In this final episode of the Desert Lady Diaries podcast, Susan Henry (Ep 146) steps in as host and queries Dawn about her first experience with desert, the inspiration for Desert Lady Diaries and her shoppe, Soul Connection. Born & rai

Kathy Goss

Nov 2nd, 2021 35m 6s

Raised on the east coast, Kathy didn’t see a desert until she’d moved to San Francisco in her college years. Taking bus trips down to beaches in Mexico, the desert felt like something to ‘get through’ in order to get to the beach. Back-

Anne Lear

Oct 18th, 2021 30m 8s

Anne Lear’s first experience with desert was a a young girl. Growing up in Los Angeles, Anne and her family made many trips to 29 Palms to visit her uncle, Bob Lear, a homesteader in the 1930’s. If Lear Avenue rings a bell, that road was name

Jenny Kane

Oct 5th, 2021 34m 1s

Jenny was 10-years old when she first experienced the desert. Jenny's best friends mother was a Girl Scout leader who brought the girls out to Joshua Tree National Park to camp. Jennifer says, “I remember the wind – it was like a person, taki

Barbara Gothard

Sep 21st, 2021 26m 30s

Barbara Gothard, artist and educator, was born and raised in the landlocked agricultural community of Springfield, Illinois. Growing up in the middle of lush, green farmland, Barbara says she first experienced the desert while turning t

Laurel Seidl

Sep 6th, 2021 32m 19s

Laurel Seidl’s first experience with desert was hitch hiking from Carson City to Las Vegas in 1966. In this episode we learn Laurel has quite a bit of hitch hiking experience. Laurel moved to the desert in 1982. Her parents l

Sandy Smith

Aug 24th, 2021 24m 30s

Sandy Smith of West Allis, Wisconsin arrived to 29 Palms as a young Marine wife and mother in December 1987. Knowing they had orders to Camp Pendleton soon, Sandy didn’t concern herself with setting up household here in the desert. – she didn

Mary Helen Tuttle

Aug 9th, 2021 30m 45s

Born and raised near the Catskills in NY State, Mary Helen Tuttle fell in love with a guy who had started building a place in the desert. When Steve took a job on the west coast, they moved to Fontana. Thinking the desert home would jus

Robyn Lewis

Jul 27th, 2021 27m 48s

Born in in Kingston Ontario Canada, near Syracuse NY, Robyn Lewis made her way to California with her first husband – he was moving back to family and Robyn was excited to be near LA to continue her acting career. Robyn describes hersel

Kate McCabe

Jul 13th, 2021 32m 4s

Born and raised in Philly, Kate McCabe made her way to California to study under former Disney animator Jules Engle (Fantasia), at CalArts. Looking for a California sound for a film she was creating, Kate approached Brant Bjork from the

Jillian Sauter

Jun 28th, 2021 35m 30s

Jillian has lived in the desert since 1992. Her experiences have included family trips for hiking, camping and off-roading. With little development in the desert at that time, it was easy to see big horn sheep, desert foxes and a plethora of b

Alisha Moreno

Jun 15th, 2021 31m 5s

Alisha Moreno was nine years old when she experienced the desert for the first time. Her family moved from Orange County, CA, to a condominium in the hi-desert, owned by Alisha’s grandmother. Alisha’s father, a single dad to three children, w

Rose Cefalu

Jun 1st, 2021 28m 9s

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Rose first experienced the desert on a camping trip w/friends. They tent camped in the Black Rock Campground in Joshua Tree National Park and she found it enchanting, beautiful, wild and fun. It

Lorraine Salas

May 18th, 2021 35m 29s

Born and raised in the East Coachella Valley, Lorraine Salas has a lifetime of experience in the desert. "When most folks hear ‘Coachella’, they think of the annual music festival, but Coachella has a rich history in the United Farm Workers

Blanca S. Villalobos

May 3rd, 2021 29m 37s

Blanca S. Villalobos is a freelance cultural worker living in the San Gorgonio Pass with ancestral roots in Mexico. Blanca is the eighth of nine children. Their parents and half of their siblings migrated to the United States in the 1970’

Darlene Morris

Apr 20th, 2021 29m 2s

With a dad who was a Marine, Darlene Morris' family drove to and from many duty stations. The family would always make a stop in their home state of Nebraska to visit with friends and family if they could. Sometimes the drives took them throu

ShaWanda Gatson

Apr 6th, 2021 36m 21s

ShaWanda's first experience with the desert was as a third-grader, moving with her military family to 29 Palms, after having already moved from Mississippi to Bridgeport, CA and Camp Lejune, NC. She had all of her 'firsts' in the desert, it w

Lauren Kane

Mar 23rd, 2021 35m 57s

Lauren Kane first experienced the desert as a kid, with family trips to the Pioneertown ranch of family friends. Growing up only an hour away from Joshua Tree there were also frequent family day trips to Joshua Tree Natioanl Park. Thoug

Valcine Brown

Mar 9th, 2021 27m 48s

Valcine Brown remembers trips to Las Vegas with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins as her first experience with desert. Valcine describes a recent drive through the Mojave Preserve and what it was like to witness the destruction of the 2020 su

Susan Henry

Feb 23rd, 2021 39m 24s

Born and raised in Corvallis, Oregon, Susan headed for the Bay Area right after high school, picking up music gigs in clubs and hotel lounges and even going on the road alone doing solo gigs in places like Esconaba, Michigan. Eventually

Cindy Daigneault |Ep 145

Feb 9th, 2021 33m 5s

Born and raised in Minnesota, Cindy Daigneault says a high school radio station job shadowing experience inspired her to seek out a career the radio business. After high school, Cindy attended the Brown Institute of Broadcasting, one of

Jessica Bennett

Jan 26th, 2021 31m 37s

Jessica Bennett's first desert experience was a program in her Washington State high school called ‘desert school’. Growing up in lush Seattle presented allergy challenges for Jessica and she immediately took notice of a change while visiting

Elena Yu | Ep 143

Jan 5th, 2021 40m 3s

Elena Yu started making trips to the desert with her pre-school classmates and their climbing dads. She recalls loving their regular trip to Coyote Corner to pick out rocks. Placing them in a little velvet back made it seem like rocks w

Turiya Autry

Dec 8th, 2020 36m 52s

Turiya Autry grew up on the west coast in Monterey Bay, eventually traveling up the coast to Portland where she lived for 20 years and raised her children. She now finds herself on a different west coast - in Florida. Turiya's first exp

Merilee Kuchon

Nov 23rd, 2020 32m 11s

Born and raised in South Orange, NJ - in the shadow of NYC - Merilee Kuchon’s early life was very suburban and urban. Merilee was about five or six when she had her first desert experience. Aunt Franny and Uncle Pete, who lived in Encin