Joshua Tree National Park and Pioneertown today

23 March it was sunny and 80 degrees. We got info about Joshua Tree from Gord and Bern who had just visited there. Set off at 10 AM with Sue and Jen in the truck, got lost a bit going for gas near the east end of Dillon Road. Filled up, then hit I-10 highway going east toward Joshua Tree National Park. It is 792,000 acres, and quite varied in both vegetation and elevation.

Went to the info center for tourist info, got a few things, then set off slowly through the park, stopping to read the informative signs along the way, and hunt for wildflowers. Didn't see many, and one showy blooming cactus we passed before we could stop. The I-10 highway has some pale yellow wee flowers blooming like a carpet on the desert floor, also some bigger plants with bright yellow flowers, and the odd pale purple flower also down low on the ground, very pretty in places.

The park is both Mojave Desert toward the north, then Colorado Desert toward the south, becoming the huge Sonoran Desert which goes way down into Mexico.

It has areas of creosote bushes, in bright yellow bloom at the moment, then on to cholla cactus, pale green with tons of thorns, and the old growth a kind of browny black at the foot of each plant, and then more north it gives over to huge Joshua Trees, like giant yuccas, but with many arms, many of them in creamy big blooms at the end of the branches.

It was very pretty, and quite interesting to see. We didn't see many birds or animals, though of course there are lots of critter holes beneath the creosote bushes in bright yellow bloom. We were glad that we didn't see the sidewinder rattlesnakes that exist up there, perhaps most of the animals are more night creatures, due to the daytime heat.

It was quite windy and a bit chilly, Jen and Sue hadn't brought sweaters, and the truck doors were really pulled open wide when we opened them to get in and out. There are no food facilities there, and we hadn't brought a picnic like Gord and Bern had suggested we do. In a nearby town we got to once we left the park we ate at a Country Kitchen, the chinese lady operating it was very amusing, and we had burgers and drinks.

Then we cruised a few shops up there, got some money at an ATM, and went over to Pioneertown, a cowboy western one street town that had been developed by Roy Rogers and some of the other cowboys of the 1940s, it was built as a stage set in the late 40s, and is just one dusty road out in the middle of nearly nowhere, though there is a tiny wee post office still functioning there, and several of the buildings are occupied by folks still in residence there. On the weekends it is more animated, with actors, and a restaurant that opens for the toursit trade.
We saw one business, the man has some beautiful western saddles and bridles for sale.

It wa apparently the scene for some 200 cowboy western movies and series on TV, and is named after the Sons of the Pioneers early country singers, who were also involved in developing the locale.

Came home, flopped for 20 minutes, then off out to dinner with Sue and Jen inviting us, we went to Agua Caliente, and had a yummy steak and seafood buffet dinner.

Sue and Jen packed up most of their stuff into their suitcases, they have to be off in their rental car for the airport before 8 AM tomorrow. After they leave we will pack up the linens and bring them home to wash, and soon we will have to pack up our new park model home at Almar Acres, learning to "summerize" it to prevent the desert high summer heat from damaging it. And then pull our trailer out and up towards the north, to get home for our April 7th appointment at Greg's in Duncan.