theDIBB - SoCal Christmas 2017: Day 4 Joshua Tree Again

Apologies for the photo overload again :D

We were all awake by 6am! After showers we were down to breakfast by 7am. Usual things were eaten!

We got our stuff together, J filled our water pouches with the nice iced water in reception and off we went to Joshua Tree National Park.

It was about a 30 minute drive to our first point - the Arches.

We all loved it here - nobody around and for the goats (sorry - children and husband) lots of rock climbing and jumping was done.

There really were some stunning rock formations - this one was over 1 million years old.

We wandered around from rock to rock! It really was so very lovely!

O showed how strong he was...

The others were not impressed!

As the time went on it got warmer and warmer - down to our t-shirts by the return to the car!

We then drove to Desert Queen Mine - a fairly short trail which lead to an old gold mine.

Considering it was only about 8 miles away from our last point it was very different.

We walked down to what looked like the river basin. The openings to the mine were sealed off and no hold was to he found!

After this walk, we drove down a long dusty road to Barker Dam for another loop walk.

Another fabulous place!

With the added bonus of seeing a wild horn sheep (there are apparently a few of them around as there is a water source but we only saw this one. When we told the ranger back at the carpark she was concerned that it was on its own and went down to investigate)

We had been in the park for 4 hours and decided to head to Yukka Valley for lunch. There is nothing at all in the park to eat nor drink.

F wanted Panda Express again - so that's what we had! It was as nice as yesterday but two days on the trot was enough!

We also went to Walmart - we all had odds and sods on our list. We split up and went to get what we needed - in my case socks as I seemed to have had a packing failure on that front!

We also went to Marshalls where O found his favorite Calvin Klein pants and F some tops!

It was then back to the hotel for a short rest!

At 4 we headed back out to see the sunset. We thought we may have mistimed it but we stopped about 10 mikes in and were treated to some spectacular sights!

This us probably my favourite!

F holding up a hidden Mickey Joshua Tree! (You may have to use your imagination a bit ;) )

Lots of climbing done too - even by me!

We then drove to Key's View to catch a look at Palm Springs. It was cold up here (1660m up).

This is looking towards to freeway direction LA.

And Palm Springs! We didn't stay long as it was bitterly cold even wrapped up!

We headed to Dominos and got two medium pizzas and dome garlic knots. We ate them in the lobby (so as to not stink out our room ;) ) Quite expensive at $40! But tasty!

Now O and J are back downstairs studying - J has a professional exam in January and O is working on his gps and tetanic plates project!

Tomorrow morning will be back in the park before heading back yo San Diego!