Time for a run up to Joshua Tree…

Our plans called for a visit up to Joshua Tree National Park, and that is what happened today!  The weather was perfect for it!  Of course I took an hour at 8:00 this morning, and went over to the flying field and put in my stick time! 

On the way up through Yucca Valley, we decided to make the left hand turn and show Tom and Cheryl Pioneer Town.  This is the Town that Roy Rogers, and the Sons of the Pioneers built back in the 1940’s… plus help from a bunch of other movie stars at the time… it is kind of a neat spot and worthy of a visit. 

We made this visit last year, so no need for a bunch of pictures I am sure…

 

One new grave though for this year…

Next on the list was Joshua Tree, and we started off by making a visit to the Natural Bridge, which is located at White Tank Campground.

There is a neat bunch of rocks in this area, formed by underground lava over the years…

Below is the rock arch, or natural bridge as I call it!

Judy was lost in the boulders…

Here is a better pic  of the rock…

Lots of unusual rocks in this area…

Check out the pic below… do you see the rock climbers!  If not, check the picture below it!

There, I cropped out the climbers in this pic below, from the one above… we could not believe they were doing this…it is a very popular sport in this Park.

You cannot come to Joshua Tree with making the drive out to Keyes View.  After I made the turn on the road, I had to wait for this guy below to pass by… yup, that would be a coyote, and he was in no hurry at all today.

It was a bit foggy and misty at the lookout today, but you could see clear to Mexico, and of course the Salton Sea… Tom and Cheryl were impressed.

 

This lookout offers commanding views of the Coachella Valley… which includes Palm Springs, and DHS.

It was only about 63 deg. F. here, and a little windy at the lookout, which is at 5,300 feet of elevation… guess we were lucky there was no snow here!  Lots of people today though. Holiday time!

Next we were off to Barker’s Dam, and to our surprise this year, no water!  Last year, where Judy is standing in the picture below, was a full lake!  Don’t have a clue where the water went, and someone told me it has not rained here since last October, a year ago, so who knows!

Check out the pic below… Tome is over 6 feet tall, and look where the watermark was on the rock!

Below is the dam, and the water was at the top last year!

 

We did a couple of other hikes today, until it got dark and cool, at 5:00.  We made the 1 hour drive back to DHS, and stopped at Rocky’s Pizza, where Tom and Cheryl treated us to a real nice dinner… Thanks Guys!

Last night we had a great skype call with Shawn and Jenn, along with Emmie and Paige, who were opening some gifts.  What a good time it was, and the kids loved this new sled… also, I hear they now have snow, so it should be put to good use soon!

The kids had a ball, and were kept pretty busy.  They had just got home from Toronto and were road weary, so off to bed they went!

Great time had by all!

Till tomorrow…