Joshua Tree National Park.
Travelling with a baby is definitely a different experience. Lacey is so young right now, she doesn't really care what we do, but our life basically revolves around when she naps. So when you're on holidays, you always have to try to account for baby napping and feeding.
Tom and I decided that we wanted to make a short day trip out to Joshua Tree National Park. Specifically, we wanted to check out Skull Rock, and do a short hike (1.7 mi or about 3km) on the Skull Rock Trail. It was a 1.5 hour drive to the trailhead, and we timed our departure at Lacey's nap time so that she would sleep for at least 40 minutes of the drive out. She did indeed for forty minutes, was okay by herself in the back seat for about 30 minutes. And then started losing her mind for the last 20 minutes, so I sat in the back seat with her and attempted to entertain her. She was not having it. She wanted OUT of her carseat!
Skull Rock Trail.
The landscape in Joshua Tree National Park is pretty interesting! We wound our way through outcropping boulders of granite, cacti, and prickly Joshua trees (featured prominently on the left of the photo above). There were small lizards darting around, and a few birds, but otherwise it was fairly quiet.
Granite hardrock.
Joshua Tree close-up.
Joshua trees are native to California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. According to Wikipedia, they were named by Mormon settlers who felt that the bizarre shapes of the trees reminded them of the Biblical story of Joshua, praying up to the sky. Apparently the trees flower creamy white blossoms from February to April (we were much too late for that). Once they flower, the yuccca moth has a hayday laying eggs and help to spread pollen from the trees.
Tom and Lacey on the trail.
Lacey seemed fairly content in her carrier. She was happy to be with mom and dad, and was quietly taking in the new surroundings. Most importantly, she was happy to be out of her car seat. There was not a cloud in the sky, but because we were at a higher elevation than Palm Desert, it wasn't actually that hot-- maybe around 20 degrees. It was a bit warmer when we finished our walk, but it was a pleasant temperature for a short hike.
Some prickly looking cacti.
Some of the vegetation in the park very unique looking. I'm not sure what the plant featured in the photo above is called, but it looked like it should be growing under the sea, rather than in a desert!
Lacey isn't great at selfies. It probably only took us twelve tries to get the photo above... Most of our previous attempts featured the top of her hat.
And at the very end of the trail, we finally got a look at Skull Rock. It looks pretty skull-like to me! Skull Rock was formed by rainwater accumulated in holes and depressions in the granite. The rainwater eroded the depressions, which allowed more rainwater to accumulate, and the cycle continued until the large eye-socket-like depressions were formed.
It took us about an hour to finish the hike, and when we got back to the car, it was about time for Lacey to have a nap again. She was content to sleep for the first forty minutes of the drive, and was losing her mind by the last twenty minutes.
Tom and I had intended to do a second day trip out to the coast. However, the drive to the coast was about two hours, and given Lacey's displeasure at being in the car seat for 1.5 hours, we decided it would be good if we left that for another time!
But all in all, I call our road trip to Joshua Tree a success!
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