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Welcome to Notes From the Road—an inside look at desert happenings, things we’re currently into, and anything/everything in between brought to you by one of our owners and founders, Janelle. We don’t gate keep here in the high desert so if we love it, you need to know about it.
Robert and I lived in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains for a few years before moving to the desert. We have so many friends and family there, and it will always be part of our story. Watching the fires in LA this past week has been just jaw-dropping really. The massive amount of destruction and loss has impacted so many, but we have felt it within our All Roads web. Stores we have worked with have burned down, past and present team members have lost or been displaced from their homes, and brands we have carried in the store are affected. Joshua Tree is two hours away from LA, but pretty much everyone here in the high desert has a connection to someone affected by the fires. For now, we feel the most helpful supporting individual GoFundMe asks. The need for support is going to continue, so we will look for ways that we can support in the coming months.
This year my parents gave me their old CD player for my stereo stack and inside, they left a CD by Canadian folk singer, Gordon Lightfoot. I played it while setting up the CD player and remembered thinking Gordon was boring easy-listening music when I was growing up. As the crystal clear tunes came from the speakers, I thought “Wait, is this good?” In the following weeks, I obsessed over Gord’s Gold, and this is my favorite track—perfect for dark wintery nights.
By the way, after years of streaming digital music or playing scratchy records, CDs sound incredible. I highly recommend listening to your favorite album via CD with giant headphones while lying on the sofa. The full and rich sounds will blow your mind. Yes, streaming music is convenient, but the sound of CDs makes me realize the sacrifice we are making for that convenience!
Sam, an All Roads Desert Market regular and a friend of mine here in Yucca Valley, recently recommended My Life On the Mojave, a collection of essays by Jane Paxton. Sam told me it was out of print, but worth every penny if I could find a used copy. A few hours later I found a signed copy on eBay. Jane moved to Yucca Valley in the early 1930s, leaving her family in Hollywood while she attempted to regain her health in the high desert. She soon realized she could not return to LA, and the dry arid climate of the desert was the best environment for her health. Reading about how Jane homesteaded in Yucca in a 2-room shack was incredible. She talks about traveling the road through Morongo Valley to Yucca Valley (the Morongo grade) pre-pavement. She would drive up the sandy rocky grade in her Buick in the 1930s! The book is a collection of essays and poems Jane wrote for regional periodicals. It’s a very special book—it’s so fun to read Jane’s beautiful descriptions of the desert back then and try to figure out where the current-day locations are.
After 7 years in Yucca Valley, I must be becoming a real desert person. Each winter I feel c-o-l-d to the bone. Mind you, I grew up on the East Coast—I know our winters are not cold in comparison. Once the chilly nights are here I start craving regular soaks in the natural hot spring waters of Desert Hot Springs. My favorite place to go for the day is Sam’s. They say they are the only spa in DHS that does not chlorinate their waters. The water is clean, is constantly pumped in/out, and the tubs are emptied and cleaned nightly. I cycle between the dry sauna, the hot water, and a cool dip in the big pool. Pro tip: they have grills and picnic tables so you can bring food and make a proper day of it. Or get a wristband so you can leave for lunch or other low-desert errands (Costco, ahem), and then come back and reward yourself with another relaxing soak before you head back up the hill.
If you follow our Instagram or my personal account, you may know I have been on a garment dye kick. It started with sending our Circle Tees out to get garment dyed, then it turned into a group dye bath we hosted at the shop. There are so many things I love about garment dying. It’s allowed us to create limited-edition colorways on existing Circle Tee prints. Our group dye bath, which we’ve dubbed “Dye Your Duds,” is a way to refresh your own garments that maybe you love the fit of but not the color or you’d like to hide stains on your favorite tee. The garment dye process makes clothing super soft and broken in. Garment dying our t-shirts instantly breaks them in as if you have been wearing and laundering them for a year. My entire wardrobe is slowly narrowing itself into an overdyed palette of black and fatigued green, which also makes dressing super easy! Locals, keep an eye out for our next Dye Your Duds dye bath later in January, we are planning dye baths of chocolate brown and black.
One of our favorite ways to find inspiration is touring architecturally significant homes and spaces, especially while traveling. I am finally parking years of tours and documentation on our Journal. Our Road Trip series shares these inspiring sites. So many considered details went into these spaces, and I thought it might inspire y’all too.
Janelle Pietrzak
Founder, All Roads
