Another Visit to Joshua National Park

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After we visited Carlsbad Caverns we were counting how many national parks we’ve visited. We realized I’ve been to 30 and The Husband only 29 because I visited Joshua Tree National Park on a solo trip for my 40th birthday. We clearly had to remedy the situation so I planned a trip!

Joshua Tree National Park

Being that it was January in a desert park, it’s prime season and last minute campsites are hard to come by. All the reservable sites in the center of the park were booked but I found a few open sites at the Cottonwood Campground, which is an hour away from the main section of the park. One hour is better than not going so we booked the site and started planning.

Cottonwood Campground, Joshua Tree National Park

When I visited previously I was by myself and stuck to the short hikes and more touristy things. Going back with The Husband meant we could explore more and we basically did all the things. 3 night camping, 2.5 days exploring, 5 hikes for a total of 13.5 miles, 1 ranger led tour, 2 quick stops, 1 western town, 2 grocery stores, 1 souvenir store, 2 visitor centers, 2 saloons, and drove through all 3 entry points. And that, my friends, is how I like to vacation. 🙂

Cottonwood Spring

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and got set up at camp. We still had some daylight to burn so we hit the road. Our first stop was the Cottonwood Spring. Next stop was the visitor center. Lastly, we headed to the Arch Rock trailhead. My goal was to find heart rock and we did!

Heart Rock

I was super excited for our Friday plans! I read about an unmarked hike to Samuelson Rocks and that was first on our list for the day. It’s not an official trail and on the internet you can find the GPS coordinates. I wasn’t totally keen on the idea of just walking through the desert towards some GPS coordinates and was trying to decide if we should really be going off trail. As I was studying park maps, like more detailed ones, I found actual trails to get to Samuelson Rocks. I’m not giving details, if you want to do this hike, you can figure out how to get there. There is no cell service in Joshua Tree and the trail is totally exposed, so be sure you have a GPS device, water, and snacks. As we turned onto one of the trails there was a sign that read you are entering backcountry – be prepared to self rescue.

When I mentioned this hike to a ranger at the visitor center he rolled his eyes and said there are no trails to it. If they didn’t want people finding the area, I assume it wouldn’t be on maps. My only advise, if you’re going to do this hike, is to look at the maps and figure out how to get there safely. The area can be very disorienting so make sure you have a GPS device and know how to navigate. And please leave the rocks as you find them.

Before the park was a park, miners and ranchers came to the area to mine for gold and build homesteads. John Samuelson was one of those guys and the legend has it that Samuelson was a radical thinker but no one really seems to know much else about him. He carved his thoughts into eight boulders all strewn around a rocky hill in the area where he used to live. You can find remnants of his homestead as well. A car, fence, and bed frame are in the area. What I loved most about this adventure is it was part hike part scavenger hunt. We spent probably a good hour at the site looking for the different rocks. Some are harder to find that others. We had the place to ourselves mostly, with the exception of two guys who happened to be hiking by and asked what we were doing. This hike was definitely a highlight of our trip. We hardly saw a soul and got to see something really special.

After we finished our hike, we headed into the town of Joshua Tree to check out a few places we read about on the internet. The first was Pioneertown. It’s an old western town that was used for movies. We live in Arizona and have several of these, so Pioneertown wasn’t that exciting. There’s a restaurant/bar and some souvenir stores. It’s a little ways out of town so I wouldn’t suggest going unless you really love that kind of thing. We made a few stops in the town of Joshua Tree, the national park visitor center, Joshua Tree Coffee, a souvenir store, and the Joshua Tree Saloon. The saloon was crazy busy. We could barely get a seat. We drove through the 29 Palms Entrance on our way back to Cottonwood Springs. It was a long day of driving and exploring but we got to see a lot.

Saturday we had 9am reservations for the Keys Ranch Tour so we hit the road early and made our way across the park. We arrived at the meet up location a little early and quickly took a short hike to see the pink house. Overtime people have carved their names into the property which is really disappointing.

We snapped a few pictures and headed to the meet up spot for the Keys Ranch Tour. The tour is in a locked area of Joshua Tree so if you miss the meet up time, you miss the tour. The tour is only offered certain times of the year and does sell out, so if you want to go get your tickets early. I love ranger talks and learning about the history of an area.

Keys Ranch
Keys Ranch Tour

After the tour we did a few hikes in the area. First was Barker Dam.

Barker Dam

Next was Hidden Valley.

Rock Climber in Hidden Valley

We drove up to the Keys View to look at the Coachella Valley. This was a quick stop and we weren’t ready to call it a day yet, so we decided to hike the Lost Horse Mine trail on our way back down the hill. Normally I wouldn’t tack a harder trail to the end of a day but sometimes spontaneous plans are the best.

Key View

The trail felt like a mirage towards the end. My watch mileage was telling me we should almost be there but my eyes felt different looking at how far we still had to go. The mileage was correct, thank goodness. Being that it was the end of the day, there was hardly anyone out hiking so we had to mine to ourselves mostly the entire time we were there. We had a drink and a snack, enjoyed the views, and headed back to the car. We were beat by the time we got back to the truck and this was the perfect end to our trip.

Lost Horse Mine
Lost Horse Mine View

I’m pretty sure I was in bed as soon as we ate dinner. The next morning we packed up and headed home. We had an absolutely fabulous time in Joshua Tree and packed so much into our time. My favorite vacations are where you are so tired by the end of the day you practically fall asleep in your dinner. I love Joshua Tree and if you ever need someone to go with, please call me. 🙂

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

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We visited Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the same trip as Carlsbad Caverns National Park. They are neighbors even though they are in different states. Many people go to Guadalupe Mountains to hike to the tallest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak. We didn’t have time for that on this trip but were able to spend a few hours in the park.

After getting our sign picture and stopping in the visitor center to learn about the park we headed to the Frijole Ranch area. We spent some time exploring the ranch buildings and the nearby spring.

Frijole Ranch
Manzanita Spring

Our final stop in the park was the Smith Springs Trail Loop. The trail goes up about 400 feet to a spring. We got a later start than we wanted and the trail was a little warm. Fortunantly, the spring area is full of trees that provided a perfect place for a snack break. I may have been a little hot and hangry on the hike in so a snack in the shade was good for everyone in the group.

Smith Spring Trail
Smith Spring

On our way back to the trailhead we were treated to a nice breeze and beautiful views.

This was a great trail for the short amount of time we had in the park. Water in the desert is always special. I hope to come back one day and hike a few of the other trails.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

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I wasn’t sure what to expect with Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I’ve seen pictures and heard stories but I wasn’t prepared for what we got to see. I think that’s one of the things I love most about visiting new places, especially the national parks. Pictures are beautiful, but they can never capture the awe you feel being in some of theses places.

Carlsbad Caverns is known for its incredible caves. The Big Room is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America. You can get to the Big Room by taking an elevator down or by walking in through the Natural Entrance Trail. We opted for the walk in which is a 1.25 mile trail that decends 750 feet.

The walk in was more stenuous than I expected but I would highly recommend it. It was really incredible to walk in and wind our way down through all the formations. The walk is steep but there is a handrail.

Once in the Big Room there is a 1.25 mile trail that goes around the cave. It’s relatively flat and part is accessible. By the end of our 2.5 miles, walking in plus the trail in the cave, we were beat. We took the elevator out and I have never been so excited for an elevator ride. Had we had to walk out I’d probably have taken up residence in the Big Room.

We visited in the fall, October 2023 to be exact, and were able to see the Bat Flight Program! It’s a must do if you’re visiting while the bats are still around. A large colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats call the cave home spring – fall. The bats leave at sunset each night to find food and water.

Prior to the bats exiting, the Cave Swallows that also call the cave home started flying around and putting on a show. I guess they are the opening act. Eventually the bats made their way out and everyone watched in awe as they flew out of the entrance, circled around in groups and made what looked like a cyclone, and then when their group was large enough they flew off. I’m not sure how long we sat there watching, probably an hour, but we had to have seen 100,000+ bats fly off into the sunset.

No picture/recording devices are allowed when the bats are flying so I don’t have any pictures to share but I think that makes this event even more special. It’s something you truly have to witness to see.

I’d recommend visiting Carlsbad Caverns if you are in the area. The cave is accessible, which is super cool. So basically, there’s no reason not to visit. Unless you don’t like caves and then you can take my word for its epicness. 🙂

2 Days In Washington, DC

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I was in Washington, DC in March for a work conference but have never been so I flew in two days early to explore the city. And even more exciting is that my brother joined me! We’ve always wanted to go to DC and took advantage of the fact that one of us was already there.

Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

I had a long list of things to do in DC but quickly realized how big the area we wanted to cover is and threw my list away. If you’re coming to DC on a quick trip and want to see some of the popular sites, I’d suggest following what we did as a guide. We saw a lot and got a good taste of the area.

We stayed in the Wharf area and it made a good base location. There are a lot of hotels and restaurants in the area, it’s a short taxi ride from the airport, and it’s easy to walk to the National Mall and monuments. If you’re comfortable walking a few miles this is a great location. It wasn’t a far taxi ride to the mall area either and traffic was less congested than if you are staying north of the mall.

Day 1!

Boardwalk yacht

We started our day by stopping to view a $150 million yacht. After that we walked towards Tidal Basin to see the monuments and memorials.

Our first stop was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. I’m a huge Hamilton fan and the musical was playing in my head as I walked around.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

After that was the Franklin Delenor Roosevelt Memorial. It was one of the most impactful and moving memorials we visited.

Franklin Delenor Roosevelt Memorial

Shortly after that is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. There are a lot of cherry blossom trees in this area and many were already in bloom.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

After that we made our way over to the Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial

Then the White House. It looked smaller than I was expecting.

The White House

At this point our feet needed a break and we were hungry and decided a lunch break was in order. A friend had recommended The Square so we walked further north only to find it’s closed on Sundays. Bummer. I really need to be better about checking these things before going out of my way. Nothing in the area was open so we had to walk back towards the White House where we found an open coffee shop with food. Hallelujah! After we were properly caffeinated and fed we took a taxi to the Washington Monument to cut out some miles.

Washington Monument

On our walk back to our hotel we went by the Smithsonian Castle. I’m not sure what it is (it’s closed for renovation) but on the backside they have magnolia trees that were in bloom. They are stunning!

Smithsonian Castle

We had dinner reservations at Amazonia and had the BEST dinner! Causa/Amazonia is a dual concept Michelin-starred (!!!) restaurant specializing in Peruvian cuisine. The restaurant is down an alley and hard to find. Probably a sign that we were about to have a fantastic meal! Our taxi dropped us off on the side of a street where the directions ended but we could not find the address anywhere. My smart brother pulled out his phone and was following the walking directions which were taking us down back alleys. Fortunately, our reward was an epic dinner! The service and the food were all excellent. We leaned in to our servers’ recommendations and she did not steer us wrong. I could write about this meal all night but will stop.

After dinner we decided we wanted to see the monuments at night because I was certainly not ready to call it a day yet.

Honest Abe and the Lincoln Memorial at Night

On our way back to the hotel we learned a friend was in town so we turned around and met him for a drink. It was such a fun treat. Meeting up with friends in random places is one of my greatest joys.

Over the course of the day we walked 25,000 steps which is approximately 10 miles. My dogs were tired!

Day 2!

We slept in because 3 hour time change and up very late. It was a rainy day so visiting museums was on the docket. There was a break in the rain so we walked to the mall. We started with the National Museum of Natural History. It was OK but not quite what I was expecting. Maybe I’ve watched Night at the Museum a few too many times. I’m glad to have seen it in person but there were a lot of people and my brain wasn’t in the mood to read a lot of placards. We saw some dinosaurs, human history, and the hope diamond!

Smithsonian National Museum of Natual History

We walked next door to the National Museum of American History and saw the original Star Spangled Banner from 1813. Like the one that inspired our national anthem. IT’S HUGE! You cannot take pictures and it’s in a dark room for protection but it’s really cool to see. Also saw Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton Costume, Walter White’s gear, and a Bob Ross painting!

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

The rain was making it hard to walk around outside and there were so many people in the museums. We found a coffee shop and rested for a bit before moving hotels. I was in town for a conference and it was time to get to work so we moved up towards Dupont Circle. We had an enjoyable dinner at Rosemarino D’Italia and called it a night.

That concludes 2 days in DC! I was there for a few more days for a conference and was mostly in meetings/classes but after a long day of sitting I made a point to see one more thing.

I visited Capitol Hill for work! That was a neat experience. All of my meetings were in the House of Representative buildings. Fun fact: the buildings are all connected by tunnels and it’s a crazy maze. Not sure if that was intentional or not. I love new experiences and this was for sure one.

Capitol Hill

Visited the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. The modern art section was my favorite.

Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

The last evening I went on one final walk around DC. I took a taxi to the White House, walked by the Washington Monument, around Tidal Basin, along the Lincoln Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial where I took a taxi back to my hotel. It was a really enjoyable walk. The cherry blossoms were basically at peak bloom (it was scheduled for the next day) and that was a treat. There were so many people though. There are few things that annoy me more than slow walkers and walking with hundreds of your friends means mostly slow walking. I kept having to remind myself to enjoy the experience. Lol.

Final walk around DC on the eve of peak cherry blossom bloom

Tips for planning a trip to DC:

DC is huge and very congested. I didn’t use the train (Metro) so I can’t comment on that but have heard good things about it. Taxis are readily available but can get expensive really quickly. There is a lot of traffic which means a lot of sitting in traffic jams. If you can, take a taxi versus Uber/Lyft. DC charges fees for using non taxis. Probably not shocking, those fees are not built into the price quoted for the ride. DC is very walkable but pretty spread apart.

If you only have a day or two, I’d suggest doing exactly as we did. Take one day to walk the monuments and the second day to visit museums. Based on how much energy you have you can always add in more. There is so much to do in DC that it’s impossible to fit it all in in a short period of time.

If you want to see the cherry blossoms, I recommend going shortly before peak bloom. The trees are all over the city and bloom at different times. We saw plenty of blooms a week before peak and walking around was much more enjoyable. It was cool to be there at peak, and I’m glad ot have checked that box, but the massive crowds took away from the expereience. It probably wasn’t helpful that I went at 5pm with everyone else in DC.

The monuments and many of the museums are free so that’s fun! DC is a cool town and definitely a place to visit at least once. Bring your good walking shoes and have a blast!