I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees…

Joshua Tree National Park :: May 17, 2013

To put a few miles under Dolores' belt and shake out anything else that she might have up her sleeve we decided to check out Joshua Tree – what a great decision! If any of you haven’t had a national park blow you away, I’d suggest adding this to the list of places you’d like to visit. 
It was like Moab, Arches, Yosemite, with a shake of Grand Canyon and Mars all melded into one – a completely unexpected dose of total awesomeness that we both needed. The Flintstone like piles of rocks were stacked perfectly throughout the park. Each pile had rocks resembling something hysterical like Homer, Tucan Sam’s beak, a perfect round ball, Clinton’s nose – it was hours of entertainment for us.

The light during sunrise and sunset is a photographers dream offering a perfect warm glow for any chosen subject. Most people that have visited the park mention the trees and how it makes you feel like you’re in a Dr. Suess book.  I can’t say enough about the trees and all the other flora and fauna that we saw.  If you know me, you know I’m especially excited by plants; I’m stoked by all the different ways photosynthesis is carried out. The way each of the plants here has evolved to exist and flourish in such hostile environments and climates: minimal water, occasional flash floods, snow,
high winds and even to the point of being reliant on one another is quite impressive.  Throw in a couple of oasis(es) with giant shady palm trees and I was pretty much in heaven.

To top it off, I saw a bobcat on my way back from the bathroom in the middle of the night.  You may ask yourself why in the world I had my camera with me in the bathroom to offer the opportunity to take this not-so-great photo. The answer is this GIANT black widow.  No one believed me that it was there so I wanted photographic proof. The real treat came in the morning when George discovered that the little kitty cat had left him a present on his washcloth.

Back to the beach, and hopefully a Mexican beach soon.

More photos from this trip can be seen over here >>