Still Another Early Morning
Well the last of the day trips had arrived. This one was to Joshua tee National Park. This park may have been a bit of a stretch for a day trip but we had tried to get to it from the west coming from San Diego but after stopping in Palm Springs we just didn't have the time to make it to the park. So when we saw that it was about a 4.5 hour drive from Las Vegas we knew it would be long but figured we would give it a try. We were getting a bit road weary by this time but were anxious to make it to Joshua Tree.
We headed out pretty early this morning knowing that it was going to be a long day. We had also done some research on the drive and once again realized that we were going to have to pick up snacks and drinks for the drive as we were once again going to be in the "middle of no where". This may have been an understatement.....
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| Kelso Sand Dunes |
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| Kelso Sand Dunes |
Kelso Sand Dunes
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| Kelso Sand Dunes |
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| Kelso Sand Dunes |
As we were traveling along some very sandy roads on our way to the park, we saw some sand dunes in the distance. Soon we realized that we heading right toward the Sand Dunes and they were HUGE! We had seen the Mesquite Sand Dunes at Death Valley National Park the day before and they were no where as large as the ones that were appearing before us. There was a small, unpaved road that led down closer to the Sand Dunes and we decided to go ahead and take the drive in to see them up close. This was an excellent choice. We didn't stay long but it was really a cool sight to see these huge dunes rising up from the desert. If you have time you can climb on the Dunes, we just took some pictures and saved the climbing to others.
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| Joshua Tree Visitor's Center |
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| Joshua Tree Visitor's Center |
Joshua Tree National Park - Dr. Suess Meets the Flintsones
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| Joshua Tree |
The drive to the park is really off the beaten path. We were glad we had a GPS because we would have had no idea where we were at. We also encountered some rain during our trip (wasn't really expecting that in the desert!). It was an overcast day but we were still able to see the things that we wanted to see in the park.
The visitor's center was several miles outside of the park itself. This is a little different but make sure you stop by the visitor's center and acquaint yourself with the park. There are restroom facilities and the rangers were very informative about locations to be sure to see within the park.Once we got into the park, I am not sure that we were quite prepared for what we were going to see. There are huge rocks unlike rocks that I had ever seen. They looked like a giant had piled them up and then there were some that just looked like homes out of the town of Bedrock. The Joshua Trees we had started to see on the drive in but the amount in the park was just crazy and they smelled so good! They also looked like something from a Dr. Suess book!
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| Skull Rock |
I overheard a little girl while we were looking at the rocks. She summed the park up very well.....
"Even though it's just rocks.....it's still awesome!"
We spent a couple hours in the park....the road through is well paved and things to see are very well marked alongside the roadway. If you are in the area....it is definitely a stop worth making.
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| Keys View |
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| Cholla Cactus Garden |
Back to Civilization
Because of the rain on the day we were at Joshua Tree we were a bit anxious about getting back since we had passed many signs on the way to the park telling us that the roads flooded when it rained! Believe me these were not roadways that you would want to be stuck on during a flood!
The total time spent on this road trip was about 12-13 hours. It's definitely a full day trip so add this one to your itinerary only if you don't mind a lot of travel on roadways with no cell phone service for miles.
We kept trying to find a place to stop and eat on our way back to Vegas but just weren't able to find something that we wanted in the small town that we came to so since we had cell phone service for a few minutes we hopped on our Open Table App and booked a return visit to the Ruth's Chris at Harrah's for a late evening dinner.
Once we arrived back at the hotel we did a quick change and headed to the restaurant for another wonderful dinner! We have found that you can always count on the consistency of Ruth's Chris for a great meal and service.
After dinner we headed back to the Flamingo and then on to the hotel for a much needed night's rest. The next day was our last in Vegas and we were spending it in the city.
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