In a great way, Joshua Tree is an odd place. Located on a big plateau in the middle of the Southern California desert, this park is full of strange looking monolithic rock piles and thousands of gnarled Agave trees sticking out of the earth. It is a park for the hiker, the rock climber, the explorer, the tourist, or all of the above. But preferably in the cool season. And now it was the park for me, after what turned out to be a failed Mexican Visa attempt in Yuma. Doing my best to turn disappointment into action, I rented a car the night before and made the three hour drive to the park at daybreak.