I have wanted to go to Joshua Tree for years and years after reading about the death of Gram Parsons. He died in Joshua Tree, but was buried at The Garden of Memories in Metairie, LA. He wanted to be buried in Joshua Tree, but his parents wanted him on the family plot. After the funeral his friends dug him up, put him in the backseat of their car, and drove him to Joshua Tree. They then hiked miles out into the desert and tried to burn his body, but since all they had was gas it didn’t burn all the way, and the park rangers caught them. The skeleton was flown back to Metairie and reinterred. I know it’s a gross and weird story, but between that and the surreal landscape of Joshua Tree, I knew I had to see it. It was really beautiful. I’m glad they don’t do it anymore, but I would have liked to have seen it back when they would light the Joshua Trees on hire to guide people to remote desert trails. Palm Springs was nice too, but not really my thing. The RV park we stayed at was a palm date farm that’s only open in the winter, since they harvest in spring and summer.
