JOSHUA TREE ADVENTURE

Jim and I set out several weeks ago for a "snow bird" camping trip to the South West USA to find some sun and heat.  We didn't get very far when our 1984 VW camper blew a head gasket going over Snoqualmie Pass, less than 50 miles from home.  We set out again a week later in our Subaru Forester, having left the dead VW parked at our nephew Max's house in South Seattle, waiting to be sold.  The Subaru was packed with all our camping gear and we headed to Vancouver, Washington, where we had a lovely couple of days with Jim's brother Lee and his wife Louise.  Then we headed south on I-5 over the Siskiyou Mountains (no snow) and on to Mt. Shasta (little snow). 

Northern California is really in trouble with the drought.  Let's hope there is rain in the future!

We spent a few days with our dear friends Mark and Teresa in Santa Rosa and managed to see lots of other good friends during that short time.  It was so good to connect with everyone again.  After this lovely stop we headed back down I-5 with a vague destination of Bakersfield.  We made it to the town of Mojave, which really has little to recommend it.  After a night filled with noisy freight trains every 15 minutes or so we were going to head to Death Valley today to camp.  However, an issue with a compromised credit card forced us to turn tail and head for Tucson, Arizona where we can have mail delivered.

Determined to take the road less traveled, we saw this historic route and took it.

Route 66 took us through some stunningly beautiful desert as we approached the Pinto Mountains in San Bernadino County.

 Such a relief to be at a little higher elevation; lower down was not at all attractive and we often had to drive through clouds of swirling sands blowing over the road.

Suddenly we saw this sign and literally backed up on an on-ramp so we could go on this road.

Since California is having a drought, I was really surprised to see this legume in bloom. 

 Our first Joshua Tree!  These got their names by early Mormon pioneers who saw them and thought they resembled Joshua's outstretched arms beckoning them to the promised land.

 In actuality they are Yucca brevifolia.

 There are a couple of really great campgrounds amongst these rocks.  We would have stayed but we weren't prepared, as these campsites have no water.

 Farther down in the park we came across a sea of these Teddy Bear Cholla cacti at the Cholla Gardens, which is a delightful 1/4 mile walk through the high desert.

This was a self guided tour with informational posts throughout.  This one is the fruit of the cholla.

 I fell in love with this quirky dead cholla and decided to name him Billy Bob.

 I wouldn't be at all surprised if Cactus Wrens were making nests in Billy Bob's rotted out eye holes.

 I was really sorry we had gotten to Joshua Tree so late in the day as I would love to spend lots more time here.  It's so peaceful, vast and smells of the desert.  We hope to come back through here on our trip back home in a month or so.

 And, as always, sunsets in the desert are the best!

On to Tucson tomorrow.

Audrey