Joshua Tree

On my last day in Palm Springs we visited the Joshua Tree National Park.  I'm not too proud to admit that one of my reasons for visiting was because I love U2's 1987 album 'The Joshua Tree' - silly but true.  While preparing for our jaunt to Joshua Tree National Park I got sidetracked and started reading about the making of 'The Joshua Tree' the album (clearly vacation me is very easily distracted).  I happened across a quote from Bono in which he said:

"I love being there, I love America, I love the feeling of the wide open spaces, I love the deserts, I love the mountain ranges, I even love the cities."

Given his love of the wide open spaces, deserts, mountain ranges, and cities I can't help but think that he must love Palm Springs since it has all of those things in close proximity.  I think that's why I love it so much, it has everything I love so close by - even the ocean is not a far drive away. 

Anyway, I digress... back to the park.  We had decided to pack a lot of fun into my last day so we were a little more rushed than we wanted to be but luckily the information centre had a fantastic tip about driving through the park and parking whenever you wanted to see something or get out and hike.  We were so grateful for this tip since it allowed us to see so much more than we would have if we had just parked at the first entrance and walked from there.  What amazed me was that everywhere we stopped the rock formations looked a little different, it was really quite beautiful.   

The Joshua Tree itself looks a bit like the truffula trees from Dr. Seuss' infamous children's book 'The Lorax'.  They are kind of like a fuzzy palm tree (for lack of a better description).  They were so beautiful set against the backdrop of these giant rocks and valleys.  

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!