An Unexpected Road Trip

My daughter and I took a trip to Joshua Tree early 4:30 am in the car on Tuesday morning. I went with no expectations

Armed with sunscreen, water, hats and good shoes, we took some hikes. Happy to have a lifetime National Park pass! 

This was our first hike through the Cholla Cactus Garden with plants with large warning signs. Don’t touch. Don’t rub against it. But way beyond this garden was a huge scape that was both vast and scary. It looked like another planet

Porcupines growing up out of the dry earth

This area had tri-colored plants/trees. As we entered the park, these were totally gray

All of the shoe i prints on our hike. I was pretty happy that I could hike and I felt strong! My daughter is an amazingly encouraging person! 

Second hike was a little further. I call this the cotton ball tree. I love the contrast between sky and earth

This is iconic Joshua Tree

Map of where our first hike was

Arch Rock was our second hike and it was about 84 outside at 8am. As we drove closer to the entrance of the park, other colors of foliage began to change. Saw some purple buds and even some light turquoise 

Heading out of the park 

First stop Coffee and now it’s 90 degrees

Visited the Oasis Visitor Center to buy some tshirts and small books about birds and plants in the area. 


It was pretty great to see a bush with purple flowers on it. We got home around Noon, so we could beat the heat. Started at 72 degrees at 7am and ended with 100 by the time we headed out. I wonder what this looks like in the winter and what the options are to stay overnight.