California and Joshua Tree National Park

After weeks and weeks in Texas and Arizona, we finally made it to California!  Matthew was especially happy to apply a new state sticker on the map on the outside of the RV. (And to put on some shorts!)

While driving through California we frequently thought about how we were seeing parts of the state that most tourists don't get to - with good reason!  There is so much of the eastern part of the state that is just mountains and desert!  As we drove west we approached Palm Springs and came across a huge windmill farm.  This is just a little south of the national park and we learned later that they are located on top of the San Andreas fault!

Our RV campground was inside Joshua Tree National Park.  It was up a sizable hill and we had a great view of the town in the valley.  We were surrounded by Joshua Trees.

For the first time on the trip we had a camp site without "hookups" - water, electric, and septic connections.  So, we were closer to true "camping" than usual.  We had a wood fire and cooked dinner on it one evening.

The Joshua Tree is a member of the Yucca family and technically not a real tree, but it has a single trunk and multiple branches.  The leaves are small and sharp.  The National Park is known for the large concentration of Joshua Trees here but also for unusual rock formations.  These are the result of magma forcing itself up through softer rock and hardening.  The softer rock has eroded and left the granite.  The park is very popular with rock climbers.

 Matthew was very good at it.

Bill tried and got stuck - kind of like between a rock and a hard place.

We had a great time doing some short hikes and having a picnic.  We really enjoyed photographing the many cacti and their unusual shapes.  We also saw a number of cacti in bloom.

We were fascinated by the unusual rock formations.  Here is an example of a line of some minerals (quartz?) inside the granite.

Joshua Tree NP is also interesting because it has two different types of desert:  the Joshua Trees grow at a higher elevation and are classified as part of the Mojave desert, while at lower elevations the desert is considered a Sonoran desert.

We're all learning so much and, as usual, Matthew was able to get another Junior Ranger.  This was number 22 for this trip!