Joshua Tree National Park, Arrival date: 14-05-2023
Highlights video:
The Experience:
Joshua Tree was our first national park we visited in the United States. Obviously, we were very excited to explore this amazing country with all its diversity. We arrived in San Francisco, as you know, and headed south to Los Angeles. We were done with the city’s and could wait to be in the nature.
From LA to Joshua Tree was quite the ride. The long roads disappeared on the horizon. The sun was burning the tarmac. You could see the heat coming off it. We planned to stay in a campground before we went to the park. Our stay for 1 night was at Sam’s Family Spa & Hot Water Resort. After a 3 hour ride, we checked in and went for a drive to the south entrance of the Joshua Tree Park. Because of our early departure from LA, we had plenty of time to explore the park with the RV and stop at some scenic cutouts. Everything we wanted to see was north of the park, so we didn’t mind missing out. After we enter the park, we went to the visitors center were we purchased the America Beautiful pass for 80 dollars to gain access to all the major parks in the US. The ranger gave us a map to which we glanced at and saw that there was a tiny trail that we could walk called Cholla Cactus Garden. We jumped back in the RV and started riding towards it. On our way, I saw 2 snakes crossing the road. That was my first wild life spot in the US if we don’t count the squirrels, of course. But yeah, the cactus garden. It was tiny but so beautiful to see I wouldn’t wanna miss it. We walked, talked about how beautiful it was and took some photos and videos.
After the cactus garden, we went to Arch Rock. It was just past noon it was already getting warmer, but with plenty of water, we did the hike confidently with our James. This trail was a bit longer than the cactus garden trail, but still an easy hike. We made some videos and photos here too and finally made it to the Arch Rock. James got tired, so we carried him in a baby carrier that we brought with us. With some risky moves, we made it to the top of the Arch where we held a small photoshoot. Cautiously, we got down and headed back to the RV. On our way back we saw little lizards, which James found really interesting and wanted to watch and show us he saw one.
We continued heading north towards the exit, and Iris found a nice little restaurant while I was driving. It’s called the Joshua Tree Saloon, and the servers were friendly and the food was delicious. Dare I say hidden gem?! Any way we walked in and rolled out because it was just so good. On our way to the campground, I saw a Starbucks and decided that I wanted a cappuccino so I send Iris to get one while James and I waited in the RV since we couldn’t find a proper parking space for our 30 feet (9 meter) vehicle.
Back at the campground, I hooked everything up, so we had power and running water in the RV and we thought it was time for a swim. We had a lot of fun, the three of us, despite the crowded conditions. James attempted to make friends, but with no luck. He is so social that he runs to every child to make friends and play. It’s so adorable to see. Sometimes he is shy though, then we have to give him a little push. Anyway, time flew, and we headed back to the RV to get dinner ready and relax. Tomorrow we’re going to sleep in the Joshua Tree Park, how exciting is that!
We had no rush getting to our campsite the next day because we knew it’s going to be very hot during the day. So we check out at 11 am and headed to Joshua Tree National Park. From Sam’s RV spa, it was an hour drive. First, we wanted to find our camping spot and settle in. We had a bit of a shadow from our RV so we used that and setup a pick nick table and enjoyed some puzzle with James and family time. The only thing left to do in the park was walk to Skull Rock and the trail started at our campsite. That was very convenient. We took the baby carrier, made a backpack with some water and headed out around 17:00 PM. The sun was less intense, so we started walking and noticed that James was too tired. I put him in the baby carrier and started walking. It was a beautiful trail. We looked our eyes out. James fell in sleep while we were walking. In about 30 minutes, we were at skull rock. That didn’t impress us that much, to be honest. We took some photos because that’s what you are supposed to do, right? We talked to two brothers from the Netherlands about their journey and experiences and shared our information.
James woke up, but he was still sleepy and didn’t want to walk. Yes, I carried him back to our campsite. When we got back and put James on his feet, my back was soaking wet from the heat. For the sunset we went to Keys Views because of the scenic view there. It’s a beautiful sunset, people told us. I made a time-lapse with my camera and James and Iris played, walked and looked around. The sunset was indeed exquisite. The sun disappeared behind the horizon, and we wrapped things up and headed back to the campsite. It was getting dark quickly, and I still had to ignite the BBQ and make dinner for us. With a flashlight and all, I managed to put a delicious meal on the table.
When you're in Joshua Tree, you have to make a photo of the stars, so I did. I downloaded an app called photopills to plan what time I need to get up. I also did some research on what settings to use on my camera, so I had a good starting point to shoot the stars. At 03:30 AM I woke up, but I was scared and had no confidence in an almost pitch black surrounding. But my eyes adjusted and my confidence grew as the time past by and got really happy with the results. It was just magical and I’m so glad that I woke up that early to see the stars. The downside was that I couldn’t go back to sleep so I scrolled on instagram on my phone and looked up some websites until around 05:00 AM I could see the sun come up.
It was time to move on to our next destination and while James and Iris were still sleeping I cleaned up the RV made coffee and started driving.
Check out the video and I’ll see you on our next destination.
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