Johsua Tree National Park

So here we are at the Visitor's Centre.  They provide a range of services from maps to history and geology of the region to souvenirs.  These latter range from caps, tee-shirts, mugs and shot glasses to fridge magnets.  They are usually themed on the vacinity as you would expect.  

Here is a proper Joshua Tree looming over Clancy.  They grow about 1 inch a year so this one is probably 480 years old, give or take a century.   Clancy is somewhat younger.  

In the part of the park that we drove through, this is the only free-camping area and it was lovely, if hot.  A cluster of huge boulders for shade and shelter and a few level sites for tent or RV.  If we ever returned, it would definitely be on the list of must-do things.  

Mary's about to wander into a fire pit area on the side of a rock.  We noticed there were modern-day petroglyphs tapped into the fire-blackened rock.  Kind of eerie.  

Cacti of various types. 

Joshua Tree National Park takes in two different deserts.  Each desert has its own desert plants and geology.  So, in the early part of the drive, there were the Joshua Trees and later, the Cholla.  Clancy only noticed the round red cactus near the base of the cliffs as we were driving through and it was some time before we saw one close enough to the road to photograph.  

After Joshua Tree, we headed for Phoenix.  This entailed leaving California and aiming for Arizona.  Somewhere around the border into Arizona, we stopped for lunch and noticed someone really having a good look at the RV.  After lunch Clancy had a good look herself and noticed a flattening tyre.  We immediately zipped off to find assistance and three-times lucky, found a tyre repair place before the tyre was too flat to drive on.  Lucky us.  So... the next hour or 2 was spent in the sweltering heat of an Arizona heat-wave while this chap repaired the valve.  Good man!

And then we were on our way.  We got into Phoenix about 6:30 and found our motel and the pool.  We unloaded the entire contents of the RV into the motel room and then collapsed into the pool.  

In Phoenix, we need to pack for the trip home, clean the RV, and get ready to fly to Cincinnati for the weekend.  We also need to shop for another suitcase and maybe one or two more little things.   So, bye for now and we'll post another blog about Phoenix and then Cincinnati as we are able.  Love to all.