Joshua Tree National Park

Nov. 21 - 25, 2001

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Joshua Tree National Park, located in Southern California, encompasses some of the most interesting geologic display in California's deserts. Two deserts, Mojave Desert (High Desert) and Colorado (or Sonoran) Desert, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua trees, growing in the higer, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert, are the foremost attraction in the park. Bellow 3000 feet, the drier Colorado Desert is indicated by much sparser plant life and is dominated by the creosote bush. The moderate weather here in winter makes it a nice destination for our Thanksgiving vacation this year.

Getting there ...

It is a very long drive from San Francisco Bay Area to the Southern Californian Deserts. We decided not to drive directly to Joshua Tree on the first day. Instead, we stopped at Barstow for the first night.  

The Second Day ...

 


 

 

 

It was Thanksgiving night. Instead of having turkey, we have prepared our own firepot dinner with all good stuffs we brought from home in igloos.

 

The Third Day ...

 

 

 

We stopped at Hidden Valley and took a 1-mile nature trail which takes us into a rock-enclosed valley rumored to have been used by cattle rustlers in the late 1800's. After a few steps, Iris insisted to walk on her own. Although it is an easy 1-mile trail for us, it is not so easy for Iris with all those rocks, stairs, and all kinds of obstacles.

 

 

The Fourth Day ...

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Day. Going Home ...

We left at 7:00 in the morning and hoped to beat the holiday traffic on our way home. The traffic condition was better than we expected except at a McDonald's along I-5 where we spent more than 40 minutes in the line to buy food. Linus and Iris both were very cooperative and didn't complain at all during the entire 9-hour drive. With a little bit traffic near Gilroy (HWY152 to 101), we got home before 4:00PM. Although there was a winter storm in Bay Area all weekend long, we enjoyed the wonderful weather in the desert for our Thanksgiving this year.

 


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