Joshua Tree National Park
Day 2: June 30, 2019
Finally, we exited the park and made our obligatory stop for the photo with the Joshua Tree National Park sign and then headed down the road to the Oasis Visitor’s Center to claim the junior ranger badges.
It was a fun visit into the center because not only did the kids get to chat with the ranger and tell him what they learned about the park and explain to him how this is the first of 18 stops on our national park tour, but we met a family who is doing 24 parks in the next 3 weeks!!! They are zipping through states and parks like crazy and were kind of jealous of our plan to take it a little slower and enjoy some of the parks for a few days. Either way, I think it’s so cool that families are opting for these vacations where they get to explore this majestic USA and our natural lands!! On our way out, we also got to meet one of the rescue dogs-in-training and Kinsey was very interested in talking to the handler and learning about the training.
We spent the late afternoon at a local park and splash pad where the kids got to cool off and I had a chance to catch up on my book (The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah). Everyone was hungry so we did an early dinner of grilled salmon, salad, and crescent rolls at the RV. After showers, we had a little Skip-Bo action (a family favorite) and enjoyed chocolate covered oreos made by Kinsey at camp last week (yum!).
Tomorrow the journey continues!
After breakfast at the hotel we picked up some groceries. We rented through RVShare and picked up the RV from the owner in the Walmart parking lot, walked through and learned the ropes.Then we took off toward Joshua Tree, which was supposed to be a 4-hour drive.
Unfortunately it was 117* and the high temps, headwind, uphills, and towing the RV made for a slower drive than anticipated. We made one stop for gas and bathrooms about 1.5 hours into the trip and then continued down the road. We got another decent sized town about an hour later but Sean decided not to stop. That was a poor decision because we ended up on a desolate part of the route with absolutely no places to stop for food. Both Barrett and I were hungry and not happy campers 😬
We finally got into the town of Twentynine Palms, which is nothing to write home about (sorry Marines!), but there was a Denny’s, so at 3 pm we finally stopped to eat.
After lunch, we only had about a 20-minute drive to the campground and then the real fun began with the RV setup (in 110* heat no less!). After a few hours of setup and unpacking we were in good shape, chilling outside in 86* temps (felt great in comparison to the heat of the day) and drinking some cold beers. The kids found a binder of school worksheets that I brought along (no time for summer slide around here!) and got right to work.
The Joshua Tree Sportsman Club is a pretty basic sand lot for RV parking but it did have power hookups and very close to the park entrance so this was a good option for us!
Unfortunately it was 117* and the high temps, headwind, uphills, and towing the RV made for a slower drive than anticipated. We made one stop for gas and bathrooms about 1.5 hours into the trip and then continued down the road. We got another decent sized town about an hour later but Sean decided not to stop. That was a poor decision because we ended up on a desolate part of the route with absolutely no places to stop for food. Both Barrett and I were hungry and not happy campers 😬
We finally got into the town of Twentynine Palms, which is nothing to write home about (sorry Marines!), but there was a Denny’s, so at 3 pm we finally stopped to eat.
After lunch, we only had about a 20-minute drive to the campground and then the real fun began with the RV setup (in 110* heat no less!). After a few hours of setup and unpacking we were in good shape, chilling outside in 86* temps (felt great in comparison to the heat of the day) and drinking some cold beers. The kids found a binder of school worksheets that I brought along (no time for summer slide around here!) and got right to work.
The Joshua Tree Sportsman Club is a pretty basic sand lot for RV parking but it did have power hookups and very close to the park entrance so this was a good option for us!
Day 3: July 1, 2019
Sean and I woke up bright and early, as usual, and enjoyed
our coffee outside the RV in the coolest part of the day. We had a loose plan
to get to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor’s Center around the time it opened (8 am)
to get the kids’ junior ranger books and then head out for a hike before the
scorching part of the day. Well, we arrived at 9 am, picked up the books, and browsed
through the exhibits. The kids were already moving along on completing their
pages on the drive into the park.
There is a park loop to drive (~18 miles) through most of
the park and we just set out with the idea we would stop for a short hike or
two along the way. Our first stop was at a set of large rock formations that
were fun to climb and get some nice views from the top.
We continued down the park road and ended up at Skull
Rock and stopped there for a quick climb on the rocks and a photo opp.
Next, we got to the Ryan Ranch stop, which was a short hike we wanted to do. We took a quick break for lunch at the back of the car and then headed out for the .5 mile hike on a sand path out to the ruined adobe structure and remnants of the Ryan homestead. It was a nice, easy hike, albeit on a hot, shadeless path, so that was all we ended up hiking for the day.
Finally, we exited the park and made our obligatory stop for the photo with the Joshua Tree National Park sign and then headed down the road to the Oasis Visitor’s Center to claim the junior ranger badges.
It was a fun visit into the center because not only did the kids get to chat with the ranger and tell him what they learned about the park and explain to him how this is the first of 18 stops on our national park tour, but we met a family who is doing 24 parks in the next 3 weeks!!! They are zipping through states and parks like crazy and were kind of jealous of our plan to take it a little slower and enjoy some of the parks for a few days. Either way, I think it’s so cool that families are opting for these vacations where they get to explore this majestic USA and our natural lands!! On our way out, we also got to meet one of the rescue dogs-in-training and Kinsey was very interested in talking to the handler and learning about the training.
We spent the late afternoon at a local park and splash pad where the kids got to cool off and I had a chance to catch up on my book (The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah). Everyone was hungry so we did an early dinner of grilled salmon, salad, and crescent rolls at the RV. After showers, we had a little Skip-Bo action (a family favorite) and enjoyed chocolate covered oreos made by Kinsey at camp last week (yum!).
Joshua
Tree Highlights:
BDG-climbing the rocks and meeting the rescue dog
KPG-hiking out to the Adobe house was interesting
BDG-climbing the rocks and meeting the rescue dog
KPG-hiking out to the Adobe house was interesting
EAG-seeing so many Joshua Trees as far as the eye can see
SGG-climbing on the rocks
SGG-climbing on the rocks
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