Joshua Trees in the Mojave Desert at Castle Mountains National Monument

I don’t necessarily think it’s a secret that I love the desert. My favorite color is orange. I cry when I see a good cactus. I pray for heat, and I count down the days until I’m in the American Southwest again.

One of my favorite places to visit is Las Vegas. And this past trip to Vegas was my 10th time to visit Sin City. Yep, TENTH FREAKIN’ TIME. Who am I? Who is she? Las Vegas is that girl that I love to hate. She’s hot as hell but will take your money in a heartbeat.

When we visit Las Vegas, we don’t stay put in the city the entire trip. We rent a car, which is usually oddly cheap for the weekend (like under $75 for four days!), so we can explore the surrounding desert.

This time we decided to hit up Laughlin, Nevada, which lead us to the unknown gem of Castle Mountains National Monument in the Mojave Desert. It was sheer luck that we came upon this beautiful preservation as we were just hoping to find a great spot to catch the sunrise. The monument is full of Joshua trees. If you don’t know about Joshua trees then let me educate you about these adorable gems.

Joshua trees:

are yucca palms
can live up to 500 years, more or less
only grow in the Mojave Desert
grow about two to three inches a YEAR!

I am so inspired by Joshua trees. The ones in my pictures are older than I am. And in Castle Mountains National Monument, there were Joshua trees as far as the eye could see. There is a dirt road that runs through the preservation so these pictures were taken along the scenic drive. I feel so lucky to have walked among these giants.