THURSDAY,
JUNE 11:
Woke
up early, around 5:30. The sun comes up early here in the Mojave!
An absolutely beautiful morning – clear, cool, lots of birds
chirping and mourning doves cooing all around us. We strolled around
the RV park, just thoroughly enjoying the soft light of the new day
and the cool, dry, perfect air. We were surprised to see how large
it was. As I mentioned earlier, I bet that it's full most weekends
in the winter and spring. We'd love to stay here in early spring and
witness the desert in bloom!
Then
we drove into the National Park again. Were there by 7:30 or so.
Took our time on the main drive, stopping to take pictures as often
as we felt like it.
Only
an occasional other vehicle would drive by; we felt that we had the
place to ourselves. In places, where the namesake Joshua Trees were
so prevalent, it felt like a “forest” of them!
Drove
a few miles to the Hidden Valley area, where there is a lovely
picnic area and a 1-mile loop self-guided trail which winds among
massive boulders. Legend has it that an outfit of cattle rustlers
would take their stolen cattle to this “valley,” hidden amongst
the boulders, for re-branding, and then sell them. The scenery was
stunning, the sky was unbelievably deep blue, and the weather was
perfect, at least starting out. The scenery here reminded us a little
of Garden of the Gods or Zion National Park, because of the
similarities in the enormous rock formations. But each place has
unique features that distinguish it from others . . . in this case,
of course, the iconic Joshua Trees surrounding the rocks, and the
sun-bleached paler color of the rocks themselves, vs. the deeper
sandstone and reddish hues of other Southwestern boulder landscapes.
We continued on the Park's main road, down to a spot called Cholla Cactus Garden. This little 1/4 mile trail loops through one of the few concentrations of Cholla cacti in the National Park. Even though not in bloom, was very picturesque.
When
we finished this little walk, we were feeling pretty hot, and tired,
and hungry. Took the main road into the Twenty-nine Palms entrance
-shorter than driving back to the western entrance, and thinking that
there'd be more variety of eateries there than back in the berg of
Joshua Tree. But we settled for the first place we recognized –
McD's. Our cold drinks never tasted so good!
As
we were getting gas, and ready to drive back to the campground and to
pack up and leave, Bill was very unpleasantly surprised to see that
one of the front tires of the truck was worn to the rim. He
pronounced it dangerous to go any more distance at all, and found a
tire store within a couple of blocks. Almost at the last minute,
he'd thought to bring another tire with us from home – actually, an
RV tire, but it fit the truck as well. So we only needed to pay a
minimum charge for them to mount it. But we had to wait for the guy
to come back from lunch, etc., etc. But here we have it: Our first
vehicle/mechanical adventure of the trip . . . after all, it
wouldn't be a Hammond RV adventure without at least one mishap of
this nature! So let's get it out of the way early on! Bill said
that we'd purchased those front 2 tires before our Alaskan adventure.
So, after probably at least 35,000 miles, many of which were over
rough roads, including the notorious Alcan Highway, he guesses it
was time!
So
it was 3:00 when we finally pulled out of the campground, a couple of
hours later than we'd planned. And very hot. I'm not sure what the
temperature was – probably in the mid 90's. And definitely
uncomfortable. But not unbearably so. What redeems the desert heat
in June, besides the fact that it's a DRY heat, is that the mornings
and evenings are just wonderful. Perfect air. Marvelous birdsong.
Gorgeous blue skies. The mornings, especially, are a fabulous
respite from the debilitating heat of the afternoon. Our morning
today was just delightful . . . more than made up for the fatigue we
felt in the afternoon, even without the truck incident. We're so
glad we made the spontaneous decision to spend 24 hours here. Our
original plans had included a few days at Death Valley. I believe
that this unplanned excursion into Joshua Tree Nat'l Park served as a
perfect alternative for that missed opportunity. Might have even
been better . . . who's to say??
The
150 mile trip to Oceanside was without incident, thank goodness. Hot
without A/C, and very hazy and smoggy. Blue skies long gone, as was
the colorful desert scenery – now just drab dust and scrub as we
drove on inland highways I-10, 60, 215, and finally I-15. The coast
will be a welcome relief! Some mountain grades, though not extreme.
Bill's been very pleased with the truck's performance thus far
(worn tires notwithstanding!) . . . no stress at all on either the
engine nor the brakes during our mountain driving (and therefore
little stress on Bill!). So
the $$ we spent on the truck's upgrades seem to be well worth it.
We'll know more by the end of the trip.
Pulled
into our Oceanside RV park around 6:30, after a minor glitch and
detour in finding the place. But when you're pulling a 36' trailer
through narrow beach town streets, even a “minor” glitch can
cause a major problem! But, thanks be to God and His watchful
angels, not this time. Then the challenge of backing into a crowded
space . . . staff had to help. Reminded us of getting on the ferry
in Alaska, with 3 men needed to get the job done, guiding us in
literally inch by inch.
After
we got set up, we explored the RV park a little, and then walked down
the main drag to find someplace to eat. Settled on Church's Fried
Chicken, which tasted really good to both of us. Needed a jacket on
the walk home. Hard to believe – in the vast Mojave Desert this
morning, by the vast Pacific ocean tonight. Welcome to California!
Tomorrow
we'll go walk down to the beach first thing. Too tired to do it
tonight.
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