Last nature stop of the trip was just north of Valencia, in the Angeles forest. Pyramid Lake was officially closed on Christmas, but we snuck down past the gates for a look.
Chinese food on Christmas Eve
The timing of our little trip left us in a hotel in Valencia, CA on Christmas Eve. As such, we were left with few Christmas Eve dinner options. Remembering the song, I suggested we go out for Chinese. Thanks to excellent 3G coverage and Yelp, we found Grand Panda in Santa Clarita.
Sorry for the blurry iPhone pic. Low light conditions.
This place was PACKED on Christmas Eve. And, we later learned, Christmas Day is actually an even busier day for them, typically.
The food was, in a word, excellent. Who would have thought that a little town like Santa Clarita would have better Chinese food than anything I’ve had in San Francisco?
Mojave National Preserve
The Mojave National Preserve is an amazing place. We only had time to explore a small part of the park (Hole in the Wall) but just that little portion was fantastic. I highly recommend this park to anyone who is in Southern California. It’s only a few hours from Los Angeles. From highway 40, it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, once you get inside the park, you immediately understand why it was protected.
When you’re traveling 1,400 miles, it’s easy to speed past gems like this one. I’m glad we didn’t this time.
Roberto's in Needles
I wish I had a picture of this place, but I didn’t think to snap one. Best chicken burrito I’ve had in ages. Who would have thought?
Only 1 review on Yelp so far. Might have to add another one of my own.
[http://www.yelp.com/biz/robertos-taco-shop-needles](http://www.yelp.com/biz/robertos-taco-shop-needles)
Needles, California is just over the border from Arizona. It’s a strange place that actually made us all feel a little uncomfortable. Google informs me that Sam Kinison died just a few miles from there, in a car wreck in 1992.
Negative 5
Wanted to go for a morning nature hike before leaving Grand Canyon yesterday. But two things kept us back. 1) It was still pitch dark until about 8 a.m. 2) It was -5 degrees outside.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt -5. Great reminder of why I live in San Francisco. That sort of temperature is just wrong.
