4.06.2010

joshua tree cont'd...

Wildlife.  Yes, that's where we left off this morning.  They had a list in the visitor center of all the wildlife in the park.  We did not expect to, nor did we, see any of it, except the following three.  I saw a giant lizard but I see these all the time at home so it didn't even phase me.  I didn't even take a photo.  The other two critter sightings, did phase me and one made Andrew Henry's trip!

Have you ever seen a nest of hatching caterpillars?  None of us had, they were everywhere in Joshua Tree National Park.  Check this out, there are DOZENS of them in there.  It was kind of disgusting and fascinating at the same time.


As we drove towards the highest peak to watch the sunset, I spotted this and we stopped the car.


Can you see him over there?  This is with the zoom.  That's a BIG bobcat.  He knew we were there.  When we rolled down the window to take this photo, he turned his head our way, then went back to whatever it was he was doing up there.  Can I tell you something?  This was Andrew Henry's favorite part of the entire trip.  This 5 minutes.  Seeing the very large bobcat out in the wild made his weekend.  It's not even the first time he's seen one, we saw a much smaller one while hiking in Sedona once.  It's a mystery to me.  I suppose that's good though.


My favorite part of Joshua Tree was just as the sun was setting.  The light, the colors and the eventual dark stillness that came over this magical landscape.


It was just a tad bit romantic...


Look!  That's me and Andrew Henry up there (photo taken by mom).  Hope you enjoyed our visit to Joshua Tree.

9 comments:

Maria said...

Wow! That was good enough for popcorn! Yes - I have seen the whole caterpillar thing - being from SC and GA - they are everywhere! The bobcat - very impressive! But you know about the thigh -hi one that used to traipse through our backyard every few days in south FL. Gave me pause each time I'd let the dog or the boys out in the backyard. But - we NEVER saw one that big! I will tell you - I'm with AH - though we were cautious about our visitor - we LOVED to see her. Love the happy romantic ending to our visit. I'm always a sucker for a good romantic ending - you know, where the guy gets the girl, and vice versa :-D (who do you/we have to thank for that shot??)

Henley said...

Love the caterpillars. I clicked and enlarged the picture and they are my favorite shade of blue. Teal like. It does look romantic.

jeanette from everton terrace said...

Oh good call Maria. I forgot to credit my mother. Will go do so now. THIGH HIGH in the backyard, scary.

KC said...

I LOVED this trip you took us on. I've wondered about the place ever since U2 had an album named after it. Looks mystical. Is Andrew Henry really tall or are you really short?

Andrew H. said...

KC, it's a little of both. :-)

sunshine said...

Such great photos! Love the sunset, Bobcat and romantic pic, not so much the caterpillar one! Wonder what creatures the caterpillars are going to be? some kind of moth perhaps?

koralee said...

This sounds delightful...I do love the photo of the bobcat..so cool. Not so much the caterpillars but I guess they could be interesting to see them all together.
Just wanted to pop in to thank you so so so much for your concerning comment about my daugher's migraines...I have thought about RX meds as our Dr. mentioned them but said she would have to take them everyday...so it is interesting that you only take yours when needed. Thank you for that ....I will look into this some more.
Your blog is so lovely and I am off to read Part one of the Joshua tree. Thanks again....I so so appreciate your caring words. xoxo

Von said...

Yes , know what you mean about the caterpillars, fascinating but somehow otherworldish.

MJM said...

CATERPILLARS! WHOA! I am in the library and I actually just said wow out loud.