Joshua Tree

Sunday, February 16, 2025

There are no services in Joshua Tree National Park. No food, no water, no shelters, etc. We did check before we went and there are primitive toilets – although none of them are on the map. Odd. I read that October- April is the busy season and we should go before 10:30 or after 4. We needed to eat something before we went and since there is a building labelled The Jelly Donut two blocks away, the decision seemed made for us. We got gas (!!!) (Quote Keith, “We don’t need it, but it’s always good to have a full tank.”) and went down and around and came up to The Jelly Donut on the side of the building.

It looked decidedly not open. It looked very abandoned. We paused, wondering where we should go, when a guy walked out the door. In we went. I got a doughnut, Keith got two doughnuts, and we got two ham, cheese, and jalapeno croissants.

We were much closer to the “back” of the park. The main visitors center is actually 15 miles up the road in Joshua Tree (town), but we heard that it is easier to come in on this side. We had to wait behind three cars (all white. We did not get the memo in our gray car) to show our pass to get in.

The whole area is rocky. Flat and rocky. Rocky hills. Lots of brown. Not a lot of anything I would say is too exciting. We saw quite a few Joshua trees at certain points yesterday. Everyone I told we were coming here said, “Ooooo, it’s so pretty there.” I was wondering where the pretty was. I realize it is winter (although 65 and sunny today was hot!) (note to self: wear shorts) and that if blooming is involved in the pretty we were going to be out of luck.

We drove on. We saw a few Joshua trees. We saw some rocks. Then the rocks started getting more interesting. I continue to be fascinated by the all the ways rocks are. So many cool ways. There were lots and lots and lots of piles of big, smooth boulders. What the heck, Joshua Tree? Where did you get all the cool rocks? At first the trees (they aren’t actually trees. They are related to agave and yucca) were sparse – and super wonky looking. Let’s face it – Dr. Suess was definitely inspired by these trees. As we traveled on, the trees got thicker, taller, and slightly more tree shaped…sometimes. Joshua trees grow 1.5 inches/year and can grow up to 40 feet. That takes a while. Keith really wanted to buy seeds and tiny, tiny pot at the gift shop, but I nixed him. Man. I am no fun. I guess I will give him a tiny pot of dirt and tell him I planted a Joshua Tree. I don’t think it will be different.

Anyway, we had been warned that if the parking lots were full, we could not stop – do NOT make up your own spot. We were in the park about 8:15 and were surprised how many cars were in all of the lots. None were full, but almost. Lots and lots of the pull outs on the sides of roads that held about a dozen cars were full. Wow. We went on multiple “hikes”. We only choose those which are labelled easy, because all going up for me is really hard. Thump thump thump gasp gasp gasp. We enjoyed the flat walks around big rocks, looking at gazillions of wonky trees. You want to take a picture of all the rocks and all the trees. I think I got most of them (lies!), but none of the pictures do any kind of justice. We sat on a shady bench for a while and just tried to swallow the sight into our brains. I always try to figure out how to enjoy something more – get more out of it somehow when it is so splendid. I think that is why I take and take and take pictures – I want one to just go POW! This is how great it was. It doesn’t usually happen, so the game continues. I babbled on about that on the bench and Keith said, “Yeah.” We laughed and laughed.

We went to Keys View. We could see Palm Springs in the Valley, the San Andreas Fault, and snow-covered Mt. Jacinta. We met a young man from Germany who is on a year training swap with the army, based in Monterrey. He goes somewhere every weekend and was able to get farther this long weekend. I gave him our contact info in case he wants to come to Minnesota. You never know. We encountered some Jeep owners giving a stylized rubber duck to other Jeep owners. I guess it is a thing. Everyone was delighted. I was delighted. Now I need a Jeep.

We finally drove to the other side of the park and waited behind 4 cars to get out. Since it is open always, someone could come in when the rangers are not ranging and they are going to make you pay on the way out. Two of the four cars had to pay, so there. As we passed the station, I saw that there were four rangers out walking up to cars, taking care of having them pay before they got to the gate. Good idea. The line stretched at least 12 cars. I thought about the warnings to come early. It was early afternoon now and really a lot of lots seemed full as we wended our way out. We took the first curve and the line to get in was longer than we thought. We took the next curve and I started counting. I got to twenty and paused, since I hadn’t counted the first bunch…but then the line continued after the next curve. I started counting from 20 and got to 152 – so close to 200 cars were in line. TWO HUNDRED. That was crazy. I mean in the scheme of things, it’s not that many, but, but, but that is so many more than three. I was so glad we were on our way out!

We had a late lunch and walked around a bit of Joshua Tree (the town). We sat at the counter and Keith had a great view of the line. He watched them put all the food together while waiting for our food. Fun. I found an amazing cactus in bloom in the back of a vintage store. I could not get over how beautiful it was.

We went back to Twentynine Palms and visited the Mara Oasis, home to native people who settled here. The story goes that women were not having boy babies and they went to someone special who told them to go into the desert until they came to the first water. They were to settle there and drink the water, and they would have boys. Twenty-nine baby boys were born the first year and a palm was planted in honor of each birth.

We napped and it was great. Naps!! Then we ate our croissants (really good!) and watched The Map of Tiny Perfect Things on Prime. We really enjoyed it – especially since there is a component of noticing moments.

I cut the pictures down to less than a thousand. There is no rhyme or reason for each – I just liked them. Too many rocks and not enough trees, I think, but here you go. There are a couple of really good ones Keith took down at the bottom, so don’t give up!