US Road Trip - Joshua Tree

Day One

After a morning driving around the last places we wanted to see in Los Angeles, we finally arrived in Joshua Tree. We drove directly to the house to drop our stuff, but the desert was calling us! We were staying only 5 minutes from the North entrance of the park, so we grabbed our cameras and went to explore the area. Our minds were blown away by the beauty of the place. The rocks, trees, cacti, sand and mountains transported us to a different universe, a different planet. Joshua Tree was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
We went on a little hike before sunset through the rocks and cold air. After the sun had fallen, we went to the little town down the road and grabbed a gigantic pizza from Pie for the People and sipped on some nice crafted beer for Blake and non-alcoholic ones for me. Bliss.

The house

This place was our second Airbnb rental of the trip, and it was our perfect little dream home! A little detached bungalow house with concrete floors, Eco-friendliness and lovely vintage furniture. It was a truly inspiring and cosy place. Such a shame we only stayed one night.

Day Two

We woke up just before sunset, still trying to shake off the jet-lag, and decided we'd go on another hike in the park. The air was cold and crisp, and the sun was awaking when we arrived. It was all so magical!

A little detour to Pioneertown

After our morning hike in Joshua Tree, we came home, had breakfast and lazied around as long as we could until we had to check out. We then drove to the little souvenir shop down the road, bought some super tacky treasures and then headed off to Pioneertown. This village used to be a film set in the 50's and is now the home of Pappy and Harriets, a super quirky wooden shack where you can eat some hearty food while listening to some pretty good bands (every good band has played there). By the way, Babes in Toyland are playing on the 20th Feb. Just saying...

Hey, have you been to Joshua Tree? What was your favourite trail?

Next on the blog: Our way to San Francisco!
Missed our last post about the city of the Angels? Check it here!

Photos by Camille Fleur and GKOKO. All rights reserved.

US Road Trip - Los Angeles

DAY ONE
Venice & Santa Monica

We drove all the way to Venice from our little abode in Silver Lake. We discovered the city through its endless 4 line highways. It was quite underwhelming to say the least.
We parked near the canals and walked all the way from a deserted Venice beach up to Santa Monica pier and back. It was a lovely sunny winter day on the beach, empty other than the few surfers in the ocean and unfortunately no muscle men were to be seen, only rappers trying to sell us their crappy CDs...
We grabbed a bite at the Japadog food cart on Santa Monica pier. We got veggie Japanese hot dogs, they were incredible. While queuing for our hot dogs we had to act super natural as we were being filmed as extras for a TV series.
We walked back to the car and stopped at the Deus shop and Wholefoods on the way back. Mmmmmm Wholefoods! You stole my heart AND my money!
 

Day two
Downtown, Hollywood & Griffith observatory

On this second day we planned to drive around town as it was rainy and cold. I wanted to visit a few shops that happened to be miles away from each other.
We set off driving through grimy Downtown. A pretty battered version of Manhattan, with its old signs and bargain shops. We spotted the ACE hotel and a random Urban Outfitters amongst the endless pawn shops.
We didn't stop as we couldn't find anything interesting to look at. So we continued and drove to the Arts Districts, further on the east. It didn't seem like there was much to see but this neighbourhood was kinda buzzing with activity. We parked the car and grabbed a bite at The Pie Hole, where we ate the most amazing Mac'n'Cheese pie! After this, we went to Poketo, a shop I was super excited about! We browsed around for a while, buying some PF Candles and cute baby toys.
We left the Arts District to go towards Sunset Blvd. There was a few places I wanted to stop by, but we got a bit overwhelmed with the parking situation and weren't too bothered in the end. Yup. So we kept going and stopped at Amoeba! Aaaand again, we got so overwhelmed by the quantity of vinyl's that we didn't buy anything AT ALL! We're such a bunch of amateurs!
As we were curious about this whole Hollywood shebang, we drove to Hollywood Blvd. We didn't even get out of the car. It felt like a really sad place to be, and reminded me of this beautiful documentary about that superman guy who spent his life on this street trying to make a living out of it.
We then caught the sunset at the Griffith Observatory, it was incredible to see this endless city landscape lighting up as the night was settling in. It felt so nice to drive up there through the greenery of the park and seeing the beautiful houses of Los Feliz.

Day Three
Our Silver Lake flat & leaving LA

We woke up early again, jet lag oblige, so we baked some cinnamon rolls, brewed some coffee and tea and packed our bags, sad to say goodbye to our little house. We booked this 1940's Silver Lake bungalow through Airbnb and were so pleased we didn't stay in a hotel. The decor was vintage but minimal, just how I like it! We explored a little bit the surroundings, but you needed a car to get to the nearest cafes and shops.
Later that day we drove to Joshua Tree, so stay tuned for my next post!

Have you been to LA, did you like it?

Next on the blog: Joshua Tree the magical!

Photos by Camille Fleur and GKOKO. All rights reserved.