The Bizarro World of Joshua Tree National Park
by chris cunningham
Hit the desert for a few days and I can honestly say it’s rather strange being off of the grid. As in no computer and no phone at all. No access if I even wanted it. Strangest is no cell phone. No signal whatsoever. You kind of look down at your phone, “…that can’t be?” There’s nobody here.
The tree above was huge, for a joshua, and had a really full canopy. Which is unusual as they usually just have a few arms coming off and occasionally topple because they get out of balance. Hiked around a lot and shot a photo of this Scottish gentleman who said “Can you shoot a photo of me, they’ll never believe this back home!” He was all jazzed about the dam. A small reservoir built in the 1900’s. Not sure why he was all excited but he’s got the picture now. Hung out a bit at Cap Rock and remembered the truly bizarre happening of Gram Parker’s body being stolen from LAX airport, driven out here and set alight at the base of the rocks. Classic weirdness. Full story here [LINK].
Stayed at a little motel in 29 Palms and as I was leaving, I checked under the bed to make sure I didn’t kick anything under it, what did I find? A DVD of Pam Anderson’s movie “Barb Wire”. There are some things in life you don’t want even if they’re free.
Okay…Joshua Tree? No phone call? Did you know you’re not allowed to go there without me?
Aye, didn’t know there were rules.
Yeah!? What the hell Chris?!
Jeez Len, when you skipped town the least you could have done is left me the manual to this girl posse of yours. They’re an unruly lot.