Joshua Tree National Park

The short route thru Joshua Tree National Park in California is 47 miles. We were disappointed for the first half of those miles as traveled from the south entrance. All we saw was the same terrain of scattered pebbles on low mountains that we saw from endless miles along Interstate 10. The only vegetation was creosote bushes.

The only item of interest to Terry, in the first half of the miles we traveled, was the solar power that a worker said was the only power source in the park. Solar power ran the visitors centers, entrance stations and residences for the employees of the park. He said that the park had 194 solar panels.

When we arrived at the Ocotillo Patch we saw that the stick like bushes had red blooms!
Next we were seeing cholla, yucca and prickly pear cacti in bloom. In the distance, we viewed large rounded boulders. At last we saw the Joshua trees. An exhibit sign in the park said “the blossoms of the Joshua tree are pollinated only by the yucca moth.” The lack of plants, especially the yucca, was the reason that we had not seen Joshua trees.

The roads are good paved roads with good exhibit areas and nine campgrounds. The only problem was that the campgrounds had very small sites. Although you may get a large RV in some sites, they were not wide enough to put a slide out.

An Rver spoke to me as I was taking pictures. He told me that the park had a blanket of snow two days earlier on March 27, 2005 at three to four thousand feet in altitude. As I left, I asked him, “ What planet are we on?” He said, “I do not know.”

The scenery to me looked like some giant children had played in the mud and made objects that were familiar to them such as balls, stacked pancakes, and eggs. Some of these rounded objects had broken during the years the playground was abandoned.

The next day Terry happened to watch Star Trek Voyager on television. It was a happy surprise to see that many scenes looked like they were shot from the Joshua Tree National Park location.

Spring Tea 2007

While Terry was snowmobiling, I was helping Jo Ann with last minute preparations for the Spring Tea at the clubhouse. Approximately 70 women came to the tea dressed appropriately for the table they had selected. Opal’s table was a Traveler’s table with a map and Burma Shave signs on the tablecloth. Atlas sheets were used as placemats. The centerpiece was of flowers and a trunk. Sue’s table was a hobo table with soup cans and red handkerchiefs and packages on sticks. Aggie’s table was a Love table with flowers at each chair and balloons and hearts. Mary’s table was red with beautiful decorations. Marla’s table was for Pet Lovers with each person wearing a visor with a face and ears on it. Each participant wore a tail too. I sat at Judy’s table, which was elegant with navy blue and silver. We even had waitresses dressed in black and white to serve us. Flowers and teapots were everywhere. Everyone brought fancy finger foods. It was a fun, feminine time.

Snow Trip 07

While most of us RV snowbirds are living in the south in March to avoid the snow, some adventurous people go to play in the snow. Terry flew from Phoenix, AZ. His son, Raymond, flew from Anchorage, AK. Terry’s son, Robert is from NC but flew from AL. Their friend, Ken, flew from AL. Their friend, Mike, flew from TX. They rendezvoused at the Bozeman, Montana airport and drove to West Yellowstone to snowmobile. Their interests varied in that Terry was especially interested in nature such as the nature made snow sculptures and wild animals such as coyote, moose and deer they saw. (They expected to see bison but none were seen on this trip.) Others in the group were more interested in flying through the air and driving fast. Of course, they would only fall in the soft snow. The only mishap was a bitten tongue and some stiff muscles. I saw about a thousand pictures of the fun they had.