A Prehistoric Wonderland

I made it to Joshua Tree National Park today for the first time. What a strange and magical place! It was too far and too big for a work-day excursion, so I decided to visit on the last Friday of my trip, on the way home. Fortunately, Josh, my project manager said I could have the day off. Thanks Josh! As I drove into the park from the north-west entrance, I was surprised how quiet the roads were. The drive through the park was really beautiful, and I stopped to go on the Ryan Mountain hike - a moderately strenuous hike that climbs around 2400 feet. The trail was very serene, with only a dozen or so hikers, mostly from Europe and the UK. It's inspiring to see so many retired people in good physical condition - may this be me when I'm 63! I decided to camp in the park for the night, even though it is cold and my cell phone and internet are not working. My camera works though! I am going hog-wild with my new camera, as this place is such a visual wonderland. The rocks are so strange, you feel like you're on another planet. And then there are the weird spiny trees and plants everywhere. It is good to be in this wild and strange place. I took advantage of the sunset at the 'Jumbo Rocks' campground, and managed to get some really interesting photos. So this is the end of my Palm Springs trip. I am 3 hours from home now - taking advantage of my last opportunity to blog before I jump back into my work week. There are many other things I could mention - the trip up the Tram, the trip to the botanical gardens, the really nice folks I met at the Happy Traveller RV park. So this RV concept is really working out well. A trip to Arizona is in my future. I leave you with one of my favorite photos from Joshua Tree. I was almost giddy to get some of these shots. Signing off now...