california blogging: snow in the desert, snowy cacti and palm trees included

Perhaps you may have heard that there was snow in Vegas over the holidays. It does happen. The last time I went to Vegas, we were driving down the 15 and there were small piles of snow on the side of the road. When most people think of the desert, they think of heat. But really, the desert is all about extremes. Temperatures can drop at night and when you get lots of precipitation (like what southern California received the week I was home), you get snow. Even in the desert.

Having never seen the California desert, Jesse wanted to go. And I like to show him something new every time we visit California. And because he's into National Parks, we set out to visit Joshua Tree National Park. It's right smack in the middle of the desert, surrounded by mountain ranges, and full of Joshua Trees. And the snow made it even more awesome!

Hard to believe this is the desert, huh?


That thing standing on the right is a Joshua Tree (Jesse's on the left)


While Joshua Tree had mammoth, regular looking mountains, it also had these types of "mountains" that looked like large piles of huge boulders.


Snow, snow EVERYWHERE


Here's a cactus in the snow (in case you don't believe we were in the desert)


This is the view from Keys View, one of the highest points in Joshua Tree


This was taken in the Cholla Cactus Garden, which was snow free, but the mountain range behind it wasn't.


Here's Jesse attempting to 'eat' a Cholla.


We checked out Cottonwood Springs, which was supposed to be the oasis in the desert. While we didn't find the water, we did find quite a tropical atmosphere...


Which was kinda marred by all the snow


Jesse and I both fell in love with Joshua Tree, actually. Not sure if it would be as pretty without all the snow.


The whole lot of photos can be found here, if you're interested.

And on that note, Happy New Year, blog peeps! I'll be back on Friday with the first post of the new year, FUN, FRISKY FELINES!

I have this strange feeling 2009 could be awesome! Let's all hope so.