Looking for a fun, easy, affordable excursion to entertain your out-of-town visitors this Holiday season? Jump in the car and head out to Joshua Tree for a night of midwinter stargazing! Less than two hours away, Joshua Tree is one of our favorite places to get away from it all and get in touch with that deep desert stillness that always stirs the soul.

In these winter months, the best way to camp out is in a little desert hacienda—so you can be sure to stay toasty and warm when it comes time for sleeping. Joshua Desert Retreats has become our go-to purveyor of desert retreat houses. With twelve adorable, well-appointed and very affordable rental properties ranging in occupancy from 2 to 14 people, they have every kind of getaway home to fit your needs.

All houses come with fully stocked kitchens, so you never have to leave the property unless you want to. So cooking and sharing meals together becomes a part of the fun. Most houses also include an outdoor fireplace, pool and jacuzzi. There truly is no better way to impress your East Coast friends than being able to sit outside in a hot tub all night in the dead of winter watching the stars shoot above your head.

We recently trekked out to Joshua Tree to take in the Leonid meteor showers. Siren Sarah cooked up a delicious Vegan Stew and we set up a cozy camp outside to watch the celestial light show in the sky. There are plenty of places to rent telescopes from, but we found that bringing binoculars is actually your best bet, so you can just lay back in a lounge chair with a blanket and enjoy.

The best thing about Joshua Tree is that the light pollution is so low, you don’t need to wait for a spectacular cosmic event to go check out the stars—EVERY night is spectacular here. And every night brings plenty of stars that are visible to the naked eye as they shoot across the Milky Way.

So gather up some yummies to stock your fridge, grab your binoculars, blankets and loved ones, and head out to Joshua Tree to bundle up beneath a blanket of stars and give new meaning to “Silent night, holy night…”

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography & Video by Sarah Prikryl

© 2015 Sirens and Scoundrels