a joshua tree getaway

Hi beautiful friends! This past summer I had the most beautiful reunion with my college friends. My love language is definitely being able to experience new places with old friends. It was my friendMirah’s birthday, so after spending the weekend in LA (think: Korean spa @ 3am, basking for hours at Malibu beach, and SO much good food), we embarked on a journey to the Palo Verde Ranch. This is definitely one of the NICEST airbnb’s I’ve ever stayed in from the outdoor shower to the beautifully decorated rooms to the massive Palo Verde tree in the front of the pink home.

Day 1: We arrived at around 3pm (late brunch + LA traffic), and explored the airbnb. We ended up going to get groceries to cook our meals at a local mart 7 min away called Stater Bros. Tip: don’t overdo the groceries like we did. We made tacos for dinner and played some games outside. We spent a lot of time just watching the stars the first night, and mapping out the constellations with the “sky map” app. Overall, it was a very relaxing first night with nothing too crazy, albeit there’s not too much to do when you’re trapped in the dessert.

Day 2: We drove into the park early (it was the summer so we knew the heat would be unbearable by 10am) and hiked/walked around Skull Rock and Barker Damn. The sun started beating down pretty quickly, so we left to grab some lunch at a local taqueria. We came back to the airbnb and chilled in the pool and swings for a few hours. Some of us rested while the others watched a movie. Ideal situation in my mind, tbh. In the evening, we headed down to the JTree Saloon for some beers, fried pickles, and live music. A lot of locals frequent the saloon, so it’s a good place to “network” and strike up interesting conversations.

Day 3: We made a hefty breakfast at home after waking up kind of late. We went to Pioneertown briefly (this is an old movie set created and is now somewhat abandoned). There wasn’t a whole lot to do here, but there were a few small artisan shops that were interesting to see. After we came home and made dinner, we ended up driving back into the park for stargazing. This month was the optimal time to see the milky way but there was a lot of overcast. We ended up taking some amazing photos of lightning from a nearby storm, and just reminiscing about life. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip.