Day 8.
We managed an early ish start today and were driving into Joshua Tree National Park at 9am. We had got a map the day before and the man in the shop had marked several points of interest that he recommended. There are areas to pull into at regular points along for photos, hiking or looking around. My understanding is that July is not a recommended hiking time due to the extreme heat.
The park is pretty amazing and such a different landscape from anything we've seen before. Wes spent 3 hours driving through the park, stopping for pictures and a little walk at skull Rock as we walked right past it and started following a trail instead 🤦
Couple of photos
Most pictures were taken on my camera not my phone, sorry again!
The highlight for me was keys point lookout. The panorama was breathtaking and impossible t do justice to with a camera!
After the park it was back to the house for lunch and a brief rest before heading to pioneertown. Except that OH had quite a long nap after lunch and the kids didn't want to go out anyway so we spent the whole afternoon and evening at the Airbnb and had a great time splashing about in the pool, chilling out, sunbathing (after 5pm as its so hot!) and using the WiFi (kids 🙄 ). Dinner was another bbq.
After dinner we spent the evening sitting outside watching the sunset, chatting, listening to music and honestly feeling like we were in a movie or a music video or something 😂 it's stunning here, and it was so nice sitting outside in the warm evening and just chilling out.
My photos really can't do the place justice
We're sad to be leaving here tomorrow as we've all enjoyed the extra space of an Airbnb and the slower pace of the last couple of days. We head to la jolla tomorrow for 2 nights and with hindsight I think a better option may have been to have another night here and an extra one in San Diego. But we will see 😁
We had planned to do more here than we've done (possibly the theme of the holiday? Lol), we will go to pioneertown tomorrow on our way and maybe the palm springs aerial Tramway.
We've actually really enjoyed the desert and today we have seen buzzards, birds of prey, small mammals that may have been ground squirrels, rabbits and a bat this evening. Not bad for a place that appears so arid and barren!
In case anyone is wondering: my ankle is improving but it's still not quite there. I'm walking on it without crutches since Saturday but I probably should have given it a bit longer really...