Joshua Tree Is Not Just the Name of A U2 CD

Wow, eh? Who thought something so prickly could be so beautiful? But enough about me,..

We took Grandma on one trip while she was here. Yes, I had high hopes, but Sophie is a stinker when carted around. That's tough for me to admit, a person who has dragged small children through Africa, Europe, Australia and SouthEast Asia. Now I don't even want to drive an hour to Big Bear. Sheesh.

We did venture into the car with hubby on Sunday morning, packed lunches and headed out to Joshua Tree. The last time we visited it was only a National Monument. It has no risen in stature to National Park.

That first visit was fun; we were newly married and had no kids. We lived out in Newport Beach. Our journey was for the weekend and we camped. We bought firewood at the local store and headed out. I've learned two things from that episode; 1. people in Newport Beach don't camp; the firewood we bought would not catch fire no matter what we did to it. We found ourselves fighting over a can of baked beans warmed up over a tiny camp stove; and 2. It gets DARNED cold in the desert at night. Brrrr, chilly.

This time was no different. We've had crazy weather, which we attribute to the Washington State Grandma visiting (!) Joshua Tree was a balmy 47 degrees and windy as ever. We found a large boulder to hide behind as we ate lunch and I toughed it out on a mile long nature hike, but after that, I decided a 12 week old didn't need to be out in rip roaring winds. I stayed in the car for the next hike.

The boys have been Disney-ified, and weren't at all excited about going to the desert. But when we got there and they saw huge rocks and the promise of little creatures (and creature poop) and a wide expanse of open earth with no mothers yelling at them to use their inside voices or walk, not run; they were off! Who needs video games? They found a snake, some sort of creature poop, lizards, and all sorts of wacky ways around the naturel trail that didn't involve the actual trail.