PROGRAM REGISTRATION: After you have your room assignment, come over to the Road Scholar table to register with the program staff and pick up your arrival packet which we'll review during our orientation session before dinner.

ORIENTATION: Begins before dinner. We'll have an overview of the program ahead and review the up-to-date schedule, responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, any other administrative issues, and answer your questions. Please be aware that local circumstances may require adjusting program elements. In the event of changes, we will notify you as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding.

Enjoy the remainder of the evening getting to know your fellow participants and discovering what you share beyond a love of lifelong learning.

Second stop will be at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley.

PRESENTATION: An Introduction to the 29 Palms Inn

Introductory talk and walk around the 29 Palms Inn property. The 29 Palms Inn was built in 1928 on a beautiful California fan palm oasis at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California high desert. It is an old fashioned collection of adobe bungalows and framed cottages. Many of them are located around the Faultline pond which serves as home to many species of wildlife.

CLASS: Introduction to Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park encompasses parts of both the Mojave Desert and the Colorado, which is a subdivision of the larger Sonoran Desert. The division between the two is not a fine line, but rather a broad transition zone. The Mojave Desert, lying above 3,000 feet in elevation, occupies a slightly cooler climate filled with strange rock formations and thousands of Joshua trees. The Sonoran Desert is characterized by lower elevations, hotter temperatures, less rainfall, wide-open spaces and fascinating plants such as cholla, ocotillo and smoke trees.

At the Oasis Visitor Center, visit the natural and human history exhibits in the museum and the labeled plants in the desert gardens.

CLASS: Geology: Creation of the Joshua Tree Landscape

Learn about the powerful forces that sculpted Joshua Tree over millions of years, creating one of the most surreal landscapes in North America.

On the field trip, identify geological concepts introduced in the morning class as you travel through the Park and visit prime locations such as Keys View, one of the highest points in the park with panoramic views of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, Split Rock, and Jumbo Rocks. View evidence of weathering on the granite outcrops as you hike Arch Rock trail, a 0.3 mile long loop trail.

Current conditions will determine each day's destinations and hikes. Round-trip transportation is provided.

CLASS: Cultural History of Joshua Tree National Park

For thousands of years, Joshua Tree was home to small bands of desert Indians. In the late 1800s gold miners and outlaws arrived followed by cattlemen and homesteaders. The land was federally protected in 1936, and by the end of the 20th century Joshua Tree was an internationally famous rock climbing destination. Hear the stories of Serrano and Cahuilla Indians, Willie Boy, Bill Keys and Minerva Hoyt.

Join a National Park Service ranger on a guided, walking exploration of Keys Ranch, a National Historic Register Site.

The 90 minute tour includes the colorful story of the 60 years that Bill and Frances Keys spent working together to make a life and raise their five children in this isolated location. The ranch house, school, store and workshop still stand. The orchard has been replanted, and the grounds are full of the cars, trucks, mining equipment and spare parts that are a part of the Keys Ranch story.

Current conditions will determine each day's destinations and hikes. Round-trip transportation is provided.

CLASS: Faces and Forms of Life Within Joshua Tree National Park

Deserts are composed of plants and animals living together in what seems like an oppressive environment. Living and nonliving elements interact in a complex way, forming the desert ecosystem. Learn the secret of how plants and animals survive in the desert.

Discover the remarkable adaptations of plants and animals that flourish in an environment of heat, wind and sand as you visit the Cholla Cactus Garden, a 0.3 mile nature trail. Walk through a garden of multi-colored cacti and an Ocotillo Patch, a model of adaptability to the hardships of desert life. While hiking the Hidden Valley Nature Trail, a 1 mile long loop trail in an area once used as a hideout by cattle rustlers in the 1800s, identify Joshua trees, yuccas, and other plants characteristic of the high desert.

Current conditions will determine each day's destinations and hikes. Round-trip transportation is provided.

FIELD TRIP: After breakfast, the group will depart 29 Palms Inn on a charterd bus for Palm Springs.

We hope you have enjoyed our Joshua Tree National Park program and will join us for other rewarding adventures in the future. Best wishes for all your journeys!