Gemini Rising

50 State Travel Blog - Stargazing, Catcuses & California

Well, the party bus went west – Destination: Joshua Tree National Park. Somewhere in New Mexico Sung'manitu fired the bus driver and took over. I was sleeping at the time, so I don’t know why.

Personally, speaking, few deserts are mesmerizing for me. They’re just full of dark yellow dirt and sand. BUT the desert has it’s own ecosystem, it’s own plants, trees, shrubs, animals, rhythms of life. It’s nothing you’ve never known. Joshua Tree National Park was actually created in 1994 to preserve the desert environment, the habitat, the way of life.

As a National park, there’s park rangers, campgrounds, and visitors’ centers with information on the various hiking trails. By the time Sung'manitu pulled the party bus in, we were ready to see the trees – actually cactuses.

One of the Park Rangers said we should do the Sunrise Hike so Lyn's a Witchy Woman forked up the dough for a campsite and we camped out in the party bus. I rented a dutch oven and made chili for everyone. Krista helped me cook. Princess Megan Rose wolf, Peyton, wanted to chase after all the roadrunners. Sung'manitu was afraid to put Peachy down because all the rocks looked alike.



At 4 am, the park ranger woke us all up and took us on the Sunrise hike. Honestly, 4 am is too early. It was wicked dark and you could see for miles. If you were a stargazer, you’d be in stargazer heaven. Anyhow, I didn’t even have time to brew coffee. We were up and out. Our guide zigged and zagged on the sandy dirt path and took us past the Ryan Mountain as we made our way to The Cholla Cactus Garden. Did you know there’s more than one type of cactus? Jellyfish got confused which cactus was which. A Joshua tree is distinctive though. It’s like a green-gray upside down pitch fork that is full of prickles. Our Ranger had us all sit on a big flat rock as the sun came up. The sunrise started slow. The night turned lighter and lighter and then a hint of orange-red peered over the horizon highlighting a row of Joshua trees and deepening shadows. It kind of looked like all the Joshua trees were on a long march before going into battle. Richard ~ Looking for Luck! and fell asleep back-to-back. I can’t say I blame them. AmyJo-Downhill slide begins! was getting hungry and asked the Ranger if there was anything to eat. The Ranger went to a nearby cactus and cut it open. AmyJo-Downhill slide begins! ate it without making a face. I was proud of her. Thankfully, the desert was cool as the sunrise appeared over the horizon.

Honestly, I don’t know how we dragged outrsleepy asses back to the bus, but when we got back, we slept for 5 hours straight before we had to get up and get ready for the next adventure.