Travels with Zoe

We were feeling rather ambitious and decided that Zoe was old enough for her first road trip. Joshua Tree National Park is about an 8 hour drive from the Bay Area and boasts some of the most stunning and austere rock formations in California. As an added bonus a friend of the family lives down there and mentioned that we should come and visit in a card she sent with Zoe's Christmas gift! (I am not sure she expected an invasion 2 days after Christmas. I am now much more careful about the little notes I write in cards and e-mails. The "come visit any time" closing will be replaced from now on with the more nebulous "hope to see you soon".)

Juanita's home and ceramic studio in J-tree takes full advantage of the spectacular light and desert landscape. It has taken me years to start appreciating the harsh clean lines of the desert, but at Juanita's it is very easy to see the desert as beautiful.






I was hoping Zoe would impress with how easy she was and what a good baby she could be. Unfortunately, after sitting in her car seat all day, Zoe developed a near constant whine and was virtually inconsolable unless latched onto me or being swung around in a large arc.






Juanita had made a lovely salmon dinner for us and a former student who was visiting with her husband. Maybe Zoe was jealous of the adult food because she did her best to ensure that neither Max nor I had time to enjoy it. Since we couldn't fit her swing into the car, Max and I traded off manually swinging the little imp around which precluded eating a relaxing meal. Zozo finally fell asleep around midnight. Never again do we travel without the precious swing.