Joshua Tree National Park!

This little 2.5 inch squirt (above)was nearly road kill before Brett popped him off the blacktop. This second tortoise (right pic) was tempting fate on the road saved by Brett in the same hour! The law says don't touch except in emergency. Pancaking fits the description.

Joshua Tree is turning into a regular retreat. Last year I visited twice and we were back again.  I especially like the Jumbo Rocks Camp ground where you see the trailer. This location offers a interp trail with skull rock and many other scenic rocks, so it's worth a stop even if you aren't camping! Hiking at Joshua trees is always rewarded with unusual formations and surprises at each turn.  We got one of the last large campsites, required for the Bigfoot. 

 After finding few queens of the desert at Anza Borrego, we weren't expecting much at Joshua Tree. On the southern approach to the park a winter flood provided enough moisture to produce some attractive blossoms. Up and down the washes we were able to find nearly 40 species of flowers, bushes and cacti in bloom.



Chuparosa is a favorite in its usual red, but on the right is the seldom seen yellow variant too! Always fun to find rare botanical beauty! I shot photos of the amazing fields of chia sage, but my pics were less than inspired. Having heard of large harvests collected by the native Americans I was excited to see for the first time enough chia to merit an effort.

In 29 Palms our lecture and tour on botany and geology scheduled for 30 minute. More than 3.5 hours later we were begging for more. The presenter was most accommodating in answering our numerous questions pertaining to the drying of the desert, Mojave, to the little earthquake pressure ridges. The little boat you see here is a rarity where water was once widely abundant and now evaporated and dwindling.

On the ride home we finally found date shakes at Charley Browns. The man ahead of me declared this to be a fine place if you left your fat/cholesterol/salt/etc. concerns behind. They featured the ever exciting and wildly sought deep fried Twinkies though the brand went out of business a few years ago. At least the sign was there! We also found they offered vegan fare as well as chocolate bacon! So much for the superlatives.

Thanks for coming along for the trip. Let me invite you to suggest Santa Barbara Fire Song (Free)  especially to the young people in your life as another fire season is nearly upon those of us living in SoCal: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/152393