A Day in Joshua Tree and the Perseid Meteor Shower

It’s mid-August and the heat of summer. My love has spent the first half of the year in hardcore study mode and just passed the first half of his exams. A quick weekend getaway trip and celebration was in order.

Joshua Tree, you were hot.

Another national park and first time in the desert checked off with my love. Shooting in the outdoors is so fun and these photos made me so happy.

Day 1: Arrival to the Desert

🥪 Gabino’s Creperie
☕️ Kreem
🌵 Check-in at 2pm

We left before noon to drive out to Desert Palms on Saturday for our 2pm check-in. After a two-or-so hour drive, we stopped by Gabino’s Creperie for their famed crepe sandwiches and picked up an affogato next door at Kreem (if you did not know, espresso and gelato are my two favorite guilty pleasures in the world, and there couldn’t be a more perfect match).

🛣️ Joshua Tree National Park
🌵 Cholla Cactus Garden
🪨 Arches Rock/Heart Rock
💀 Skull Rock
🍻 Joshua Tree Saloon
☄️ Perseid Meteor Shower

After unloading our belongings, we drove the hour-or-so into the park and caught a few sights: Cholla Cactus Garden, Arches Rock Trail, Skull Rock and missed the Hall of Horrors. We left the park by dusk to grab a bite at the Joshua Tree Saloon and take a gander around the cute country desert neighborhood, which was packed for the meteor shower night. We listened to a sweet little country band sing lullabies about the night sky to us as we headed back into the park around midnight to see the Perseid Meteor Shower, with shooting stars blazing by every minute. It was a sweet sight to see after an exhausting drive (thank you to the Filipino family who walked by in the dark next to us and shouted in pure delight, “Ayun, shooting star!” amongst the quiet of the night which gave us one of our best laughs).

Day 2: Enjoying the Desert Sun

🍹 Pink Cabana
🌊 Miramonte Pool & Spa

Sunday was check-out day and we had a cute brunch at the Sands Hotel’s Pink Cabana Restaurant, where the friendly bartender made us the tastiest mezcal mango and watermelon margaritas. We got a day pass to swim at the chill Miramonte Hotel pool, enjoying the sun, poolside drinks and an eclectic mix of 80s and 90s R&B pop and classic rock by the house DJ that my love and I enjoyed.