Post 13 Death Valley and Joshua Tree

- November 05, 2025

Oct 19-26

One of the things we’ve realized is that we learn a lot not just at the places we visit, but on our travel days, too.

From Yosemite, on our way to Death Valley, we crossed the San Joaquin Valley again but in the southern part. Here is where the almond groves are, again as far as the eye can see. They also grow pistachios and grapes.

We stayed overnight in a little town called Tahachapi on the edge of the Mohave Desert. Crops don’t grow very well here so they’ve turned to producing kilowatts. Ridge after ridge of wind turbines and solar fields across the entire valley floor. It was pretty impressive. We also had great BBQ there, where we ordered off the "elders" menu!😂

Our Death Valley accommodations were in a town called Panamint Springs. Is it really a town, though?? Combo gas station/general store and hotel/restaurant. Campground was across the street. That’s it...the whole town. Great selection of craft beer at the bar though!

We learned a lot about the history of Death Valley as a gold and borax mining location. Some of you might remember watching Death Valley Days on TV back in the 60s sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax. They really did use those 20 mule teams to move the borax out of the valley to the railroad.

There is still a huge salt flat that contains borax and other minerals. You can walk on it and see the crystals close up. However, when we were there, they had had a large rainstorm that washed a lot of debris into the access road and, with the government shutdown, there was no one to clear the road. So, we were only able to see the flats from a distance.

From Death Valley we went directly to Joshua Tree. We stayed in a Van Life Campground. There are 5-6 of them on the west coast. They are set up for people who are living full-time and traveling in their vans. Some stay a week, some a few months. The basic philosophy is focused on establishing a community at the campground. There is a communal kitchen and both indoor and outdoor hang-out spaces. There were fun activities while we were there that everyone participated in – a game night and campfire. At the campfire we played Will it S’More?. Everyone brought something that could be cooked like a S’more. We brought chunks of cheddar cheese that we put on sticks and warmed over the fire then put them on a cracker with a slice of apple. They were delicious! Another favorite - piece of brie wrapped in a piece of salami, skewer and toast over the fire then put on a cracker with some fig jam. Yum!

They have tarantulas there.

We spent two days exploring Joshua Tree National Park. This park is another place that is other-worldly. The geology is amazing. Instead of mountains, the park has huge piles of boulders. Huge like mountain-size piles. The boulders were originally magma that cooled underground and, as it was pushed to the surface, it cracked and formed all the separate boulders. Once on the surface erosion washed away all the soil in between the rocks and just left the huge piles of boulders. Add to that geology the weird Seuss -like Joshua trees and the whole park feels like another planet.

Also in the park, we learned about many different kinds of cactuses and desert plants.

Of course...Joshua trees, which aren't trees OR cactuses but a member of the agave family.

Ocotillo cactus, which has tiny leaves that appear only after rain. They have large red flowers that bloom at this time, too. The leaves fall off as the ground dries and then grow again after another rain. This can happen many times over the course of one season. Ocotillo with and without leaves. Native people use the leaves for tea and medicinal purposes.