We are edging our way closer to the Pacific Coast and have finally arrived in California, Stacy's home state.
We came over the mountains, through a 50+ mile stretch of no-man's land desert, ending up in Twenty Nine Palms, California -- so named, they say, because there used to be a watering hole here (an oasis) surrounded by exactly 29 palms. There are several more than that here now, but it is still a desert town. It is very arid, very rocky, with interesting rock formations and plants that are predominantly intimidating (thorns, spikes, needles, etc)
The Marine Corps has a base here where soldiers are trained to serve in Iran and Afghanistan. That is the kind of terrain I am talking about.
We took a long drive and photo shoot through Joshua Tree National Park. It really was unlike anyplace else either of us had ever been. The park includes part of the Mojave Desert and part of the Colorado Desert, and the delineation is obvious.
The Mojave section contains incredible rock formations and "forests" of Joshua Trees. Joshua Trees are related to Agave plants, but are tall, and crooked, shaggy and coarse. They evidently got their name from Mormon settlers who thought the trees reminded them of Joshua, beckoning them on to the Promised Land. Frankly, I think the travelers must have been dehydrated and/or suffering from heat exhaustion, because the trees are a little scary, and very interesting.
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| A Joshua tree in full bloom |
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| See how shaggy and rough they are? And sometimes, they just give up and fall over. |
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| Another Joshua Tree |
The Colorado Desert section is much more wide open, flat, with NO Joshua Trees and NO huge rock formations. But we did catch a dust storm.
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| This dust storm was miles wide and heading East across this valley |
We were lucky enough to stumble onto this region during the cactus bloom, so we took some photos. The adaptations that plant life has made to this harsh desert environment is evident everywhere, including the "bloom". The flowers are small, brightly colored, and I am sure very short lived.
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| Cholla cactus in bloom |
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| Ocatillo tree in bloom....really pretty |
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| Don't know what this is, but it was a gorgeous purple color |
And, in my ongoing quest to show warning signs from across America....
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