a weekend in joshua tree & palm springs.
dome in the desert.
it's the WEEKEND! after getting back from a few days in tennessee, we are just taking it easy at home. but with this heat wave, i can't but help think back to our weekend getaway to joshua tree back in june. we stayed at THE cutest airbnb, just outside the park. who wouldn't want to stay in a dome in the desert?
it was super cute, super cozy, and had a full kitchen for us to cook in, a loft to hang out in and large desert backyard perfect for playing bocce!
desert bocce with a bottle of muni wine "mubbly" (mini bubbly).
while we made most of our meals at the dome, we did venture out for brunch at la copine, which was lovely and served surprising light and fresh yet comforting fare out in the desert.
beignets with cinnamon-coffee sugar.
beignet closeup.
B-E-C: beeler's uncured bacon, fried eggs, sharp cheddar, green onion, sambal mayo, toasted soft baguette.
lavish lavash: roasted cauliflower & eggplant, za'atar spiced garbanzos, napa cabbage, pickled cucumbers, kumato tomatoes, tahini on open-faced lavash.
there was a heat wave that weekend too, with highs in the 110s, so we spend most of the day playing cards and relaxing inside the dome. however, we did venture out late one afternoon to drive through joshua tree national park. we've been many times before, but one spot we'd never made it to was the cholla cactus garden, so we made that our goal this time.
so many chollas!
spotted a lizard.
past the chollas is the ocotillo patch, which didn't really have that many ocotillos, and cottonwood spring, a small oasis of green and palm trees.
ocotillo branches.
cottonwood spring oasis.
from the park's southern entrance, we drove over to palm springs to check out doug aitken's mirage house. it was an art installation for desert X back in the spring, and it is quite cool the way it blends into the surrounding environment. walking through it is pretty fun too, as it is covered in mirrors inside and out.
we dropped by the noah purifoy outdoor museum early one morning before it got too hot (though it was already in the mid-90s when we arrived, it was over 100 when we left!). it's all outdoors and completely exposed to the sun, but super interesting and different.
on our last morning, we drove back to palm springs for brunch before hitting the road back to los angeles. king's highway at the ace hotel never disappoints!
shrimp coctel with avocado, red onion, cucumber, tomato, saltine crackers, cilantro, worchestershire.
ensenada fried fish tacos with passmore ranch sturgeon, cabbage, tomatillo, lime, creme fraiche.
cemita las palmas: buttermilk fried chicken, quesillo, avocado, chipotle, herb salad, refried beans, cilantro.
we love heading out to the desert - we try to do it at least once a year, but we always seem to go on heat wave weekend. maybe one of these days, we'll go when we are actually able to spend more time outside!
