March 10th 2016 - Joshua Tree

Up bright and early for breakfast before my conference call. I was scared for a minute because signal got a little spotty but it all worked out. As much as I hated to think about our amazing trip coming to an end, it was a relief to know everything was in place for me to return to work in April.

We spent some time photographing all the different flowers blooming around our site before we made our way to Joshua Tree. There is something so beautiful about seeing those bright spots of color against the stark desert landscape.

Joshua Tree was bigger than we expected and very crowded. We toured the beautiful Cholla Cactus Garden and explored some of the huge rocks. I had not expected to see such large boulders in the desert. After we had our fill of the park for the day, we headed to a free campsite on BLM land south of the park.

The best part of the campsite was definitely the price. It was basically a huge dirt parking area. There was no foliage and no scenery but we were tired and it was free.

We got in the truck for a late afternoon nap. We were startled awake by the sound of gunfire. An ambulance had pulled up near us and the male EMS worker was teaching the female EMS worker how to shoot. Fortunately, they soon got a call and headed out. This place is definitely not making it onto my top ten list!

We cooked up some tacos on our propane stove and made it an early night.

March 9th 2016 - Leaving Salton Sea/Bat Cave Buttes

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning at the Salton Sea. We had coffee with Leon and got some great advice about life on the road and some places we should go including the nearby Bat Cave Buttes and the San Andreas  Palm Tree Oasis.

We hiked to the Bat Cave Buttes and spent some time climbing the buttes and exploring the caves before heading back to the truck to check out the palm oasis. The palm trees were enormous and it was nice and cool inside the oasis.

Our next destination was Joshua Tree National Park. We had a few free campsite options near the park we wanted to check out. The first spot we looked at was on BLM land near the north entrance to the park. It was ok but we wanted something a bit more scenic with more privacy. On our drive we had seen an area with dispersed camping we thought looked nicer so we headed back that way.

As always, our search for just the right site took us on an adventure. We wanted privacy, a nice view, and for an extra twist, we needed phone signal because I had a 9 am conference call scheduled with my board of directors to plan for my return to work. A tall order, but we were determined. The road got pretty hair raising in some areas and there was one really scary spot up a hill ( a couple we met on the road advised us not to try it but they stayed and watched out for us when we decided to go for it).

After some white knuckle driving, we did find a beautiful spot. There were flowers blooming all around and in the distance we could see a glimpse of the Salton Sea.

Happily, there was still plenty of daylight to make dinner and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The weather was perfect for staying out long after dark enjoying mugs of tea under the stars.