Like Streams of Water in the Desert

For the last several years, my mom, sisters and I have spent a long weekend together each Spring as a Mother/Daughter retreat. This year, my mom and sisters invited Sarah and Katie to join us. We decided to meet in Palm Springs for a few days during Spring Break. 

The day before we left, Sarah got a text from her friend Brooke (from Cypress) who was visiting Los Angeles over her Spring Break. Since the drive to Palm Springs skirts the east side of LA, we were able to meet up with Brooke and her mom in Burbank on our way down. Sarah and Brooke immediately reverted into their silly, crazy ways, and it was fun to watch! I'm so glad it worked out for them to see each other on such short notice. What a blessing for Sarah!!

We left Burbank on an emotional high at about 4:15 and were immediately stopped in LA traffic. It took 90 minutes to go 17 miles! Talk about a mood buster! The girls did great in the car, reading, playing on their phones/itouches, and napping. We arrived in Palm Springs at about 8:00 and got settled in our cute Airbnb. The rest of the crew didn't arrive until about 11PM so the girls went to sleep and I settled down to read and wait.

The next morning, we went to the Palm Springs farmer's market, which was lovely. We came home with oranges and lemons, strawberries, a variety of veggies for roasting, several different delicious cheeses, and my girls each had a juice. A complete success! We spent the rest of the day cooking, eating, relaxing in the hot tub, and planning our remaining days. Very relaxing. 

Our second day we drove to Joshua Tree National Park for some hiking. It was a vast, dry, thirsty land. I felt like we were driving through the middle of nowhere just to get to the trail head! 

We did the Skull Rock Trail, which was 1.7 miles. Sunny, yes. Hot, yes. Dry, yes. Beautiful, Absolutely. It was so interesting to me. I have never really considered the beauty of the desert before, but I really enjoyed it. 

When we got back to the house, we were all tired from being in the sun. I took a little nap and then we relaxed in the hot tub for the rest of the afternoon.

The next day we went to the Living Desert Zoo, which is very impressive. My favorite exhibits were the road runner, the screech owl, the baby warthogs, and the giraffes. There were volunteers throughout the zoo that were full of interesting information to share. 

After the zoo, we found a great little Mexican restaurant (with VERY strong margaritas) for lunch. 

Our last activity was the Aerial Tramway, which took us 2 1/2 miles up the cliffs of Chino Canyon and provided breathtaking views of the dessert. 

It was quite chilly at the top, elevation 8500 ft., so we didn't stay long. By the time we got back to our house, that margarita had done me in, and I was not worth much for the rest of the evening, although I did manage to beat Sarah to the punch and win our game of Clue. We had family game time each evening with Yahtzee and/or Clue (both new games for my girls, but classic Estes family games), and that was one of my favorite parts of our trip.

As I reflect on our trip to Palm Springs, I am drawn to this verse from Isaiah 32:

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness
    and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
    and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

For me, spending time with my mom and sisters was like streams of water in the desert. These first few months in Bakersfield have been difficult. I have missed my community and my family. But I feel refreshed after spending that time with Mom, Ash, and Leigh. Especially since Mom came back to Bakersfield with us for the rest of the week, and Leigh came up over the weekend for Easter festivities. I feel like I've had a drink of fresh, cool water that will hopefully carry me until we go home to Houston in June. And I thank God for renewing my soul at just the right time.