THE Trip, Joshua Tree National Park, WOW, What a Campground!

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

There are a number of campgrounds though out the park, rustic campgrounds.  Most do not have water, however, there are tables, fire rings, and toilets.  So, basically, a boondocking experience.  Sadly, in many cases/campgrounds/campsites, Big Butt and Tana will not fit, our combined length of 53 feet is just more than many national parks can accommodate.  But we digress in our story.

There is one area in the park that is called Jumbo Rocks and there is a campground there.  The campsites are particularly small, but the views are amazing, and more!!

A Campsite!  Tucked right beside this large hunk o rock!
See, a picnic table, a bar-b-que grill and a fire ring.  WOW!

Or, how bout this campsite?  Course, there is no way ole Carol
is gonna camp in a tent, mmm, they have rattlers out here in the west,
and nasty spiders and those little lizards that dart every 
where. Nope, no trailer, no Carol.  But, it IS
a fabulous campsite with a kick em view!

These RV's, ARE small enough for these very small campsites, yep
right along the road.  There were 17 of these units in this campground,
having a small Rally of sorts.

And, we have solar!  See that black rectangular
item, sitting on the ground, far left portion of
this photo.  Solar!  Charging the battery.
And look at the view off his door/patio side.
Kinda hard to take, eh?  Well, no, not really.

Well, that is some campground, that is for sure!  And, it was fun seeing this rally of small rigs.  Proof positive, you just never know what the next curve in the road may reveal.

All in all, Mina, Bob, Man and I really enjoyed our day trip to Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park.  Joshua Tree is on our "if we ever get back, this is worth a re-do" bucket list for sure!  We fully realize we barely scratched the surface here, there are hikes to be hiked and more beautiful vistas to be seen.



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THE Trip, Joshua Tree National Park, We Got ROCKS, Part 2

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Shall we continue our rock awe??  I had a very hard time picking photos to share, these made the cut:

Massive outcrop and lots of Joshua Trees too!

Another photo where it is hard to judge the size,
use the Joshua Trees below to help.
Had to be 40 to 60 feet tall.

This is the same formation as the prior photo.
Fascinated at how that rock is balanced.
How much would you guess just that one rock weighs?

Above and below:
More balancing going on.
More awe going on.

This photo does not do justice to the size of this outcropping.

Mina, Bob, Man and I ran out of descriptive words and phrases to describe our drive through the park.  We finally stopped trying to find new words and reverted simply to, "WOW" (quickly followed by my demand that Man pull Big Butt over to the side of the road for yet ONE more photo!)

Still to share, a unique campground and Keys View.



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THE Trip, Joshua Tree National Park, We Got ROCKS, Part 1

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Joshua Tree National Park has several outstanding attractions for us to see, the Joshua Trees, being one, for sure. I have shown some of them over today at Reflection's Flora and Fauna.

It is also known for the rock formations.  The short description of how these magnificent rock formations came to be is "volcanic activity".  There is a complex description of this here.

As usual, I took too many photos.  "We got ROCKS" will be presented in two parts,  I hope you will find the rocks as awe inspiring and amazing as Mina, Bob, Man and I did on our day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.

Above, do you see the porpoise?  We all did.  Hint, top, far right.

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THE Trip, Pioneertown, California, Joshua Tree, Map

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Mary,

Thank you for your comment/question about where is Pioneertown.

Here is a map I prepared after we did our day trip, about 195 miles of laughter, fun, awe, and more.

Future posts here at Reflections will chat about Joshua Tree National Park, or will show you, via several of my photos.  Again, took way too many photos, naturally.  Can you have too many photos??  NAHHH!!

The map is a bit confusing.  Under number 10 is number 1, our start point.

Number 2 is Pioneertown, the name does not appear.  It is about 4 miles off of 62.

We left LaQuinta area, drove I 10 west to 62.  Took that north to Pioneertown (number 2).  After our short visit there we drove over to Joshua Tree National Park visitor's center (number 3).  Out to Keys View (number 4), on to Twentynine Palms (number 7).  We then went back to Joshua Tree (town- number 8- had to force the route on Microsoft Streets and Trips with these numbers).  We returned back to LaQuinta by retracing our route (except no detour to Pioneertown), thru Morongo (number 9).  Jumped back on I 10 going east and finally after a long ride and lots o fun, back to camp at number 10.

Got that??  I am sure you do!  LOL  (Map should appear a little larger if you click on it.)