After our first full day at Joshua Tree National Park, we decided to return one more time while we were in the area. The night sky is supposed to be better here than any other place in Southern California so our plan was to spend our second day exploring the cities of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms and then return to the park after dark. I had a grand idea that I would take some amazing night sky photos. We were happy to learn that the park is open to visitors 24 hours a day. We dressed in several layers of warm clothing, packed a bunch of camera gear and two thermal mugs of hot tea and headed out at about 8:00 pm. We drove to the exit of the RV park and found the entry gate locked! Best laid plans and all that. Mark was undaunted and was sure that we could get some good photos from the campground. We had fun trying and I am sharing a few of the images near the end of this post.
A delicious (too big) lunch at Crossroads Cafe in the town of Joshua Tree
I checked TripAdvisor in search of “Things to do” in and around Twentynine Palms. #1 was Joshua Tree National Park. Check! #2 was Sky’s the Limit Observatory (currently closed.) #3 was The Glass Outhouse Art Gallery. We weren’t really sure what we were going to see but I have to say this place, strangely, is one of the highlights of our trip so far. We met Laurel, a 70-something (?) woman and the owner of the property. She said she has lived here for over 40 years and opened the gallery about 17 years ago. She supports local artists and has really lovely galleries for them to display their artwork.
Now for the really quirky part… the glass outhouses! Yes, there are actual functioning glass outhouses. They are made with one way glass so that when you are inside, you can see out but no one can see in. I didn’t try them out but Mark was brave. Also, the surrounding acreage is a canvas for the bizarre. There are lots of weird displays and we had a ton of fun walking around and looking at everything.
One of two glass outhouses
Yes, it’s real!
We were surprised by the quality of the galleries and some of the artwork.
Inside one of the galleries
Mark posing with an art piece
Amazing art spaces
Laurel, the owner, was a very kind and generous person. She offered a fridge full of drinks and some snacks to anyone visiting the gallery and grounds. Of course, donations were greatly appreciated.
The following photos are just a sample of what we saw as we walked around the grounds of the Glass Outhouse Art Gallery. Please enjoy! We sure did.
There was a real chapel on the property. Laurel seemed quite proud to tell us that they had already had seven weddings here.
Graveyard next to the chapel
The following are a few of our night sky photos taken at our campground north of Joshua Tree…
Looking toward the town of Joshua Tree
Photo taken with my iPhone using Apple Watch camera remote
We left the Joshua Tree area on Wednesday, January 5 and drove to Quartzsite, Arizona where we would spend one night before heading to Phoenix. Quartzsite is an RV Mecca with over 60 RV parks and an estimated 2 million winter visitors every year. It is very interesting and we rank it among the quirkier places we have visited. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and found that for us, one day was enough to satisfy our curiosity.
There are LOTS of rock shops in Quartzsite
Mark posing with a dinosaur outside a rock shop
Camels are important to the history of Quartzsite. We could have taken a ride on a real camel but chose not to.
This was the first time we heard about the Camel Corps.
Posing by Hi Jolly’s gravesite
Quartzsite is also known for their swap meets
So much good (?) junk!
Thanks for looking in on us. We will spend most of the month of January at a 55+ RV park in Phoenix. We are officially “Snowbirds!”
No comments:
Post a Comment