Joshua Tree National Park

We went camping this weekend, and it was quite eventful!

Rich and I left early Friday afternoon and headed toward Joshua Tree National Park. Charlie was comfortably being boarded, as he is the only dog in the universe who hates camping. Joshua Tree is only about two hours away from us, and it was a fun drive down I-10. We saw lots of windmills and saw towns we never knew existed, including Beaumont, California!



When we arrived, we quickly set up camp- we’re pros at putting up our tent now! Dinner the first night was chicken, carrots, potatoes, onions, zucchini, and peppers cooked in foil packets over the fire. Richard and Boy Scouts nationwide call these silver turtles, but no one knows why. We were so hungry while dinner was cooking, we busted out the s’mores early. S’mores are easily the best thing about camping, especially when you’re starving. We made the mistake of eating these around the fire. Our crumbs attracted two, rather bold, mice. So we took bites of dinner between making loud noises to scare off the mice. They kept coming back, though- I guess graham cracker crumbs are more delicious than we are scary.

The next morning, a couple (from Texas, even!) in our campground was escorted off the premises due to an all-night domestic dispute. I slept through the whole thing, but according through our neighbors they were very loud. And annoying.



Breakfast was pancakes cooked on the camp stove. Mine were banana walnut, and Rich’s were plain. After cleaning up, we headed out for a leisurely 4.5 mile hike to Lost Palms Oasis. Just kidding! I thought it was a 4.5 mile hike, but turns out that was only one way! We made it to the oasis, and then rested in the shade, munching on trail mix. After about an hour, we decided to head back to camp. It was a long way back, but we made it- sore, hot, sun burnt and completely out of water.



We spent the afternoon laying in the shade, reading and napping (and recuperating). That evening, we had even more excitement as someone had to be life flighted out of the campground! There was a fire truck, an ambulance, police cars, and at least eight park ranger vehicles. Then a helicopter came, and circled and circled, looking for a place to land. After about 15 minutes, they finally found a spot and got the person out.



We had vegetarian chili, veggies, and cornbread for dinner, followed by s’mores (again). We were smarter this time and ate at the picnic table. Our mouse friends came back, but stayed away from our feet. We got into our tent rather early, and star-gazed through the open tent flap.

Sunday morning, we got up early, packed up camp, and headed home. On the way back, we stopped for breakfast at McDonalds. There’s no better way to end a camping trip than with hot coffee and an Egg McMuffin. Richard seems more relaxed than he’s been all semester. Charlie, on the other hand, is exhausted and has been asleep all afternoon-- according to the people at the boarding facility, he was a “party animal” all weekend.