Joshua Tree
Part of me thought we would never make it as far West as California, but when my sister said she and her family would be spending spring break at two National Parks in California, it got me to commit. We also remembered at the last minute that Mark’s aunt and uncle live in Palm Desert, which is not far from Joshua Tree. Like I’ve said many times, it’s almost as if God is planning this trip and we are just along for the ride to applaud His brilliance. Every time a seemingly odd coincidence falls into place, it’s as if God is winking at us and saying “I really like that you are taking this trip. You can trust me to take care of you. I’ve got you!”
We arrived at Ron and Kay’s house in Palm Desert to a meal of chicken and rice with apple crisp for dessert. After a few days of fast food, this was a nice treat. The table was set so nicely. The girls had to ask why there were two forks. That made me realize we haven’t done much fine dining yet.
The next morning, we set out early for Joshua Tree. It’s a National Park famous for its unique Joshua Trees. What I didn’t realize was that it is a rock climbers paradise with giant rocks for miles. It also has an incredible cholla cacti garden.
The kids had a blast climbing the rocks and hiking the dusty trails through the the desert plants and lizards.
After our hike and a picnic lunch near skull rock, a stroll through the cholla garden, and contests to see who could climb the highest rocks, we headed back to the Bergen family campsite. Ivy was most excited about boiling water over the fire to make ramen noodles. It’s funny what things the kids look forward to. When we went grocery shopping for our day at Joshua Tree, we filled the cart with sandwich fixings, hotdogs, chips, pre-packaged salad, and ramen noodles. Ivy said as we were checking out, “Wow, we are really going all out!!”
Here are a few more photos and videos of our one awesome day at Joshua Tree. It is a HUGE park and we didn’t explore even half of it, but I loved every minute of the day with some of my favorite people.
