noon to dusk in joshua tree national park

The little lady and I are in California for Christmas. We got here on 12/23 and won't be going back to MN until 1/1. After spending Thanksgiving with a couple of younger kids, I decided I wouldn't be able to handle 12/23 - 1/1 being around more young kids, so I planned a small side trip for the little lady and me. We left my parents' home in LA county on Tuesday morning and drove straight to Joshua Tree National Park, which is about 2.5 hours away from my parents' place. The park was surprisingly busy, but not in a way that made crowds annoying or anything like that. The weather was perfect--high 60's--and we had a good time driving around the park, stopping to walk around a bit and take photos.







These giant palm trees were growing next to a spring:


This tree, which was growing near the spring, was one of the coolest looking trees I've ever seen. I think it's a cottonwood:




These tall bushes look fairly benign:


When you get up close, however, it's a different story:


One of our favorite places in the park was this "meadow" of cholla cactus:






Despite the park's name, Joshua trees can't be found in much of the park. So, we were pretty excited when we finally found some.







The higher up in the park we went, the more Joshua trees we found. We found an area that was full of them near dusk, which made for some great photos.









I believe Keys View was the highest point in the park that could be driven to. We arrived right at sunset and got some great views of the Coachella Valley below.











Joshua Tree isn't as spectacular as other desert parks, like the ones in Utah, but it's well worth a visit if you're in the vicinity.