Joshua Tree & The Getaway House

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Ryan and I spent our four year anniversary doing what we do…worst! Being STILL, playing cards, reading books, & staring at the stars! We had a different plan for our vacation this Fall - in January we booked flights to Italy not knowing a few months later we would be facing a pandemic. Safe to say, this laid-back trip is just what we needed. We are SO grateful that the Lord carved out this space for us to rest, disconnect with the world & better connect with each other for a week. We spent our last day sippin’ on a hot coffee in the mountains, reminiscing on our favorite parts of the trip & of this past year of marriage. Four years in and we’re continuing to learn over and over that marriage takes a whole bunch of work and a whole bunch of grace. BUT GOODNESS, it’s such a gift. I can’t imagine running this race of life, through all the hills and all the valleys, in 2016 and in 2020, with anyone but Ryan. My greatest gift and my best encourager! It’s been a weirddd year, but just like any hard season, it’s made us cling tighter to our Heavenly Father and for that, I’m so grateful!

Click HERE to check out our anniversary photos in Joshua Tree National Park!

Details of our trip are below. We hope this is helpful if you ever find yourself in the area!

Joshua Tree National Park

Transportation: We flew into LAX (scored $50 nonstop roundtrip flights WHOOP) & booked our Jeep through Budget Car Rental, which was right outside the airport. They offered free shuttle transportation from our terminal which made it super easy!

Lodging: We stayed at Cherish & Ramon’s Airbnb for 3 nights! It was less than 10 minutes from the West entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, had a cute little airstream in the backyard and a hot tub! We loved eating dinner on the picnic table in the backyard - the weather was SO pretty in the evenings. Ryan called it “seclusion-delusion” the entire trip, and although we felt SO secluded from the rest of the world, it was still less than 10-minutes from Walmart, restaurants and nearby coffee shops. We thought it was perfect!

Food: Honestly, there’s not a ton of options, but here’s where we would go again…

Moore Trip Tips:

  • Definitely hit up the cute little antique shops in Joshua Tree - some gooood stuff!

  • When entering the national park, go through the West entrance. The line might be longer, but we thought the scenery was MUCH prettier than the North entrance.

  • Highly recommend renting a Jeep! Exploring the park in the evenings with the roof off was a highlight of our trip!

  • Visit during a pandemic - JUST kidding! But we did enjoy having the park to ourselves - many of the hikes, we didn’t see a soul!

Running Springs, California

Lodging: We stayed at The Getaway House YEEYEE! We could not recommend this enough. A one-of-a-kind experience!

Food: The Getaway House is right in between Big Bear & Lake Arrowhead so you have plenty of options for food! You also can cook out at The Getaway House (We just didn’t have this option since the fire pits were restricted due to all the forest fires.)

Moore Trip Tips:

  • Again, exploring in the Jeep with the roof off through the mountains was a highlight. We highly recommend!

  • Bring cards and a good book! You won’t regret it!

  • Not sure if you can make a special request, but we stayed in the “Lavon” Getaway House and the views were unreal! Not every cabin has equal views in my opinion! Also, how stinkin’ cute that each cabin is named after the grandparents of The Getaway House team members?

Alexandra Moore