Anne and I love the national parks. There is a reason they are put aside, such special beauty. Because of this we were really excited to explore Joshua Tree! We packed up the trailer and left Palm Springs a day early to avoid a windstorm that was headed into the Coachella Valley. I was concerned about this, wind sucks when towing a tall RV and we had a fair climb up from the valley floor up to 4000 feet in Joshua Tree National Park. Luckily tow day the winds were dead calm and our trusty Big Blue Ford truck dragged the fifth wheel up for us. We stopped at the entrance and grabbed a full tank of water for our no hook up site in the park. National Parks generally have no electric, water and sewer hook ups but they are worth it. We scoped out a couple campgrounds and found the perfect spot at one called Belle Campground near the center of the park. Check it out!
Joshua Tree National Park is this amazing surreal place with outcroppings of huge boulders and tons of the park’s namesake Joshua Trees. We drove all over the park stopping at interesting scenery after interesting scenery.
The most beautiful time is right after the sun sets and the desert starts to glow in the dusk light. Everything is quiet.
Another stunning sight in Joshua Tree is a drive up to Keyes View to gaze down into the Coachella Valley and south to the Salton Sea. I got a couple good pictures during the day and then Anne hunkered down on the side of a hill to get the all-star sunset shot. There was a cold wind so she had the green froggy windbreaker on. 
The last day in the park was spent relaxing in the campsite and a side trip to the Cholla cactus garden. This is an area where the climate and soil is right to cause thousands of Teddy Bear Chollas to sprout up.
They are a really neat cactus that can grow up to 9-10 feet high but beware the thorns are nasty and hard to remove I hear.
If you love the beauty and scenery of the National Parks, like I do, be sure to check out some of my other blog posts.
Everglades, Big Bend, More Big Bend, Guadeloupe,Whites Sands, Zion and Bryce canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches
Here is a gallery of the rest of my pictures from Joshua Tree National Park
