29 Palms Golf & RV Resort, 29 Palms, CA:  Got an early start this morning and by 8:30 we were headed to Joshua Tree National Park.  What a beautiful place!  I can see how someone could fall in love with the desert.  The vastness and peacefulness gives it an almost spectral aura. The only sounds are the buzzing of the insects, the twittering of the birds, and the gentle breezes rustling the unusual vegetation.  The Joshua Trees are very unusual.  They're actually giant Yuccas. Started seeing them around Las Vegas.  The early Mormon pioneers gave them their name.  The limbs of this tree resembled the upstretched arms of Joshua beckoning them to the promised land.  I can’t imagine the Mormon pioneers coming across this vast desert either on foot or with wagons.  Hope they did it in the winter.   The park is huge and there are lots of places to explore—old mines, ranches, and a dam one of the cattle ranchers built to fill up a reservoir and water their cattle.  Plenty of places to hike, but it was way too hot and we didn’t have enough water with us.  Should have spent two days here.  Had an early dinner at the Carousel Café in 29 Palms.  Our waitress was really cute and friendly.  She used to be in the movie business in LA and was in several movies.  She was fun to talk to.  Came back and the fifth wheel was relatively cool.  It was 103 by now outside and 87 inside. Not too bad.  

The beautiful Joshua Trees

The cell towers in this area are disguised to look like palm trees.

Joshua Trees with a snow-capped peak in the distance.

Pretty flower--but poisonous

Desert bird

Huge granite boulders all over the park.

Cactus garden

Pretty desert flower

View from high point in the park.  Palm Springs off in the distance in a haze of smog, and  that gully-looking thing in the middle of the picture is the San Andreas Fault.