This was the second year that our whole family had the whole week of Thanksgiving off school/work, so, like last year, we decided to make the most of it. This year we chose to head out to Joshua Tree to explore the national park.
Eric was on to teach Sunday School, so we left after church. Our first stop in Joshua Tree was to the house for our stay, which we rented through AirBnB. It was a cool two bedroom, one bath house with a jacuzzi and cold tub in the back yard. It had a desert, eclectic, mildly hipster vibe. I especially loved this gate to the backyard from the driveway.
After settling in at the house, we drove to the park, simply by turing left onto Park Drive and then driving a few miles to the entrance.
Our one and only stop for the late afternoon, that quickly became evening, was to Hidden Valley. It's a one mile loop through an area once used by cattle thieves. Of course, when the kids try to climb on every rock they can, it takes more than a little time to hike a mile and you find yourselves hiking in the dark. Thank goodness for the little flashlight Carter had kept in his pocket and the flashlight in my purse (and yes, I know there are flashlights on our phones). It became a bit of an adventure!
After an early dinner at Panda Express and a shopping trip to Walmart (always a memorable stop. Yikes.), we spent some time stargazing while sitting in the jacuzzi. Before bed, the kids had a tickle fight. They sure have fun with each other!
We had breakfast at the house the next morning before heading into the park for the day.
The cold pool, obviously unfilled
The gate, again.
Heading into the park.
We began our time in Hidden Valley, so we could see the section by daylight.
I can't tell you how many times Carter climbed a rock or a hill and enthusiastically called, "Mom! Take my picture!"
They climbed up pretty high quite a few times.
There were lots of rock climbers around the park.
Our second stop was Keys Point. The view allows you to see Palm Springs, the Salton Sea, and the San Andreas Fault.
We picnicked out of the back of the Venza.
From Keys View we were able to spot some bighorn sheep on the hillside.
We stopped briefly at Cap Rock for another quick hike (and to get a few photos with Joshua Trees).
We drove through a big part of the park to get to the Cholla Cactus Garden, which is in the Colorado Desert part of the National Park. Carter fell asleep for part of the drive.
There is a noticeable difference between the Mojave Desert in the north part of the park, where the Joshua trees grow and the Colorado Desert in the south, where the Cholla Cactus grow.
We found this critter crossing the parking lot at the cactus garden.
We stopped at Skull Rock for some more rock climbing.
I thought this rock looked like a heart:
We stopped at Barker Dam for another hike.
Petroglyphs
Moon rise
We ended our time in the park with a short stop at Hidden Valley. We had hoped to catch some nice late afternoon light on the beautiful rocks, but we were a little late.
It started to get pretty cold during our hike, partly because the wind came up.
Catching the moon
After pizza for dinner from Pie for the People, we roasted marshmallows in the backyard to make s'mores.
Final gate photos
On our drive home on Tuesday, we checked out the Roadside America app and discovered that among other random places to visit, there was a place called Pioneertown, near Yucca Valley, where they filmed western movies in the 40s and 50s. It was a quick and amusing stop.
We felt like our trip to Joshua Tree National Park was time well spent and totally recommend it to others!
