SoR Blaze posted:

After having made the pilgrimage to Joshua Tree 3-4 times a year for the past 5 years, my wife and I moved to Yucca Valley to be close to the park. We've lived here for about a year and just now closed on our first house here in YV. I get to catch beautiful sunsets year round, and check out the wildlife all over town (mostly quail, coyotes, cactus wrens, red tailed hawks, great horned owls, kangaroo rats, antelope squirrels, and a metric ton of common ground squirrels). Also Black Rock campground is accessible directly through YV so I can make a quick 5 minute drive to enjoy the fire pits at night.

I'm constantly astounded by the natural beauty here, and I'm so glad we're living here permanently. Of course, the tourists from Los Angeles are really annoying about not wearing their masks and I feel like I see one climbing a Joshua Tree every time I go in the park. I love this place and was once also a tourist (but not an rear end in a top hat who climbs the trees!), but I can definitely see why outsiders are seen as such a nuisance here.