Today is a big day for our us and one that finds us with mixed emotions. Its the first time in over a month that we turn east. Back toward home. Toward the end of our trip. Back to our dogs and our own house...our family and friends. But also back to reality and all the good and bad that comes with it. Its also the day we head to Joshua Tree. Back out into the wild and away from what has been a relaxing and pampering stretch of beaches and wineries with no camping. Roughing it again. If I'm being honest, we almost talked ourselves into extending our stay at La Jolla and skipping Joshua Tree altogether. We love camping. We really do. But after almost three weeks of returning to the creature comforts of civilization we hesitated but, after some deliberation, we decided to press on and we're so glad we did.
We arrived at Joshua Tree around 4pm and set up camp in Jumbo Rock campground which ended up being one of the most beautiful campsites of the trip. The desert climate was perfection. Perfect temperature, zero humidity, and the sky turning brilliant orange as the wind whipped across the white rock formations.
This is a stunning place and camping in the desert is something everyone should experience. As the sun was setting we ate Chinese takeout at the picnic table. That night we decided to finally get out one of Brett's dads old star map books to see if we could make any sense of the brilliant night sky. After mulling over the book for a bit we found what we would later learn is the "Summer Triangle" which contains three of the brightest stars in the summer sky. With this point of reference we were able to find our first constellation, Cygnus the Swan. Later Stephanie spotted Queen Cassiopeia up there looking beautiful, even though hanging up there is punishment for her vanity.
That night the wind never let up and pounded the tent all night with what had to be 30 mph gusts, but the old girl held up just fine and we slept fairly well. Brett woke up at 4am to use the boys room and looked up to find a sky so brilliant with stars that it looked like you could pluck them right out of the sky. We're definitely coming back to Joshua Tree.