Day 48, Wednesday, 02/13/08

A little cool this morning - 38, but warmed up nicely. Ended up in the 70's but a few high, scattered clouds kept the heat of the sun at bay.

Gracie was back to about 95% today so we loaded the pups up and drove the rest of the park. Lot's of great hiking opportunities here, but as usual, we are unable to enjoy them because of the dogs. Again, they are not allowed on any trails - nor are they suitable for their paws even if they were. So we resigned ourselves to just driving. Pictures below are of the drive today and the hike yesterday.

I'm jumping around here, but we don't know what was wrong with Gracie, only that she seems to be ok now. We think she might have gotten bit or stung on her rear end because right at the base of her tail it appeared to be "puffed" up and she kept her tail between her legs and had trouble sitting.

Back to the weather today. No forecast for high winds today in 29 Palms, but by the time we were coming out of the National Park it was getting a little breezy! Winds kept getting stronger and within 15 minutes of getting back to the RV park, we were really "rockin n' rollin" in the motor home. Lots of dust again inside! Just like Super Bowl Sunday. High winds are forecast to continue another 24 hours. Great! We were going to head for Death Valley in the morning, but might just stay put until this front passes.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

This is a view from the trail up 49 palms canyon which is on the Northern edge of Joshua Tree National Park and just outside of 29 Palms where we are staying.

View down at the trail head parking lot and CR-V (Crave) sitting there.

View down 49 Palms Canyon looking at the city of 29 Palms and the 29 Palms Marine Base up against the mountains

Yours Truly at the end of the trail in 49 Palms Canyon

Close-up of the 49 Palms area

49 Palms view from about 10 minutes away on the trail

49 Palms view from about 20 minutes away

Palms growing in the Cottonwood Oasis at the South entrance to Joshua Tree NP

It looks white, but it's a cottonwood tree growing up through a palm tree at the Cottonwood Oasis.

Cholla (choy-ya) garden scene, three pictures, just off the road through Joshua Tree NP. Cholla look soft and fuzzy and are also called "Teddy Bear" Cholla, but they have microscopic needles at the tips of their obviously sharp points that if even lightly touched are extremely painful and difficult to remove.