Joshua Tree, California

Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park.

I always refer to this trip as “Joshua Tree”, because the main goal of the trip was to visit Joshua Tree National Park. In reality, we explored a ton of the surrounding area. We stayed in an amazing Airbnb in Indio, visited Palm Springs on multiple occasions, explored the surrounding canyons and mountains, and even went out to Landers and Pioneertown. This trip was a celebration of my 30th birthday, and I was so lucky to have an amazing group with me as well as people celebrating alongside me from home (think unexpected deliveries of flowers and ice cream cupcakes, etc.) My friends also decorated the Airbnb and bought pool floats, which made it so fun.

Sunset from the backyard of our Airbnb in Indio, California.

Indio & where we stayed

Our Airbnb was in Indio, California. Although it had its issues – one section of the house was actually without air conditioning for a day or two, which was not ideal for September in the desert – we absolutely loved it. It was perfect for a group of this size, with enough space that everyone had their own bedroom and most had an adjacent bathroom as well. The kitchen and living area was spacious, and the best feature of all was the backyard and pool. Most days, we would get our exploring done early and then spend the hottest part of the day (midday-afternoon) swimming/floating/relaxing in the pool. It was magical. This was my first experience with a desert climate and heat. It was September, so it was hot, but I loved that the heat was dry and not humid. At night, we usually made use of the hot tub and even ate a meal outside at a long table alongside the Airbnb. For some reason, the theme of the trip was watching live action Disney movies – so we would gather in the main living area at night to watch movies and everyone always fit comfortably. We all loved it as our home base! It was also close to the Coachella grounds and Indian Wells Tennis Center – neither of which we visited, but if I go back I would love to see them.

Because we had such a beautiful and large Airbnb, we definitely focused on eating some meals and having lots of snacks at home. We also all arrived at a staggered pace, so we made WAY too many trips to Ralph’s for groceries, snacks and alcohol haha. By the time we left, we provided the cleaning crew or Airbnb hosts with a nice collection of snacks and drinks that we could not successfully finish off – and I even traveled home with some random snacks in my carry-on (trail mix? Cheez-Its? Lol ridiculous).

We ate my birthday dinner at a restaurant in Indio, Cork & Fork. This food was absolutely amazing and perfect for a large group. It was a wine bar with tapas style small plates, so it was perfect for sharing. Everything was fresh and delicious and it was overall a perfect meal!

One thing about this group of friends/travelers is that we love to experience all of the ‘local’ (or at least unique to this area of the country) fast food while traveling. It’s usually cheap, and we are always down for a new culinary experience ;) Some of the places we visited on this trip included In N Out, Del Taco and Jack in the Box. There were almost certainly more, and I think some Taco Bell was also purchased and compared against tacos from Del Taco and Jack in the Box.  We are just as happy with fine dining as we are with fast food, and it’s worth the inevitable regrets or stomach ache to try it all.

The gondola up Mount San Jacinto.

Palm Springs

Palm Springs had a lot to offer. We went to a night market one night, and walked up and down the main street exploring everything people were selling. The only thing I recall buying this night were tamales from one of the stands (delicious). There is a Starbucks Reserve for all of your fancy Starbucks drinks – and it was PSL season so I know I got at least one. With a large group, it’s often hard to make decisions about food that can accommodate everyone – for lunch one day, we ate at a Blaze Pizza on the main road downtown (N. Palm Canyon Drive) and it was exactly what we all needed, although nothing unique to the area. Lighthouse Dispensary was our location of choice for stocking up on cannabis products – and I still talk about this place! It was so beautiful, they had so much variety, and the customer service was unparalleled. Date shakes are a popular drink in the city – I never got around to trying one but the idea of something cold and refreshing was certainly very appealing.

We went on a canyon hike very close to downtown Palm Springs, Tahquitz Canyon. It was a fairly quick out and back trip with beautiful landscape. We went early, and the canyon walls provided some shade – by the time we finished the hike, it was HOT! There is also a waterfall at the end of the hike – but we were in the offseason, so it was more of a puddle full of frogs  A highlight of our outdoor adventures/hikes was Mount San Jacinto. We loved it so much, we went up the mountain on two different days. You can take a gondola ride up to a massive visitor’s center with food and a small museum, and the top of the mountain features a state park and wilderness that was absolutely stunning. It was cooler at the top of the mountain, there were sweeping landscapes to take in, and many lookouts to enjoy. We walked around a bit each time and could have done much longer hikes if we had the time! Or you can simply hang out in the visitor’s center. This was probably a highlight of the trip for all of us.

The Integratron.

Integratron

One thing on my Joshua Tree bucket list was visiting the Integratron for a sound bath session. Rhett McLaughlin, a host on one of my favorite podcasts, Earbiscuits, discussed his own experience here. This was the first time I had heard about it, but then the universe kept sending me signs about making it happen. When Hunter ended up choosing this as my birthday trip destination, I knew I had to do it.  I absolutely loved the sound bath experience, it was super meditative and transformative and one of those experiences that definitely transcends putting into words. I went alone which ended up being super rewarding because I spent most of the time in silence as well. The building itself is surrounding by gardens with places to lounge in hammocks, play games, use the restroom, shop in the gift shop and more. Hunter and our friend Connor drove me out here for the experience and dropped me off. It is in a very random location, and the nearest attraction was something called “Giant Rock” which they visited and had their own fun tales to tell about that adventure.

Lauren & me at Keys View overlook.

Joshua Tree National Park

We took two trips into Joshua Tree. The first started as early in the day as possible and the goal was to hit some of the popular sites and do micro-hikes, which we certainly achieved. Driving into the park through the mountains was so beautiful but also felt so alien/foreign to all of us. None of us were very used to a desert climate and landscape, so it was amazing to see it all. We visited the Cholla Cactus Garden and walked through. We stopped at Skull Rock and a few other pull-offs to do small hikes through the desert. The rock formations were stunning, the trees and cactus were beautiful, and we also saw some wildlife. We ended the day at Keys View, which offered a stunning overlook of Palm Springs, Mount San Jacinto, etc.

The second trip into Joshua Tree was my other bucket list item for this trip, namely a drive in at night to complete some of the best stargazing in the country. It was so spectacular. There were a decent amount of people on the same adventure of us, but the atmosphere was still very calm and awed. We also had so much fun getting mildly freaked out by laying on the ground in a national park in the pitch black. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will never forget.  

Pioneertown

After our visit to the Integratron, we decided to add Pioneertown to our itinerary (mostly because we were quite hungry). This is a wildly unique place. It is modeled to look like the Old West, with a walkable ‘downtown’ featuring saloons and horse ties. We ended up going to Pappy & Harriet’s for food twice. The first time was when we stumbled on it after the visit the Integratron, and the second time was upon our exit from Joshua Tree Park after exploring for the day. The food was excellent and it was such a unique sprawling layout for a restaurant, with indoor/outdoor dining throughout. The service was not always the most attentive but the ambience and food made up for it. I highly recommend a visit here on your trip to Joshua Tree!

I am so grateful for the chance to explore new places and to do it alongside the people I love, and my first trip to a desert was no exception to this gratitude. It was a once in a lifetime week that we packed with so many amazing activities!