Tuesday april 16th, 2019

We were up and at ’em and on the road early (which means by 10:00). I searched on atlas obscura and found Desert Christ Park and since it wasn’t out of our way we decided to visit. It’s located on a hillside just on the edge of town in Yucca Valley with hills on one side of the road and and apartments on the other. We took the self-guided tour and met a lady who is one of the caretaker volunteers there. She was cementing blue glass bubbles inside a well between 2 statues. The bubbles will eventually fill the well and each represents a dollar donated to the Park. It was very peaceful and unusual because of it’s location and the passion of one man. The park entry is by donation only and there are only 4 caretaker volunteers total.  The park was created by Frank Anton Martin who sculpted over 40  white concrete sculptures on the sight over a 10 year period. If you’re curious there is a lovely website:  http://www.desertchristpark.org

Our next stop called to us from a billboard. So on to Tortoise Rock Casino! It’s a small casino but had lots of new slots we’d never seen before and they were happy to give us 10.00 in free play so  . . . we played for a couple of hours, had tons of fun and left with every cent we went in with! So it was a fun-for-free casino experience!

Our next destination was Joshua Tree National Park. It was odd seeing a landscape with Yucca plants and Joshua Trees instead of the Saguaro we’ve grown accustomed to in our Arizona travels. The park was pristine and every campground full. The rock formations were huge and there were tons of hikers. The wildflowers were in bloom and the sky was ever changing, with clouds, clear skies and a few times what looked like rain in the distance.

Somebody is traveling large! We saw this bus and I have to admit – I was a little bit jealous!