Mr Poopers Day Out

When Matt and I rolled into Joshua Tree National Park we did have reservations at another campsite, but Matt was determined to cruise through a site called “Jumbo Rocks” because he said, “It’s so COOL!” but usually it is packed to the gills with people. Driving through there it was beyond cool. I love when campsites do not change the topography of the terrain and just mold the campsites into them with out disturbing the natural beauty.   We picked out a campsite (actually I did because I hate being near people) and settled in.

Can you see our little red car? Yeah we are smooshed right in between 40-60 foot boulders. It was beyond fantastic!

The Mr and I did almost everything there was to do in Joshua Tree. We did not hike to Ryan’s Adobe (which was fine because the trails though nicely maintained are soft sand and gravel and it’s very hard for someone with unreliable joints such as I have to do more than 1 trail in one day). We did hit up Key’s View though only briefly because there were mass amounts of people there being incredibly stupid and rude to other photographers.

This view was amazing and it also makes me sad. See the film? Yeah, that’s California Smog. Fresh from LA & the Valley. Nice huh? You have to realize also that we are easily over 2 hours from the Valley and this is still pollution,  pollution in a place that has a population we could easily fit in one bus. Think about that when you are driving your Tahoe’s and Expeditions down the road. If your car is newer than 2000 and you don’t get at least 20MPG you should be ashamed of yourself. (I do exclude pickups needed for work or if you are regularly hauling a load, but if you are just going to raise it & cruise down to Burbank on a Saturday night you don’t count).

The Key’s Ranch was amazing! The property was inherited by Joshua Tree National Park right after the Key’s family had all left or passed on and so everything is exactly the way it was left. These people were seriously ingenious! But honestly, who goes out to the desert to farm? & I guess they were actually successful too!  The most fascinating part of the whole thing is how they collected various parts & bits everywhere they could and made anything they needed from them. 

Bolts, bolts everywhere but not a nut in sight. (get your mind out of the gutter!)

How about some other various parts?

One thing you learn about the desert (that I’m sure we all know in the back of our minds but never really think about) is that things don’t fall apart like they do in other climates. Everything left here was at least 30+ years old and though it looked weathered nothing was falling apart.

This is the extent of 30+ years of rust! This would only be a rust STAIN in Minnesota. But this was still smooth to the touch!

Lined up neatly, rusted perfectly.

We had many lizardy friends come visit. Joshua Tree is home to various lizards, birds, the desert tortoise, coyotes, big horn sheep & bugs. Lots of bugs.