North Joshua Tree

This post is a touch out of sequence. This post (and the one to follow) actually occurred before I left for Washington alone to leave the girls to fend for themselves while I finished up some lingering business and stuff in WA. Diana just made some posts that happened during the time I was gone before I could insert this post and the next one.

After leaving the Mojave Desert, we traveled South, then down a section of Route 66, then through scenic Amboy, site of huge Chloride fields/ponds, then through 29 Palms to Palm Springs for a day or two, then up through Joshua Tree to arrive in North Joshua Tree. North Joshua is quite different from the South end of the park with the huge rock outcroppings and formations. As you can see in the pictures the red rock formations are very rounded and invite climbing which we all did, especially the kids.

We met some friends from Washington that the girls had known well. The girls really enjoyed their experience with the Kaser kids Heidi and Noah. Hikes and fireside renditions of Harry Potter were had in earnest, especially spell casting with glow stick wands, I am certain the entire area of the campsite was 'entertained' by the antics.

Our last evening there we went on a sunset hike and the glow of the sun on the rocks as we climbed and hiked was amazing. It was cool though as evidenced by Andi's photo showing her fuzzy hat. We were using the catalytic heater every morning to take the edge off (this was in late Feb, early March, hey, I am just catching up). We also saw a hawk in a Yucca plant as we headed home. Diana was able to get fairly close and photograph it before it flew away.

All in all, North Joshua Tree was a fine ending of our time in Southern California. After this we were heading just south of the Park entrance (see earlier posts) where we were going to have Cami's birthday party with the rest of the Belous family in attendance.