Taking a moment today to remember those who were lost in our country’s conflicts and to honor everyone who has served (past and present). Helping us remember this legacy is also an important function of the National Park Service, from preserving battlefields to maintaining memorial sites. A list of NPS sites of remembrance can be found http://www.nps.gov/findapark/military-remember.htm
I always obsess over finding good places to stay when traveling. I don’t need luxury – what I really want is something that helps capture the character of the place I’m visiting. Tripadvisor has never let me down when it comes to hotels, even if you sometimes need to read between the lines, but it can be harder to sort through other people’s expectations and experiences with different campgrounds. I thought I’d include some periodic posts dedicated to lodging and camping, so here’s an installment on where we stayed on our Feb trip to Joshua Tree.
Because we’d be arriving on the later side after the long drive from the Bay Area, we opted to stay in a hotel in 29 Palms our first night. The 29 Palms Inn was great! We stayed in one of the adobe cottages, which consist of a cottage-style room with a private sun patio and a fireplace. They are situated right on the Oasis of Mara, the birthplace of 29 Palms, and are not more than a half-mile or so from the Park visitor’s center. The restaurant was tasty (light breakfast included) and uses vegetables from their garden. The inn’s grounds were great for watching birds at the oasis and sunrise over the desert.
Our next two nights we camped at one of the
Park’s family campgrounds. I had wanted to book a site at Indian Cove to be a little more central, but when I made reservations in late December, Saturday was already booked. There are some first-come, first-serve campgrounds in the park, but with our long drive, I didn’t want to risk it. We ended up staying at the Black Rock Campground, which if a little further from the main park entrance, did have the advantage of being close to our route out of town the day we left, and they have the most 
amenities of campgrounds in the park (I have to say, I am a fan of access to potable water). Some campsites were pretty large, but with nothing but a few Joshua trees for buffer, it did get a little noisy from some of the nearby campers. Not so noisy you couldn’t hear the coyotes crying in the early evening, though. There are some mid-range hiking trails in the area of the campground, but we didn’t check them out this trip. We did discover that Sam’s Market (and pizza and Indian food…) a few miles down the road in the town of Joshua Tree, had a good beer selection and other supplies, such as firewood.
If you are looking to collect cancellations in your National Parks Passport book, there is truly no better location than Washington, D.C. in the National Mall area. While I didn’t have my Fitbit at the time, we certainly got some good walking in hopping from monument to memorial to museum. Here were some of the stops on our tour of the National Mall and surrounding area:
Constitution Gardens is the area just East of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and North of the reflecting pool. There is a small lake to walk around, and in a plaza on the lake, you will find the memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, such as John Hancock, of course!
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site encompasses the stretch of Pennsylvania Ave. leading from the White House to the Capitol Building. There are a number of sites of interest along the way, including the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, the FBI building, and the Old Post Office Tower. The Old Post Office Tower’s main attraction was the view from the top, but the tower closed for renovation a few weeks ago. I wonder if they will have updated exhibits when they reopen in 2016?
In a great example of why I like the Passport program, when I picked up the cancellation for West Potomac Park, I had to ask the person behind the kiosk what “West Potomac Park” actually is. In addition to getting my answer (basically, the entire western section of the larger National Mall & Memorial Parks, including the area around the Tidal Basin), I got a great history on the building of our nation’s capital and the National Mall from how it was first envisioned by Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1791 through the addition of West Potomac Park and the Tidal Basin later. It’s amazing what you can learn from people when you have a simple conversation starter!
This is a picture from when I was there in Aug. ’11 not too long before the earthquake that damaged it. We didn’t go up at the time, so I’m glad it’s back in action!
If you are looking for train-themed accommodation near Olympic National Park in WA (because who isn’t?), I highly recommend the Red Caboose Getaway B&B in Sequim, WA. All of the “rooms” are converted cabooses, each with its own theme. We stayed in the Casey Jones caboose, dedicated to railroad memorabilia. The multi-course breakfast was delicious and served in the “Silver Eagle” dining car, where you can watch birds and ducks in the pond outside (and apparently the occasional bald eagle making off with one of the ducks).
Sequim (pronounced “squim”) is a 20-30 min drive from the Olympic National Park visitor’s center in Port Angeles and can serve as a base for visiting the Hurricane Ridge area and northeastern part of the park. Sequim itself is a small town that is apparently the “Lavender Capital of America” (many lavender and other farms are open to visitors) and home to the 
Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.
W
hile I’m always scheming my next national park getaway, the truth is I still have NPS sites to visit here in my own backyard in the Bay Area. Earlier this spring, I took advantage of a nice sunny day to check out the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. This part of town caters to the tourist crowd, but crowds and T-shirt shops aside, I do enjoy the occasional cable car ride or visit to Ghirardelli Square for an over-the-top ice cream sundae 🙂
The main
visitor center for the historic park is in a brick cannery building on the corner of Hyde and Jefferson. Inside, they have multimedia exhibits highlighting the importance of maritime trade and travel in the city’s history and some fun facts about the city. For example, I learned that the MUNI tunnel under Market St. actually goes right through the middle of a Gold Rush-era ship, one of many buried under the financial district. The visitor’s center also has information on other Bay Area and CA national park sites if San Francisco is just your first stop. Across the street from the visitor’s center is the historic Hyde Street Pier, where you can tour historic ships and other exhibits.
Before hopping on that cable car, it’s nice to walk along the beachfront around to the municipal pier side of the park. Across from Ghirardelli Square is the Aquatic Park Boathouse and Maritime Museum. This Depression-era building is used for events and as a senior center in addition to being a small museum associated with the park. It’s worth poking your head in to check out the art deco design, the WPA murals, and the model ships (and there is a bonus stamp of a ship for your Passport book in addition to the park stamp).
If you continue past the municipal pier, you can take the Bay Trail around (or go up and over the hill) to Fort Mason. Fort Mason is technically part of Golden Gate National 
Recreation Area, but it also houses the Maritime Park Library (open weekdays). It seems like there’s almost always something going on whenever I’m there, whether it is a farmers market, a food truck meet-up, or a craft [beer/chocolate/distilling] expo, and the buildings also house shops & restaurants (including the famous vegetarian restaurant Greens).
Perhaps because of the sparse nature of the desert and potentially high temperatures, Joshua Tree seemed to be heavy on the shorter interpretive nature trails, with fewer of the longer half-day and day hike options I usually prefer. At least in terms of established trails – you may want to explore backpacking and backcountry hiking options to get further off the main roads. That being said, it was definitely worth checking out some of these nature trails, particularly as first-time visitors. One of my favorites was the Cholla Cactus Garden on the road that heads toward the southern entrance. They really do look like fuzzy teddy bears, but that’s a mistake you don’t want to make. Barker Dam was basically a dirty puddle when we were there, but you can still walk the trail to spot lizards, learn about different desert plants, and, if interested, see the pictographs “enhanced” by old movie crews.
One fun hike was the 49 Palms Oasis trail. The entrance to this trail is actually outside of the main park off of Canyon Rd. leading in from the town of 29 Palms. The trail climbs in and out of the oasis for about a ~3 mile round trip (you get most of the 300-ft elevation in the first half-mile, and I imagine part of the moderately strenuous rating is that there is very little shade on the trail). While the trail is sparse, the oasis is full of ponds and palms (I tried counting, but lost track). Much of the oasis is off limits to protect the ecosystem, but it was fun to spot the palms tucked into the hills on the hike in then get to spend some time in its shade listening to the sounds of frogs (not a noise I associate with the desert).
Another little hike we did was the Pine City Trail, which required driving a few miles down a dirt road to get to the trailhead (no high clearance needed, but it was only one lane with no directionality that we could tell…). The trail was a nice walk ending in a canyon and highlighting some of the other types of trees of the desert (or should I say actual trees since the Joshua technically is not). The trailhead is also the base for exploring one of the mines in the park.
Parks & Lex is in the great city of Pittsburgh this weekend for a conference. This is my second time flying into my husband’s hometown, and I find it fitting that you are greeted at the airport baggage claim by statues of Franco Harris (Pittsburgh Steeler and recipient of the Immaculate Reception), George Washington (our nation’s first President), and T-Rex (our nation’s biggest, baddest ex-resident). This pretty much sums up this city to me – they are quite proud of their history, their sports teams, and their science & technology. While not in the national park system, I highly recommend checking out the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and the Phipps Conservatory in the Oakland area (NPS tie-in, many of the dino bones and reconstructions in the museum came from the sites now associated with Dinosaur National Monument in CO). The Warhol Museum is also worth a visit, even if you do end up enjoying the rotating guest exhibit more than the experimental 60s video art… (we saw a great exhibit on comic book artist Alex Ross).
The reason I bring up the airport is that previous trips to Pittsburgh when we were living i
n North Carolina always meant long drives up Route 19 through West Virginia and always meant a stop at the New River Gorge. The New River Gorge National River spans 53 miles of the New River, and admittedly all I’ve seen of it is its iconic bridge along Rt. 19. The Canyon Rim Visitors’ Center, on the North side of the bridge, has information and exhibits on both the bridge and the river area. A boardwalk and stairs lead to views of the gorge and bridge and are a good way to stretch your legs.
Fayetteville, WV on the South side of the bridge, is purportedly the “Coolest Little Town”, and who am I to argue? The town services the recreation associated with the river, such as climbing and rafting, and has a lot of little restaurants that make good lunch spots. I was always a fan of the vegetarian soups (not to mention the coffee) at the Cathedral Cafe when we passed through during the winter holidays. Once a year, in the fall, the bridge closes down for a day of repelling, base-jumping, and other activities known as “Bridge Day”.
Back in Pittsburgh, I hope to someday check out some of the NPS sites in Western PA. Pittsburgh is on the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail and part of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. Further out are Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Friendship Hill and Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Sites, and the Flight 93 and Johnstown Flood National Memorials. For now, off to find me a Primanti Brothers sandwich!