For those of you who are National Park fans, please put Joshua Tree on your list if you haven’t been here yet. If you have been here, you know what I am saying. If you are not yet a fan of the National Parks, please consider it. What a national treasure.
We got an early start to the southern end of the park just as the visitor center opened. We have the joy of clear blue skies, not too hot in the park, and also not that crowded. Everything was perfect. You can read all about Joshua Tree National Park so I will just say that the diversity of the park regions made the whole day fun. I was a big fan of the different wildflowers; Rick focused on the ever changing mountain and rock formation views. We probably have a hundred amazing photos too.
We had a great picnic lunch off the beaten path and decided that it was time to let Peeta (a cat) try more freedom while we are driving. Poor little guy has been in a comfy little carrier when we were moving but we let him loose today. It was a huge success, especially as we were going slow and in/out of the RV throughout the day. They both had lots of A/C and water.
We did a couple of small hikes, enough to appreciate the heat of the sun here. We definitely got our vitamin D today!! And Rick’s knee is doing great 5 weeks since surgery; he took it easy with the desire to climb rocks today!
A few truths were reinforced for me today as far as things to be grateful for. We talked about them a lot. This beautiful area. Having found each other, both with a love of hiking (but not crazy hiking or extreme sports). The shared desire to explore. Rule following and respecting nature. (Don’t get us started on rude and inappropriate park guests). Quiet. Togetherness. The flexibility to make such an adventure happen on our own, with the pets, in an RV that offers us so much flexibility. For example, we could just come back and have a snack, change from sandals to boots, etc. What a great day in the park.
At the recommendation of our friend Linda, we made one quick stop at the Tiny Pony after leaving the park. So cute for a celebratory beer and app. (Yes, I said beer… it’s hot out and I am trying new things). We accidentally left a snap-pad behind as it fell off as we pulled out of the lot and the bartender found it for us! So oh darn, we have to stop there in the morning. (Snap pads attach to the auto levelers and save the step of having to always put blocks under them; a cool invention but not when you lose one with low clearance carefully exiting a parking lot)
Our campground for the evening, Black Rock Canyon is just up the hill from the Yucca Valley and part of Joshua Tree. It is perfect. We got all set up for an amazing night of stargazing and cool breezes, completely boondocking. (No electric, water, sewer hookups).
As such, we really don’t have service to upload photos. We will do that tomorrow when we are back in civilization, including a review of our stargazing.
Looking up at the stars thinking of all of our friends and family 🙂
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