Joshua Tree

This week-end was our troop's annual trip to Joshua Tree. This marked the first time for me in camping at Joshua Tree where we camped at a different campsite. The campsite we normally camped at for the past few years was Indian Cove. It is a short distance from the town of Twenty-nine Palms. The campsite we were at this time was Sheep Pass. I liked the campsite at Sheep Pass much better. The difference though is the group campsite is 20 miles from the town of Joshua Tree. Some of the dads couldn't make their morning run to Starbucks. It was a good time this week-end. The patrols practiced the patrol method in preparation for the camporee. On Saturday, we took a short, strenous hike up nearby Ryan's Mt. Saturday afternoon we had a short thunderstorm with wind, rain, hail, thunder, and lightning. That evening we had the privelege of looking at Orion's Nebula, the Rosette Nebula, Saturn and its rings, the Bee Hive, and the Two Clusters. We also saw Jupiter rising with the full moon. It was a great week-end. The only thing which was missing was my oldest son, Jacob. Jacob had been to the 7 previous Joshua Tree trips out to the Mojave Desert. A couple of dads asked were Jacob was. He was missed.