Drive of Death....aka Joshua Tree

Day 6 - Well, I'm still on Central boot camp time, so I woke up at 3:30 am...4:30 am Dallas time.  We loaded the Casita and were rolling by 5:15 am....we have 675 miles to drive today.  

Frisco to El Paso and El Paso to Joshua Tree are the hardest drives of the summer....Cole colored in 4 states today on his US map.  Our mid-lunch stop destination....Saguaro National Park...only 300 miles in!

We hit the Visitor Center, picked up Junior Ranger Packets and set off to find cacti and a lunch spot.

We found some of the most incredible cacti!!!

One hour later, we had full bellies and a new Jr. Ranger Badge!!!

350 more miles til Joshua Tree!!!!

Fast-forward 6 hours and we were starting to seriously doubt our plans.  The Silverado was reading a scorching 105 degrees and we seemed to be plummeting deeper and deeper into the desert.

Finally, we see Mecca!!!  The Joshua Tree turn-off.  After 13 hours in the car, Carson was about to lose it.

Only 30 more miles to find a campsite.  Apparently, we're the only crazies that think camping in the desert in June is a good idea because you only have to make reservations October-May.  I was praying that we really did know what we were talking about because the temps drop once the sun goes down and sure enough the temp was reading 91, 86, 80, 75, 70, just in time for us to pull up to White Tanks!  I read about some amazing rock formations and awesome climbing....WOW!!!!!

We found and incredible site (10) nestled in the boulders just large enough for our little Casita!!!  There's only 15 sites in this awesome campground and most all were taken!

We pulled in with just enough daylight to hike Arch Rock and let the boys explore. Cole absolutely fell in love with rock climbing!

The Joshua Trees were so strange and beautiful.  I bet they were the inspiration of the Truffula Trees in Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax"

We hiked until sunset then has an incredible meal of Wild Salmon Sliders and roasted potatoes, stared at the stars, and turned in.  Every National Park is so spectacular, I cannot wait to see what awesome adventures we have this summer!