Photos by Kimmy Le
]]>There comes an important turning point in the year for your average Southern Californian. It’s not the moment you realize you already broke your New Years Resolution 2 months in, or the panic in misplacing your W-2s when taxes are due. It’s a yawning rodent emerging from the earth, deciding whether or not you are free to put shorts on and get outside.
That being said, with common knowledge, wave after wave of spring breakers flood to the coast in a frenzy. Craving some amount of ‘out’, we left in the opposite direction for Joshua Tree.
Two and half hours later past the hormonal traffic and crowded sidewalks… we revisit a blank canvas that has only occurred in our youth.
Depending on a steady tide of seasonal tourism among the regular backpackers, returning campers, climbers; Joshua Tree has accumulated only a growing crowd. Largely, dare I say it, due to social media exploitation?… But on a nobler side, bringing a more consistent economic growth through Yucca Valley, booming unto Joshua Tree and simmering down at the beginning of Wonder Valley (29 Palms).
As there are so many events happening now at the crossroads of Spring & Summer, so includes a pinch of must-sees & should-dos for your weekend out, at the start of Spring when the weather isn’t so bitter at night or hostile during the day. If you’ve never been, or even have just half a day to spare, a simple route can take you above the whole park.
The park entrance fee is $20 and that permit lasts about a week, but for just $10 more you can have an annual pass (don’t be a fool). There was a light breeze this weekend, temperature up in the high 70s, low 80s. Following the road through the valley, past Boy Scout campground, Hidden Valley, and scattered herds of climbers, we hit Ryan Mountain trailhead. It’s a 3-mile roundtrip hike takes you up above the desert floor along a nicely packed trail with numerous stone steps. It’s probably the best summit providing a great panoramic view of the desert and the dismantled/conjoined rock formations below in the heart of the park. Tall misshapen granite seemingly marks the start of the hike, and the trail is fairly sun-exposed. Keep right, past the sign ‘Sheep Pass Group Camp’; that’s just another starting point for the hike, and you’ll be continuing on toward the ‘Wonderland of Rocks’ defining the classic Joshua Tree landscape.
On a clear day, you can see southwest toward Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Gorgonio. Southwest of Ryan Mountain, is the campground and the remains of Ryan Ranch; and Lost Horse Mountain standing above the other summits, completing the view.
If you have the time, The Chasm of Doom is worth checking out, especially if this is just a weekend trip (let alone last minute trip) and you don’t find yourselves as far inland. You can ask the ranger at the entrance how to get to Real Hidden Valley. Once you park there you will find other groups looking for the entrance…just follow them and try to find it – it’s fun just to look for it! However, it is very tight in certain places and you can’t take anything with you (no, not even your phone, so you can forget about anybody believing you were there if it wasn’t snapchatted).
Honestly, the best way to do Joshua Tree is to find a crazy lookin’ pile of rocks and scramble on upwards; of course, with water, “snacks”, a camera, whatever else you may like to amuse yourself with, and stay at the top for a hot minute. Listen to the desert from up there – the silence is deafening in the most calming way.
Some might say that there’s nothing to do out in the desert other than pool parties, glamorous semi-low-maintenance-lifestyle photography and getting incredibly sun burnt. But, if you could go with open intentions, and be aware of your time, instead of racing the sun, you can see what you want to see…
Article by ALEX Ambassador and Extraordinary Human Kimmy Le
]]>We love what we do over here, but that being said, we’ll take any chance we can get to put down the TPS reports and get out of the office. Turns out, it can actually double your creativity. We’ve been using that excuse for years but didn’t know it was actually true! This epic article from Chris Smith on Life Hacks just blew our minds.
Apparently Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz of Stanford University tested 179 students to see how walking impacts creativity and the results from their study are amazing.
Apparently the idea for the research project came from…taking a walk. Makes sense right? Oppezzo was walking with her adviser discussing possible thesis topics and the idea of checking the creativity boost due to this simple act came to life.
To start, their 176 student group did a series of tests to see how creatively they were thinking. The students completed these tasks while sitting, standing or walking. These tasks were things like find as many creative alternative ways to use an item. (Kind of reminds us of our experience when trying to find all the creative ways to use a bottle…apparently we should have done it all while walking).
They determined that the students doubled their creative ideas when they did the test walking. Part of this could have been because their level of talking increased and that’s where a lot of the creative gems apparently came from.
Takeaway? Giving yourself permission to take 5 and get those creative juices flowing can lead to an extraordinary day; so fill up your bottle and taking a quick walk because your next breakthrough could be just around the block.
It’s okay, Science told you to do it. Cheers.
]]>ALEX was just put through the paces for a Buzzfeed review and it was amazing. The title of the post made us blush and tear up a bit. Like proud parents we wanted to make bumper stickers that said "Our water bottle was reviewed on Buzzfeed.com and they said "This Amazing Water Bottle Will Change Your Life".
A few months back we were contacted by Nicole Nguyen who writes for Buzzfeed because she had seen ALEX on a friend’s instagram page and wanted to find out for herself why the world needed another water bottle.
We couldn’t be more thrilled with her take on ALEX but what made us the most excited was the amount of time and thought she put into her review. She makes some great points — some we consistently talk about like hiding a beer bottle or using ALEX as a cocktail shaker — and some we had never even thought of, like how, “Because of the grippy bottom, it’s easy to open the cap in the car cupholder with one hand (just push down and twist).”
And of course, she nailed it when it came to the reason we created ALEX in the first place… it’s easier to clean! “Washing water bottles is my Everest. It’s so hard. So, I just never do it,” she says. Ding! Ding! Ding! You ACTUALLY wash your ALEX because you CAN!
So big thanks to Buzz Feed and Nicole for trying out ALEX and giving it a thumbs up. She has some great videos to illustrate the many benefits of ALEX as well. Read the full article with all of Nicole’s witty remarks and great GIFs here –> http://bzfd.it/1qNpvGL
]]>It's true. And Dr. Oz seems to know what he's talking about. If you were to take a walk around the Dr. Oz offices you'd see ALEX hydrating staffers as they prep to bring you the latest and greatest in healthy products. A legend in his field, to say we were flattered by Dr. Oz calling ALEX a "Genius Hydrator" because it's "easy to zap germs" would be an understatement.
When it comes to healthy hydration, ALEX ticks all of the critical boxes. BPA Free? Check. ALEX is made from 304 Stainless Steel, which means your ALEX bottle won't retain any unwanted odors and comes free of those harsh and unhealthy toxins like BPA. Easy to clean? Check. The fact that ALEX unscrews in the middle means you can banish bacteria with ease and eliminate mold from growing on the inside of your bottle (yep, we said it. Mold). Beyond that, easy cleaning means time savings. If you've ever left your bottle in the car with a smoothie in it then you know it can take a couple weekends to remove the residue from your bottle. You just can't get to it and clean it out. With ALEX, we've got you covered. You can just twist it open, toss it in the dishwasher, and drink easy knowing every dark corner on the inside of your bottle is fresh and clean.
The bottle that Dr. Oz and his team are showing off is also a custom ALEX Bottle. Feel free to get wild and make your own custom bottle using our custom bottle builder located on our shop page.
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