Joshua Tree 8-3-2010

On August 3rd, we made the long drive from Big Bear to Joshua Tree National Park. When we got there, our first stop was the Oasis Visitors Center, which had this interesting wind sculpture (I call it a "wind sculpture" because that is what was written on the sign posted next to it, not, as you may have assumed, because when I looked at it I was like, "oh, hey, cool wind sculpture, similar to the many other wind sculptures with which I am familiar, just as I am familiar with the term wind sculpture, due to my extensive knowledge of such things.") :

and this cactus garden:

We entered the park at the North Entrance:

Joshua Tree has all kinds of amazing rock formations, like this one:

At our first stop, I knew this place was gonna be awesome because we saw some real rock climbers (something I aspire to be):

So the kids and I decided to try it out:

Meghan decided she wanted to explore the park on her own:

Here's Nana. I suppose now is a good time to mention that this trip was made possible by my mom who took us with her to Big Bear to stay at one of her timeshare condos.

I learned on this trip that I'm not the only aspiring rock climber in my family. Lennon had a great time boulder hopping and trying to make his way to the top of whatever rock formation we happened to be checking out. He was making me extremely nervous because I worry that he isn't as careful as he should be.

Abby did some rock climbing of her own, while I watched and offered many silent prayers.

We interrupted this affectionate couple (actually, they continued doing what they wanted to do with no regard for us voyeurs):

We found this cool little hide out and had some fun.

Here's Rach doing some rock climbing:

And she felt like people needed to see this picture (I'm not sure I agree):

This one is at the top of the rock I was climbing in the previous picture. It may not have been pretty, but I successfully made it up.

To appreciate this picture, you need to click on it to make it larger. The bottom line is that Lennon really liked climbing those rocks.

You can't have a blog post for Joshua Tree NP without some Joshua trees

Sometimes squeezing into spaces in the rocks is as much fun as climbing them.

Abby noticed that this rock has a heart

There's a place in Joshua Tree called Barker Dam that is supposed to be a good place to see wildlife. Sure enough, on the hike to the dam (aka the dam hike, hee hee hee), we came across this group of desert bighorn sheep

Here's a close up of the big boys:

And then this humongous  (and surprisingly attractive) giant of a man came and put the biggest sheep in his hand and posed for a picture. It was spectacular.

This is the water that is trapped by Barker Dam. It doesn't look too tasty. By the way, an interesting side note: The day after our trip to Joshua Tree we were at a nature center at Big Bear and a man working there was talking to us while we were looking at pictures of different wildlife. When we saw a picture of bighorn sheep, we mentioned that we saw some at Joshua Tree. He asked where and we told him Barker Dam. He told us that he had been to Joshua Tree many times, had never seen Bighorn sheep and had never heard of Barker Dam. He didn't believe us! Rachel insisted that Barker Dam existed and that we had seen Bighorn sheep and we even had pictures on our camera. She was about to go get the camera from the car to show him, but I thought it was it wasn't worth our time. Who cares what some crotchety old timer believes is true?

Taking our cue from the lizards on the rock, Rachel and I decided to get frisky with a Joshua Tree.

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Look at me leading my family through the wilderness. (Pay no attention to the interpretive marker in from of the tree.)

Joshua Tree was awesome, but like any one day trip into a national park (or probably anywhere), we definitely didn't get to do or see everything we wanted to. We'll be back Joshua Tree.