We visited McGinn’s PistachioLand Home of the World’s Largest Pistachio. A fun roadside attraction that we saw in passing a couple of years ago, but got around to visiting this time.
PistachioLand:
Nutastic!
exploring
Attractions and other places we visit.
White Sands National Park
We re-visited White Sands National Park in New Mexico. We first visited in 2022, but enjoyed re-visiting this year. As the NPS site says, it’s like no place else on Earth, the world’s largest gypsum dunefield.
The official NPS map; click or tap for full-size (and more info):
Visitor Center with the historic sign from before it became a National Park:
Road between sand dunes:
Picnic area:
Sand dunes:
The Thing?
During our travel to Las Cruces, we stopped at Bowlin’s “The Thing?” Travel Center for lunch (as mentioned in the travel post), and of course we had to explore “The Thing?” museum, another fun roadside attraction. The idea being WHAT IF… aliens have manipulated human history?
Cheesetastic fun.
Saguaro National Park
We re-visited the two units of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. We first visited in early 2022, but that was before Jenn was doing her National Parks passport book, so didn’t have a passport stamp for this park. Plus it’s nice to re-visit parks, especially ones we particularly enjoy like this one.
An interactive map of our route, starting with the west side (and a stop at a Subway to pick up some lunch for a picnic):
West-side entrance sign:
West visitor center:
When we visited last time, they were limiting the bookstore to 10 people at a time due to COVID restrictions (but without masks by then), but this time there were of course no restrictions, though it wasn’t super busy:
Fascinating timeline of growth of a saguaro cactus:
Jenn got her passport stamp:
Exploring a dirt road with saguaros and other cacti:
We stopped at the amusingly-named “Sus Picnic Area” for lunch:
Our picnic site:
Back on the dirt road:
After leaving the park, an undulating road:
Through the scenic Tucson Mountain Park, also with lots of saguaros:
East entrance of the national park:
East visitor center:
A saguaro outside the visitor center:
Along the cactus forest scenic loop in the park:
A nice park. There’s something about cacti and desert landscapes that we really enjoy.
Museum of History in Granite
On the other side of the I-8 freeway from the Encore Pilot Knob RV Resort was the Museum of History in Granite, along with the Center of the World, the Maze of Honor, and the Church on the Hill.
One could consider this a kitschy roadside attraction, and it is that, but it’s also a lasting testament to the passions of one man, wanting to record history in stone that’ll last for centuries. Reading about his history is interesting: born in France in 1929, moved to the US at age 11, became an investment banker, bought a war-surplus plane and learned to fly, then invented the sport of skydiving (or “sport parachuting”), and finally created the “town” of Felicity in 1985, establishing it (via a fairy tale he wrote) as the Center of the World, and created the History of Humanity in Granite. Read that history page for details.
An interactive map:
Sundial, using a sculpture of Michelangelo’s Arm of God from the Sistine Chapel:
The official center of the world:
Selfie in front of the pyramid that encloses the Official Center of the World:
Jenn standing astride the Center of the World:
Looking from the pyramid past the Museum in Granite to the Church on the Hill:
Replica half-scale Liberty Bell:
The Maze of Honor, where people can pay to have granite memorials (it’s mostly empty):
Stairs from the Eiffel Tower:
Certificates for visiting the Center of the World:
Joshua Tree National Park: Wonderland Ranch & Wall Street Mill
On another visit to Joshua Tree National Park, we hiked to Wonderland Ranch and Wall Street Mill.
An interactive map of our route, going in the north entrance for a change, then to Wall Street Mill, and a picnic dinner on Keys Ranch Road, and finally back out the main west entrance:
An interactive map of the hike; zoom in to see more details:
North entrance sign:
Wall Street Mill Trail:
Wonderland Ranch ruins:
Windmill:
“Here is where Worth Bagly bit the dust at the hands of W.F. Keys, May 11 1943″:
Truck ruins:
Wall Street Mill ruins:
After the hike, we had a picnic dinner along Keys Ranch Road:
Sunset:
Joshua Tree National Park: Hall of Horrors
On another visit to Joshua Tree National Park, we hiked around the Hall of Horrors, an imaginatively named and fascinating set of rocks.
An interactive map of our route, heading in the main (northwest) entrance:
Another interactive map of the Hall of Horrors Area; zoom in to see more detail:
We stopped by the main visitor center:
Park road:
Hall of Horrors hike:
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
We visited The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California. It is one of the nicest zoos we’ve been to; not because it has a lot of animals; it doesn’t have as many as others. But because it specializes in desert animals and plants, and harmonizes the gardens so well with the area.
This was our second visit to this zoo, though the first time was somewhat different: we attended some holiday lights in December 2021.
Here’s a map of the zoo; click or tap to see a larger map on their site (please let me know if the link breaks in the future):
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Animals:
A tasty lunch from their grill:
Also fascinating plants:
Miniature railway:
New area under construction:
Shields Date Garden
We visited Shields Date Garden in Indio, California, to have brunch, explore their garden, and browse their store.
Firstly we went to their restaurant, the Café at Shields, for brunch:
I had the Churro Waffle, and Jenn had the Beef Sopes:
There was live music (can’t really see him, but a guy playing a guitar):
After lunch, we explored The Walk, a garden path that winds through the date farm, with biblical statuary:
Ladders formerly used to harvest dates (nowadays they just use cherry pickers):
Then we watched their film about date growing and harvesting in the Romance Theatre (you can watch it on YouTube):
We perused their shop:
We bought a couple of date samplers, plus some Cactus Candy (that we’ve enjoyed elsewhere):
Finally, we got a date shake to share; it was very tasty:
A worthwhile visit in the Palm Springs area.
Joshua Tree National Park: Geology Tour Road
One of our favorite National Parks is Joshua Tree in California.
We visited the park on several evenings, starting with Geology Tour Road.
An interactive map of our route, heading in the south entrance (which doesn’t have an entrance station or lines of cars, but on the other hand has about an hour of not very exciting scenery):
Entrance sign:
Interesting rocks:
Geology Tour Road is a dirt road (in our opinion, some of the best parts of the park are down dirt roads):
We stopped at Paac Kü̱vü̱hü̱’k (pronounced “paach kurv-er-hurk”), put out our chairs, and had a picnic dinner:
Fascinating rocks:
An old dam:
Heading back up the road, some Joshua trees:
Sunset:
More rocks:
Supermoon over Joshua trees:
