Joshua Tree

The Cholla Cactus Garden.  If you walk too close to this kind of cactus, some little prickly balls will velcro onto your clothes.

 One thing that we did during our roadtrip that wasn't visiting people was to spend a couple days at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.  I liked the idea of going to a National Park that was on our route during our trip, and I also liked the idea of being in warm, non-wintery places, so that is how I decided on Joshua Tree.  I would love to go back during the spring and see how the desert blooms with color and flowers.  It was still pretty for us in early February, but it was the dormant period.  There was a video to watch at a visitor center and it mentioned the Sahara desert (just north of where we live in Mali) and how the "desert" is so named for being deserted, void of life.  The kind of deserts found in Joshua Tree Park are very full of life.  And I learned that they even get a bit of snow there sometimes.  Not at all like the Sahara!

JP on our hike.

JP resting at the oasis.

My favorite part of our time in Joshua Tree was an early morning hike we did.  We went up and down a mountainy trail to get to the oasis where there is always a little stream of water and some palm trees. 
There was a sign that showed all of the different plants and animals to watch out for.  I only saw birds, no wild mountain sheep or anything else exciting.  But I can now identify several kinds of cactus that I didn't know before.
The other best part of the park for me was walking around an old abandoned homestead.  We went to a ranger program where a woman told the story of the people who lived there, so after that we had to go check it out.  There were walls left but no roof from the house, and lots of old junk laying around to see.  The people who lived there were trying to mine for gold and they learned how to live well in the desert. 

Mostly I enjoyed being in the sunshine and nice temperatures and seeing the gorgeous landscapes and crazy plants.

Old rusty tin cans at the abandoned homestead.

JP with a very large Joshua Tree.