Tuesday May 2, 2012

Hi Everyone,

I was a little lacks about doing my blog last week my apologizes.  I had a run in with my bike last week and I lost.  Had two crashes in one day.  So this week I am covered in bruises and nursing two sore knees.  Then on Saturday Jim slipped and fell while we were washing the truck so he is nursing a sore ankle.  It is a good thing my niece works for an orthopedic group as we might be visiting them next week, LOL.   We did meet and made some new friends which is what traveling is all about.

We are in Palm Springs and on to Bakersfield tomorrow with an overnight stay and then on to my hometown of Stockton were will be for the month of May.  We did go (and this has been on our bucket list) to Joshua Tree and what a gorgeous place.  Half of Joshua Tree is in the Mojave Desert with the eastern half of the park in the Colorado Desert.  In 1930 Minerva Hoyt, a community activist and desert lover recognized the threats from humans so in 1936 she persuaded Franklin Roosevelt to proclaim Joshua Tree a National Monument.  This park protects 792,510 acres.   

The desert is home to Bighorn sheep, Chuckwalla and the Desert Iguana, the desert tortoise, quail, roadrunner beep,beep, the kit fox and or course the red diamondback rattlesnake.  

Jim and I were amazed at the rock formation which looked like a giant's form of legos.  These rock piles began underground eons ago as a result of volcanic activity. Magma in this case a molton form of the rock called monzogranite rose from deep within the earth.  As it rose, it intruded the overlying rock.  As the granite cooled and crystalized underground, cracks formed horizontally and vertically.  The granite continued to uplift, where it came in contact with groundwater.  Chemical weathering caused by the groundwater worked on the angular granite blocks widening racks and rounding edges.

What make Joshua Tree such a significant National Park is the fact the it transitions between two deserts, it is close to major urban areas, the fact that this park meets the pacific plate with the north american plate, bouldered landscape and beautiful scenery. 

Enjoyed the day,
Jim and Debbie