara survived the multi-lane freeways and motorways out of Los Angeles and we arrived at our destination intact.

Hilton Embassy Suites at Palm Desert was our home for the next 3 nights. It was kinder to our wallets than being based at Palm Springs, and for good reason...it was old and tired and due for a major renovation. This was scheduled for sometime after our stay. For us, it meant only requiring one room for our family of 5 but our room was MASSIVE with lots of space. It did the job! We were able to open up ALL our suitcases and duffels to rearrange with ample floor space to spare!

Was nice to see green mountains 

Finally...she was craving Chipotle. A reward for great navigation!

Not so healthy mochi donuts

Heyday circa 1985...

BUT...rooms are spacious

Look at our living space! It didn't stay tidy for long

How did they know we were MALcolm and BelINDA?!? 

Heatwave

Mal's Findpenguin link for today. 

Today we checked out of the Starcruiser. It was 28 degrees so there was only one logical option: Blizzard Beach! We were given the VIP treatment coming off the Starcruiser so were allowed to check in at 10am. This gave us time to explore the new cable car system attached to Disney's Riviera before ditching our luggage. A lazy day on the waterslides and mini-golfing was a great end to a short, but super-satisfying WDW trip.

Goodbye Halcyon!

Space flavoured popcorn and mochi for breakfast...why not

Just in case anyone was wondering what the front entrance of the galactic starcruiser looked like

Disney's Riviera Resort, a new DVC offering and a new experience for us

Also the first time on the skyliner! We stayed on it and went around everywhere...

Onsite entertainment

Our studio

The cheapest points wise so we had a carpark view but as you can see not too bad!

Ours had a split bathroom

Second shower handy for a family of 5

Time for putt putt!

Not good enough to beat Dad

Last chance for funnel cake