Dirt Road Diary: Joshua Tree / Old Dale Mining Road Part 1

Over my birthday weekend Joey asked what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to take a trip out to Joshua Tree. I wanted to see more of the park and do some off-roading. It was my birthday so my wish was his command. On Sunday we packed up to coolers and the Cruisers and headed out to Joshua Tree. It was a great trip with some pretty memorable moments.

The trip started at our house and we hit the road, only to get to the first stop light when we realized we forgot the paper plates so we headed back to the house. Back at the house Joey notices that his radiator was leaking. The hood went up and the guys did that thing where the look at it and stroke their beards and then declare what it's wrong. They were hoping that a new radiator cap would fix it so off to Star Auto they went. They got back with the new cap and by golly, as usual they were right and the crew was back on the road.

Our first stop was the Joshua Tree Visitor Center to figure out where the Old Dale Mining Trail was at. We got some maps and annual passes to the park. Now we have to go back a lot! Then we drove into the park. When you see these....

... you know you have arrived.

Everywhere you look it is breathtakingly beautiful. 

This rock had people rock climbing in the middle of it. So cool. 

Louie as cool as ever....

After getting into the park we turned off the main road to head over to Keys View. An amazing spot where you can see mountains on the Mexican border on one side and all the way to Morongo Casino on the other side. You can see the Salton Sea (and see how low it is!) and even a fault line. Even with the hazy day we had it was stunning. STUNNING! 

After Keys View we headed down to Caps Rock for lunch. A small little picnic area.

  A great place with a parking lot and bathroom. Apparently it is so nice that it is a great place for photo shoots. Photo shoots of girls in thongs. It was ridiculous. She was standing in the middle of the street while her friend took photos not giving a damn that her butt cheeks were out for the world to see. Talk about awkward. It didn't stop there. She actually made a few costume changes.

Anyways the night before we had planned it out so that Joey and I would bring the stuff to make hamburgers. Except Joey forgot the dang burgers. Since we had everything else, including the grill we went meatless and had grilled cheese sandwiches.

Thanks to my camera remote I was able to get a good group shot.

Muddy Buddies Por Vida

 After our vegetarian lunch we headed over to Skull Rock. Just a really cool place to explore...

 We continued on our way towards Old Dale Mining Road and we spotted the Cahuilla Cactus garden. This place looked like it was straight from a sci-fi movie. It was like stepping on another planet.

We got back on the road looking for our dirt road turn off. We were stuck behind the slowest car ever and it helped build the anticipation of those dusty trails. We finally made the left turn and we headed out to explore a new trail......

Hicksville: It's Not a Trailer Park, It's a Trailer Palace

This year we had a Spring Break trip that none of us will ever forget. Huge thank you goes out to my Mother-in-law Kim. She paid for the family to take a 3 day and 2 night trip to one of the coolest places I have ever been. 

Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree, California. 

Joey and I had heard about this place years ago and always dreamed of going. Thanks to Grandma Kim, our dream was a reality for a few glorious days. 

Hicksville is out in the middle of the desert surrounded by joshua trees and lots and lots of sand. May seem like a horrible place to vacation but inside the fences of Hicksville is everything you need for a kick ass vacation. 

The property is filled with what can only be described as tricked out trailers. Each trailer is named and decorated in the most fabulous way. 

Here is the Pee Wee trailer and the mediation teepee. Inside the teepee is chairs and a fire pit. The trailer is named Pee Wee because it was the one used in Big Top Pee Wee. Was Louie (a HUGE Pee Wee Herman fan) stoked? Duh

Here is a shot from the miniature golf course. Yes you read that right. There is a mini golf course. This was the only thing that was an extra expense. It was $10.00 per person for your entire stay.

We took the trip with my mother-in-law Kim, her BFF Kim, Aunt Tawny and Uncle David and Joey's brother, his wife and their family (5 older kids and Baby Artie). Since we had the youngest kids who still needed to be in the same trailer as us we stayed in the "New World" trailer. This is a 40 foot trailer complete with a kitchen and bathroom. The girls had super cool bunkbeds. This trailer can also be rented as a recording studio. Yes albums have been recorded here. We loved our trailer so much.

The bathroom was super tiny but with really great water pressure. Plus showering with a view of blue skies and joshua trees was surreal.

The rest of the crew stayed in the "Pioneer" "The Lux" "The Intgratrailer" "The Sweet" and "The Fifi".  You can see all the trailers available here. 

Can you guess which trailer these curtains are from?

Being the big book nerds that we are (except Joey. He is the cool one.) we were so excited to find a library! We were even more excited to find a nest with baby birds under the awning!

Louie "checked out" a book each night that I could read to her as a bedtime story.

Miniature golf was a hit. It's a 9 hole course and each hole is designed after one of the trailers. The girls each got a club and ball that they kept for our entire stay. Phi, Louie and Cousin Mason must have played the course 10 times!

The Lux trailer is all about The Cramps and punk rock. It is glorious. So of course the Lux hole on the course is amazing. This is now one of my most favorite pictures ever. Rock and Roll Forever!

My favorite rock band ever!

 Everywhere you looked there are such cool details.

There is a covered play room with darts, a ping pong table, photo booth and.....

.... a multicade with FREE play. I still suck at video games.

Of course there is a pool. It's a salt water pool and perfect for a hot desert afternoon. The grass around the pool is the fake stuff and gives the place such a cool kitschy vibe. On the purple wall between the windows is a jukebox. It plays from 10am-1am. Just like the video games it's free play. You know I played some Johnny Cash on that thing.

Louie and Ozzie really took advantage of the trip and used it to relax because you know how stressful their life is. (sarcasm).

On the far side of the area there is an archery and bb gun range. Right in front of the library are a few bb guns and a bow for anyone to use.

Phi and Poppa shooting at some empty cans.

We were so caught up in the fun and adventure that we even let crazy Louie have a turn. The fenced in grass area with the kiddie pool is the dog fort. Yup a place for your pooch to chillax.

From the game room you can take a narrow metal spiral staircase up to a deck with lounging chairs and a hot tub. Perfect for watching the sunset, star gazing and hot tubbing.

Our last morning had some gorgeous weather.  Here is my whole crew in front of the trailer we stayed in. Our trailer had a perfect queen size bed and a flat screen TV (with cable!)for Joey and I and the girls loved the little bunk beds.

As you can see the girls were not happy about having to leave.

This was such a radical experience for us. This place had everything we needed for a perfect vacation. Even wifi!  I can't thank Kim enough for it! I was a bit worried that the kids would be bored. Instead they had so much fun all day that by 8:30 pm both nights Louie was asking to go to bed. We hope to go back really really soon!

Remember that photo booth I mentioned. You know we had to...

Land Cruiser Adventures: Joshua Tree Part 2: Barker Dam, Petroglyphs and Key View

The second part of our day Joshua Tree adventure took us on a short mile and a half hike through Barker Dam. This hike was fun and easy enough for even Louie to manage. 

  Of course there were sitting breaks for the little legs.

 

Before we knew it we were at the dam.

You can see that there almost no water.

 We hiked the loop and so on the second half of it we found petroglyphs!

The last part of the hike was through lots of joshua tree's. These things are so crazy, it feels like you are in the middle of a Dr. Suess book.

After the hike we wanted to visit one more spot called Keys View. We were hoping to catch the sun setting but we just missed it. But the views from the top were still spectacular. You could see the Salton Sea all the way to the Morongo Casino.

As we were taking in the view the moon was raising. As it climbed the sky it started off red and eventually became this bright white light. We were hoping to get some star gazing in but the moon was full and the brightest moon I have ever seen in my whole life.

Joshua Tree is an amazing place, and we only got to see such a small part of it. Maybe, just maybe, a camping trip would be fun.