Our time is running out in the Bay Area. Deep breath. Pull it together, Feder. You don’t cry. There’s just something in your eye. I like to think that on Wednesday (aka the day we leave California for ever) I will be cool and calm. You know, my standard self. But I have a feeling I may be feeling like this:

Granted, I’m super pumped for the next year of travels. But saying goodbye sucks. Especially when I made some beyond-awesome friends that I have to say goodbye to. Well, I have less than 72 hours to figure out/suppress my emotions. So let’s just change the subject and talk about our last stop in the great state of California.

Joshua Tree. Shit, Joshua. You don’t mess around. You’re a one-of-a-kind fella that I would totally bring home to my parents. Except you’re a national park and that would just be weird.

We flew into Palm Springs and rented a car to explore the Joshua Tree area. Our first night we stayed at an adorable Airbnb that had a no-picture-taking rule, but I’m a badass and totally snapped the shit out of the place. Don’t tell on me, ok? The owner, Lisa, built these superadobe domes with her own two hands. Who’s the badass now? 

She has two domes she rents out on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park. This was by far the coolest Airbnb I have stayed in and totally fits in with our whole less-is-more theme for the year.

It has an outdoor kitchen, a massive fire pit and a rad bathroom. The best part? We had the entire place to ourself because Lisa was working on the other dome.

The next day, we headed to Indian Cove campground where we had two nights nestled amongst the big-ass boulders of Joshua Tree. I will say, one of the perks about hitting up campgrounds mid-week is that they are never full. We had nobody on either side of us. So peaceful.

This campground isn’t in Joshua Tree National Park, so we ventured into the park every day with our trusty America the Beautiful Annual Park Pass (which, if you are going to hit up more than 5 NPs a year, it’s totally worth it). And again, being a Wednesday, it felt like we had the entire park to ourselves.

Joshua Tree has such a unique landscape. Filled with those iconic, prickly, and appropriately named, Joshua Trees, plus boulders that are so massive even pictures don’t do them justice. But let’s try:

We were also lucky that the park was covered in gorgeous wildflowers. Thanks, spring.

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Nothing says desert like doing a 7-mile hike, right? Right. We did the Lost Horse Loop Trail and only saw 2 people the entire time. Joshua, why are you so good to us? I don’t care what they say. You are definitely not a prick.

After the hike, we spent the rest of the afternoon drinking PBR, followed up with those classy $6 jumbo-bottle wines you see/ignore at the grocery store. No shame. I love them now.

So the rumors are totally true about those Joshua Tree sunsets (and sunrises…and dark, starry skies). They are ah-maz-ing. No joke.

And then when the lights go out, dance party. Coachella? NOchella. I don’t need to spend so much money to get my glow on. Spoiler alert, no glow sticks were used in the making of this image. It’s my headlamp, covered by my hand…and Craig’s camera skills.

In the morning when we awoke, which came bright and early thanks to the sunrise being at oh, about 5:30 am, we would climb shit. We showed those boulders who’s the boss.

After three glorious and relaxing nights in Joshua Tree, we headed back to Palm Springs for a night at a hotel. Which was nice since the campground didn’t have any showers or running water. Tis the camping life.

Next up? Britt tries not to cry when she leaves the Bay Area. And our first “international” stop: Banff and Jasper in Canada.