Ed's Travelogue: Joshua Tree National Monument, California July 1979 - Pt 1

Been a while since I've done a Travelogue post. Let's see, where did we leave off? Hmm, oh yeah 1979! :-)   After going home to Milwaukee on leave in June of '79 and seeing the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum in St. Francis, it was back to work. Our squadron held an Open House whose preparations kept us busy for a bit and on 2 June there was the excitement of the F-4 Phantom Crash which I had already blogged back on  28 June, 2020. On the weekends I tried to get out and see what I could in the area. One of those jaunts was to Joshua Tree National Monument, California, near Palm Springs. I grew up watching lots of Westerns on TV and this place was so cool because it was like going back in time to those Westerns. The scenery was the same kind I remembered form those old shows and in real life, this area once harbored cattle rustler's and bandits. Ahh yes, I can still hear The Lone Ranger's "Hi-Yo Silver. Awaaaay!" 

Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Here's a second set of pamphlet scans. After soooo many years I don't know if this was a part of the pamphlet you see above, or a totally separate one. The above scans were the result of me cutting up the original and placing the pieces into an old school photo album and I quite possibly tossed portions of the pamphlet that didn't interest me. In any case, the two will present a more complete picture of the Park.

Joshua Tree

These are quite common in the High Desert. We don't have too many here in the Las Vegas Valley, but a short trip out of town will find many