Just finishing off the week with more Joshua Tree photos!

 Tiny wildflowers...

I liked how this dead tree framed the photo.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  I'll be back Tuesday.
~Cheryl Ann~

Joshua Tree rocks and climbers

I always enjoy seeing the rock climbers at Joshua Tree national park.  I could NEVER do this!  I have a fear of heights.  So, I enjoy watching others.  There were climbers on two different sets of rocks last Sunday.  It was the perfect day for climbing.

Joshua Tree national park visit

It was an absolutely beautiful day here yesterday, so hubby and I headed out to Joshua Tree national park.  We stopped at the McDonalds in Yucca comfortable 74 degrees with a slight breeze...PERFECT!

The joshua trees aren't blooming yet.  Maybe they will open up in a week to 10 days.  They look like they are about ready to burst!  We drove around for about an hour, then headed home.

I'm glad we had a beautiful morning to enjoy the park.Hubby's right leg was bothering him, so he didn't want to walk too far.  And, he got to try out his new Canon 75-300 mm lens.

These are a few of the photos I took:

 Look at those pods...ready to burst open!

 This is a view of the back of Mt. San Gorgonio.  Yes, it still has snow.

 Rock climbers were out at Intersection Point...

 Another flower pod ready to open soon

More mountain views

 This is looking toward Mt. San Jacinto, which towers over Beaumont, Banning, and Palm Springs.

 Another view...

This is looking back toward the San Bernardino mountains...Big Bear and Arrowbear.

We are neighbors to two mountains over 10,000 feet.  First, Mt. San Jacinto towers above Palm Springs, Beaumont, and Banning.  The north face still has snow and we'll be heading up to Idyllwild next weekend.

Mt. Gorgonio towers above the Whitewater Preserve and is home to Big Bear and Arrowbear.  It still has snow, and even fresh snow, on it.  You can see it from the Whitewater Preserve and also from Joshua Tree National Park.  It is  now part of the Sand to Snow national monument.

Of the two mountains, Gorgonio is higher.  It's officially listed as 11,503 feet. It is the highest peak in Southern California, and was first ascended in 1872.

Mt. San Jacinto is 10,834 feet high.  It climbs over 10,000 feet from the desert floor, almost straight up.  It was formed through geographic activity (earthquakes).  The Palm Springs tram goes to near the top of Mt. San Jacinto.  I have yet to ride the tram and I've lived here for 42 years now!

More from Whitewater Preserve and a visit from a hummingbird!

 Desert willow

 Looking up the trail to the San Bernardino mountains

 Peaceful patio

Ahhhh.....

And, hubby found a new friend!

Hubby was standing under one of the desert willows when this little guy came by!  I don't know if he was attracted to hubby or if he wanted him away from his tree!

Whitewater Preserve visit

Hubby was off work yesterday and I decided that instead of him sitting at his laptop all day like he did on Tuesday, perhaps we should go for a drive.  So, we headed off to the Whitewater Preserve, which is only about a 30 minute drive from our house.

It's a completely different world up there.  It's surrounded on 3 sides by tall cliffs and bighorn sheep are frequently seen in the meadow and up on the cliffs.  In fact, the first bighorn sheep I ever saw were up there.  Hawks fly around and there are all kinds of birds.  Yesterday I listened to the calls of a red winged blackbird.There are trout in the ponds and yesterday lizards were out on the walkways doing pushups!

We didn't arrive until 10 a.m. and by 11:30, it was getting HOT.  It was another triple digit day in Palm Springs, so even up there, it was quite warm!  We are expecting a cool down with temps into the 80's starting tomorrow!   :-)

 I love this place!  That's the ranger station and visitor center.

 One of our new-found friends!

 So peaceful...

 Another new friend...

Beautiful, peaceful scene...

We got RAIN here yesterday!

It's not unheard of to have rain in May, but it is pretty unusual.  I remember a time in 1976, after I graduated UC Riverside with my MA degree.  Hubby and I had a little Mazda and he suggested we drive back from Riverside to the desert, through Idyllwild.  It snowed that evening!  He told me to keep going and to not stop, so I did.  However, that was 40 years ago!  It has snowed up on Mt. San Jacinto a couple of times since then, but it is still a rare event.

I was babysitting the grandson down in north Indio yesterday afternoon and I took my camera with me because I knew it was due to rain.  And, rain it did!  The streets in Palm Desert were wet and our yard was wet, too.  Hubby said we had a downpour at home.  I always love to drive around after a storm in the desert because I get to see different light.

Here are some photos from yesterday afternoon.  Today it is clear.

 I don't usually take photos of telephone poles, but I was stopped at an intersection and I took this photo.