Road Trip Day 10: Joshua Tree National Park

Having had my fill of Route 66 kitsch, I headed toward California to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree was never originally on my theoretical agenda, mostly because I incorrectly thought that it was much further south in California than it actually is. Once I figured out it was doable, I decided I had to go because I’d heard so many awesome things about it.

Before crossing over into California I made one last stop in Arizona at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. This is the actual original London Bridge that someone bought and transported piece by piece to Arizona for some crazy reason.

After my brief visit to fake London, I proceeded on to Joshua Tree. The eastern parts of California are an odd mix of desert and mountains, and you can go an hour without seeing a single building, let alone a town or even a gas station. Thankfully I’ve taken to filling up my tank every morning even if I’m not close to empty. The idea was just to do it so I didn’t have to worry about it later, but my first few hours in California would have been the first time it would have been an actual concern had I not. And of course these are the places I have no cell reception. You know this is where they go to bury the bodies.

Joshua Tree is officially the best unplanned detour I’ve ever taken. There are no words for how awesome this place is. I got a campsite for the night and it was jut an unreal experience. The stars were incredible and I saw hands down the greatest moonrise I’ve ever seen in my life. This was possibly the only night I’ll end up camping, but bringing along the tent and sleeping bag for even just that night was 100% worth it. There’s not even cell service here, so I got myself a nice little camp fire going and just completely disconnected from the world for a night. The next day I drove through the park and was amazed by it's beauty. My words can't do it justice, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.