Backroads and Lunch in the Wild

Of course, we did a bit of backroading while in Joshua Tree, and stopped for a picnic lunch among the boulders!

Lunch Spot View

No, we weren’t along Arch Rock Trail, but we did find another section that had bunches of boulders.  In fact, this was in a campground (tent only) and we used a vacant campsite for our picnic.  It was rather cool to be sitting among the boulders that shielded us from the breeze and gave us a bit of privacy.

Waiting for Treats

A back road drive wouldn’t be complete without our Miki, too!  She waited patiently while we ate lunch, strategically positioning herself so that we couldn’t forget to give her puppy treats.  Unfortunately, we weren’t good puppy parents and didn’t bring any!  We did manage to come up with a treat for her from our people food, so all was good in her eyes!

Back Roads to Travel

There are a number of back roads to explore in the park, but the one we chose was the Geology Tour Road.  It’s 18 miles and if we followed the auto guide tour, it would have taken us a couple of hours.  We, of course, didn’t do that, so we just enjoyed the views…..and the bumps in the road!

Back Road Beauty

This is a view of the road taken looking back on where we’d been.  This road was what I call a lollipop type of road.  There’s one road leading to a fork in the road.  Truly, the fork is just the beginning (or end, depending on one’s perspective) of the circular loop road.  Still, it’s so great to have such wide open spaces not very far at all from “civilization” (Palm Springs, CA)!

Joshua Tree Back Road

How appropriate to end our exploration of this park with a view of the first thing we saw upon entering it – a Joshua Tree. This one lined the back road we were exploring, and was a bit farther south in the park.  That’s why there were only a few here and there.  If you look closely, you can see power lines in this image – a confirmation as to how close “civilization” was.  Thank goodness people with vision preserved this land for future generations to enjoy!  Just FYI – Joshua Tree National Monument was established in 1936. In 1994, it became a National Park.

Enjoy!