When I wore a younger man’s clothes (to quote Billy Joel), there was a time when U2’s Joshua Tree was on repeat in my Walkman.
The landmark 1987 album is arguably one of the best albums ever, and the opening chords of the first track, Where The Streets Have No Name, can still bring a chill to my spine. Despite how important that vinyl masterpiece was to me at the time, I never thought one day I’d be wandering and discovering the park and area that provided inspiration to the soundtrack of my youth.
I recall a conversation with someone wanted to find the actual Joshua tree from the album cover to pose with it. The first mistake here is that the famed tree is more correctly named a Yucca Tree; and secondly there are million upon millions of them, so finding “the one” is like finding a needle in haystack.
After 22 years in Califoria I recently got to see THE Joshua Tree during a work engagement. My amazing journey of the Covid era continues and fortunately making TV is considered essential. I am blessed to still be in work while millions of others are not.
A group of us stayed for two nights at the Pioneer Town Motel (5240 Curtis Road, Pioneer Town, CA), which proved the perfect spot for star gazing. And their no TV in the room policy was an added treat to be honest. The celestial heavens, after all, are nature’s fireworks and provide the fascination and uplift for the soul that TV, sadly, almost never does.
And of course with the COVID lockdown still with us, next to nothing is open. This chilly season is the perfect time to visit the desert and usually you’d have a hipster crowd listening to some rando singer- songwriter performing a rendition of Phoebe Buffay’s “Smelly Cat” (excuse the gratuitious “Friends” reference). However, I found a great little taco spot on Highway 29, called Algoberto’s Tacos (56143 Twenty-Nine Palms Highway), which was cheap, cheerful and delicious.
Later we sat around the outdoor fire and drank wine and smoked a little pot and laughed our tooshies off. As California experiences go, it was close to perfection!
The next day we drove 45 minutes to Joshua Tree National Park. The price for entry was $30 per car and when I say wow I mean whoa! This place is unreal and spectacular- I believe under normal circumstances you can camp there too. The landscape is SO prehistoric that you feel like you are on the Flintstones set and that at moment Dino will pop out of the giant rocks. This place is truly a wonder of the world, and if you need some humility, come here and realize how small we actually all are. All I kept thinking is that I have to take my family to see this amazing place, It’s nature at its best and it’s something that we can do, step outside and breathe and appreciate the wonderful things that were here long before us….and will be here long after we’ve all gone.
Happy holidays to you all!
Craig
