Joshua tree National Park

Joshua tree National Park is a great place to go if you like dirt and rocks.  Compared to the other parks, it was not very exciting and it’s more than a five hour drive from any other place you might want to be.  The town outside the park is Twentynine Palms CA, which hosts a Marine base and little else.  When we Googled the ten best restaurants in Twentynine Palms, there were only eight responses – and they included Denny’s and Pizza Hut!

The Joshua tree was named by the early Mormons who settled in the area.  Only God and Joseph Smith know why, but they did.  They are interesting trees though.

 

 

They also have an unusual bark that can look like needles or regular bark.  Here is one that had both.

 

The Park maps that point out the interesting sites had such great names as “Jumbo Rocks” and “Skull Rock.”  The Jumbo rocks reminded me of the rock monster that Tim Allen had to fight in Galaxy Quest. 

Looks like an alien skull to me!

 

The other “interesting” place we visited was the Cholla Cactus garden – the term garden being used loosely.

 

We took several hikes through the park to abandoned gold mines and processing sites and saw some old vehicles that they left behind.

 

We also saw some cactus that were just starting to bloom – would have been a great shot in about a week when all the buds were in bloom.

 

All in all, Joshua Tree and surrounding area was pretty barren.