Joshua Tree

Well we wanted to see the legendary Joshua Tree which most famously features on the U2 album of the same title so we left the LA traffic and headed towards there which was a bit out the way as we had to go back down towards the south and our eventual location is San Fran which is north, but we have time.

The drive was pretty spectacular as you go through the Palm Springs area and see all the wind farms which makes my mind put 2 and 2 together and know that tonight is going to be a windy one. The landscape and vegetation change as you reach the Yucca Valley in the Mohave Desert. I love saying that word, 'Mohave', it's funny the way it rolls off the tongue. We got a great little campsite right in the Joshua Tree Nat. Park and thanked our lucky stars we bought some sleeping reinforcements, namely a blow up mattress and a thick duvet, or comforter if you live this side of the world. It was cold and with the wind picking up we would need all the warmth we could get.

We were feeling a little lazy to do a braai, so Celia and I headed for the Rib Co. we saw in the nearest town for a bit of a feast. It did not disappoint and we turned in for the night to the howls of the coyotes.

Fortunately the wind did not pick up as expected that evening and we slept pretty well. We decided to stay another night so we just say back and relaxed. Went and bought some meat and coal for this evenings dinner and caught up with some current affairs on the computers at the library.

We went for a romantic sunset walk through the desert looking for that iconic Joshua Tree picture which we sort of got (still a bit of editing required) and just appreciated this unique countryside that we had before us.

Now the wind we never got last night was here with a bit extra tonight making the task of lighting the fire that wee bit harder. Job done and the chicken was spectacular, we marinaded it in some Jack Daniels BBQ basting we bought from the Rib Co. the evening before.

We got precious little sleep this evening as our little $39 tent was not built for high winds and with enough air in your lungs you can get the tent poles to bend a fair way so during the night as you are lying down watching them bending at a 45° angle you pray for it to end.

Well it never flew away as I was sure it would and we managed to get a few hours sleep in. Our neighbours in their RV said they were worried about us in our little tent during the night. Should've invited us in - I actually really want to see inside one of those fancy RV's that warrant a $300k-$400k price tag.

We packed up our tent and took a drive through the park, going to the various lookout points and landmarks they have on offer. Celia and I even bought a couple Joshua tree seeds which we want to plant when we get back to JHB. Granted the tree takes about 100 years to get a couple feet tall, a handful of inches in my lifetime will be good enough for me.