Welcome to Joshua Tree National Park, land of the weirdest terrain and strangest findings in nature!  Whatever I was envisioning Joshua Tree to look like…..it certainly wasn’t this!  I knew the park was located in the Mojave Desert of California, but I didn’t realize how unique of a desert landscape we’d actually be exploring.  The best way I can think to describe it is that it’s the closest you can get to walking around in a cartoon.  It’s like The Lorax, come to life!  Ben and I arrived in California’s Yucca Valley late in the night, and of course you can’t actually see what your surroundings look like in the desert when it’s pitch black.  We woke up the next morning amazed, 1) that we were really in California!  and 2) that this is what it actually looks like!  We grabbed coffee and did some early morning antiquing in the awesome town of Yucca Valley, and then headed up the mountains to enter the national park.  As we entered the miles and miles of crazy desert terrain with Joshua trees sprouted here and there and piles of boulders that looked like they were carefully stacked on purpose, I just kept saying “Where are we?!  This is so WEIRD!!”  A real-life cartoon you guys, I know it sounds crazy but it’s true!  We explored as much of the park as we could in a short amount of time, and even got to do a quick hike.  I think you could spend a week here though and still not get enough of it!  Joshua Tree is definitely on our list of places to return to for an extended stay, but here are some photos from our little mini tour!

 

Tiny house behind an antique store in Yucca Valley – yet another great Airbnb find!  We loved this place!

The glorious Joshua tree, surrounded by piles of rocks.  Can you spot Benjamin?

We got a little mountain hike in, the view was worth it!  (Camera was balancing on a cactus)

My fearless rock climber