Joshua Tree National Park

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An absolutely perfect day weatherwise was made even better by a drive through the Joshua Tree National Park just north of Palm Springs. We toured the park with T2 and D2 in their Jeep, leaving our RV park just after 9:00am and returning around 1:00pm. T1 and D1 kindly volunteered to again 'dog-sit' Mo and Molly so that was great.

From Joshua Tree National Park

From Joshua Tree National Park

The Joshua Tree National Park was just spectacular especially the endless miles of wild, unspoiled desert scenery. We entered the park from the Western Entrance and slowly ascended to an elevation of approximately 4,500' in the Mojave Desert portion of the park. This is where the Joshua Trees are found - they are very widespread for several miles in the Mojave before slowly disappearing towards the eastern end of the park where they are replaced by all different kinds of cacti and desrt wildflowers!

From Joshua Tree National Park

One of the more unique cactus plants we saw in the park was the Teddy Bear Cholla cactus. The cholla is common across the hotter parts of the Southwest and is notable for it's ferocious spines, which are very sharp.

From Joshua Tree National Park

By far, the most impressive part of the Joshua National Park was the Keys View lookout. From this 5,000' overlook, we were able to get fantastic views of Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea and even Mexico ninety-five miles away. The Coachella Valley sits right smack on top of the San Andreas Fault and if one knew what to look for the fault lines are visible from this viewpoint. The San Andreas fault also runs right through Desert Hot Springs where our RV park is situated. We haven't felt any shaking though - except when the desert wind picks up.

From Joshua Tree National Park

By the time we got back to the Sands RV park, just after 1:00pm, the temperature was in the high 80's. After picking up Mo and Molly from Tom and Donna's, Paulette and I took turns going to the pool for a swim. Even though it does get very hot during the day, we haven't had to use the air conditioner in our 5th wheel at all. At night, it cools down nicely and is very comfortable even with the roof vents open.

From Joshua Tree National Park

After dinner, both T's and D's came over to our site for coffee and desert. By 7:30pm, we were all beat so we called it a day - another great day here in Desert Hot Springs!