Deux North Travel

Winter has finally arrived. We returned from a green Christmas in Wisconsin to a few inches of freshly-fallen snow in Minneapolis. The temperature currently sits at 16 degrees with a windchill of three degrees. We’re under a ‘winter storm warning’ that threatens to dump up to a foot of snow overnight. Order has been restored.

Living in Minnesota has turned me into a snowshoe-owning, dress for the weather, not for fashion, full-blooded winter-embracer. I’ve mastered the art of properly layering for any outdoor occasion and have my downhill skis ready and waxed for the first real snowfall of the season.

However, the true key to surviving a long Minnesota winter is to escape it for a while. It doesn’t matter where you go or how long you stay. What does matter is being able to shuck off some clothing and expose that pale body to vast quantities of vitamin-D.

Our time and budget is limited right now, but it’s vital that we eke out a long weekend in January. I skipped a mid-winter trip two years ago and went apeshit with cabin fever by March. We initially considered going to Mexico or Belize, but five days isn’t enough time to truly enjoy those countries. We thought about doing the Florida or Arizona thing, but prefer to go somewhere a bit more off the beaten path.

A weekend of Google Images and Instagram inspiration led us to our final decision: Joshua Tree National Park. A friend described it as, “walking through a Dr. Seuss book.” That’s all it took for us to book a direct flight to Palm Springs and a quirky VBRO in the desert.

We’ll spend the next few weeks eagerly plotting out ways to experience this unique corner of the world. If you have recommendations, we’d love to hear them. Stay tuned for more.