Blogs from Joshua Tree National Park, California, United States, North America

We left Noah’s house for our road trip around California. We’re heading North East towards Joshua Tree National Park. So we packed up, Noah adding stuff in the car for us; a 40-pack of mineral water bottles, a couple blankets and pillows just in case we get stuck with no hotel, some V8 (I like the stuff even if Tamar doesn’t) and a giant jar of mixed nuts. We were on our way! Neighborhoods and houses started getting further apart, the scenery started getting a bit more hilly and drier. Neighborhoods became ranches, there was more agriculture, horse farms, then cows, then nothing. It got drier and drier as we drove east. Soon we were driving up into more hilly country and the twists and turns became more frequent. The temperature kept rising… We stopped for ... read more

Ich bin wieder sehr früh auf den Beinen (bzw. im Auto), um den Sonnenaufgang im Nationalpark am Keys View zu erleben. Irgendwie verplempere ich dann aber doch im Motel etwas Zeit und ich muss ganz schön rasen, um noch rechtzeitig am Keys View zu sein (hätte fast einen Hasen dabei „mitgenommen“…). Vom Keys View gibt es einen tollen Rundumblick mit Sicht bis zu den Windrädern, dem Salton See und beschneiten Bergen. Alles ist total ruhig (ich bin alleine dort) und spätestens jetzt bin ich so richtig angekommen in den USA – diese ewige Weite, das ist einfach das, was mir am Südwesten so richtig taugt, mit den Joshua Trees im Tal und vielen, vielen Felsen und Steinen … Gegen 9 Uhr gehe ich den Hidden Valley Trail. Auch hier ist um diese Zeit kaum noch jemand ... read more

Geo: 33.8847, -115.83Sometimes maintaining the discipline to continue to blog can be a bit of a challenge. Sometimes it is just not wanting to spend the time doing it, and other times, like now, I feel I have already used up all the adjectives to describe beautiful surroundings and landscapes. So with that said, I apologize for any redundancy, it is just that I am limited by my vocabulary as well as the English language itself. As I left off on my previous blog, Alex and I arrived at Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree. Now for those wondering, Joshua Tree, not the U2 album, is a desert tree that grows in this region. This hardy tree grows among the rocks, sand, and heat of the desert. So named is the Park we are in, with Jumbo ... read more

Happy September! The past month has been an absolute whirlwind. Some of the highlights include: Visiting my father at his conference in Pasadena, getting free VIP tickets to the Jay-Z/Beyonce On The Run tour, taking a spontaneous camping trip to Joshua Tree National Park, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, finding a second job in the scuba department at a sporting goods store, going diving, studying for my advanced certification, and finding an affordable and adorable new apartment. I won't bore you with all the stories behind the events, so if you want more details check out my new blog here: http://leaveandexplore.wordpress.com/ or send me a private message (especially if you need my new address!) Now for the good stuff- the infamous spontaneous camping trip aka "SCT". My co-worker Christy and I de... read more

Today we met our guide Mark Wheeler and we tour Joshua Tree National Park. Mark explained how the large boulders piled around the Joshua Trees were formed - geogolically. We had a sandwich lunch in whatever shade we could find this was the hottest day so far.... read more