Joshua Tree National Park

My second visit to Joshua Tree was a lot better than my first, thanks to highly advanced digital photography and a pair of traveling companions who were as excited to experience nature as I.

Last time, during the 2003 White Party weekend in Palm Springs, a fellow circuit queen couldn't wait to get back to the hotel for a drink.  Florian, Arko and I got to Keys View, one of the park's highest elevations, in time for sunrise.

Next stop:  Cap Rock.  Joshua trees, which grow only 2-3 centimeters annually, are more plentiful in the northern section of the park.

With the sun low in the sky, the Joshua trees cast snake-like shadows.

Park rangers couldn't tell us definitively how this area got its name, except to say that there may have been some serious climbing accidents here in the 70s.

These rock formations, shown here with both front and back lighting, are higher than they look.

In heavily trafficked areas, park rangers water new growth.  It takes nearly 80 years for a Joshua tree to mature!

Which makes this the equivalent of a 55+ retirement community.

We marveled at the vegetation

. . . and frightened the breakfasting bunnies!

The light was wrong for photographing Skull Rock from its best side.

The Arch is another major hiking destination.

Visitors leave behind their own rock formations.

Don't get too close to the cholla cactus at the park's southern end.

Stars @ the TCC Ranch

The places you find on Airbnb!  We found ours in Yucca Valley, a celebrity get-away from another era.  Note the subject of this topless portrait.

Jimmy Van Heusen, who wrote the music for four Oscar-winning songs, all made famous by his pal Frank Sinatra, built this home high atop a mountain, a half-hour drive from Palm Springs.  It had a well, too.

Roadrunners and coyotes roam the isolated neighborhood.

The current owner told us that Van Heusen added a helicopter pad to allow the Rat Pack and a certain US President easier access.  That explains the size of the enormous and well-supported wooden deck that extends from the stone patio.

The main house has been in ruins for years.  Thus the graffiti at the top of this entry.  Still, it's easy to imagine Jimmy and his guests enjoying cocktails on the deck and sunset views during the Swingin' Sixties.

  

We stayed in the pool house, where Dean Martin honeymooned.  JFK rendezvoused with Marilyn here, too.  For a couple of gay men, that's quite the provenance, much better than "George Washington slept here."  If you believe it.

The place looked its best at sunrise and with a fire in the wood stove.  The fairy lights around the pool can be seen for miles around at night.

Palm Springs Gay Pride

When Florian and I made plans to meet in Palm Springs, I had no idea there would be a Pride parade.

Arko was a tiny pup the last time we saw one another.

Now he's old enough to celebrate Pride with his own vest.

Florian got some face time with The Golden Girls, although Sophia looks as if she's had enough photo ops for a lifetime.

Palm Springs supposedly has the largest LGBTQ population in the country but high temperatures in June delay the local Pride celebration.

Look hard enough and you'll find a few young 'uns among the retirees.

What would Bob & Sonny have to say the festivities?  Cher's hubby served as mayor from 1988 to 1992.

I suspect Dinah Shore attracted a sizable lesbian continent to the area.  The golf and glorious weather helped.

We drove past Dinah's house.  Leonardo DiCaprio paid $5.2 million for it in 2014.

Drag queens are ubiquitous; furry cars not so much.

Check out the cop's bemused expression behind this gal.  She's prettier on fabric than in person.  Her make-up had begun to melt in the desert sun.

Dame Edna chortled.

Meanwhile, Marilyn looks less than thrilled (more about her in the next entry).

The Palm Springs parade added another dimension to camp.  You literally can buy a rainbow tent.  Apparently, that's where bears sleep!