INDIO, CA AND JOSHUA TREE NP

Feb 24th - 26th

On Friday the 24th we drove to Indio, CA to spend three days before heading back to the Phoenix area. When we got to town the first thing we did was wash the car, then got something to eat and lastly buy groceries as we were out of some staples of life, like cereal and ICE CREAM!!! We also had to stop at the Shields Date Garden for some dates.

Saturday, we took a day trip to Joshua Tree NP. Whenever we are in the area we try to go there even if we are not camped in the park. It has such beautiful scenery with the rounded rocks and Joshua trees. Our advice is to avoid the weekends if possible. There were more people than ants on an ant hill. We left Indio which is about sea level and when we got to Keys View we were at 5185 elevation. It was breezy and cool.

The JTNP is unique in that it has 2 distinctly different eco zones. The southern half is part of the Colorado Desert and the northern half is Mojave Desert where the huge rock formations and Joshua trees exist.

The Pinto mountains and Colorado Desert.

We have this picture in our January 2015 blog from a slightly different angle, but we think you can still see a porpoise, killer whale and a barn owl.

 That’s me on top of the rock, just kidding, I get a sick feeling just looking over the railing on the second floor at Mall of America.

How about a Ninja Turtle face?

 A nice campsite in Jumbo Rock campground.

 The Joshua trees are thick on the road to Keys View.

We wondered  if this rock will still be perched here in 10 years.

 Until next time,

Dave and Sandy

ANZA-BORREGO STATE PARK (PART 3)

ANZA-BORREGO STATE PARK (PART 3)

Feb 20rd to the 23rd.

On February 20th we came back to the state park for 4 more days. Because we were too early to check in we stopped at the visitors’ center and happened to park next to another Lazy Daze. 

When we came back out they were in their RV so we knocked on the door and introduced ourselves. Brian and Renee have a 2006 red RB Lazy Daze. We got a call from them later in the afternoon to see if we wanted to stop by after dinner for some wine and visit. We did and had a great time visiting.

The next afternoon we invited Brian, Renee and Eric and Helma (Who we had met earlier and who own a 2011 teal RB Lazy Daze) to join us for a 4 o’clock happy hour. It was a lot of fun to visit and hear everyone’s opinions on their LD’s and RV’ing in general. We sat and visited until 6 o’clock.

Dave, Helma, Brain, Eric and Renee.

After hearing reports of people seeing the Bighorn Desert Sheep we decided to take the 3 mile round trip hike back to the Palm Canyon Oasis. There are only about 200 of these sheep left in the world.

The following pictures are from our hike to Palm Canyon Oasis. There were a few plants blooming here in the desert but it will take a little more heat for the blooming to really get going.

A Beaver Tail Cactus just getting ready to bloom.

Another desert beauty next to an Ocotillo.

Our goal in the distance is Palm Canyon Oasis and it’s still about one-half mile away.

Someone walking by offered to take our picture while we were resting in the shade. She saw us sitting there and just offered which was very nice of her.

Bullock's Oriole, we could hear it but could not see it.

We finally made it to the Oasis.

A small waterfall at the Oasis.

Landscaping by Mother Nature is always the best.

We saw about a dozen rams in this group. A little further away we saw some ewes and lambs but they were too far away to get any decent pictures.

Thursday the 23rd was our last day here and Eric and Helma joined us in a drive to the Borrego Bad Lands. Some interesting landscapes.

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy