Joshua Tree, California, November 16th

When I left for Joshua Tree this morning, I decided I was gonna take my sweet time leaving my fav desert town and #1 SoCal hangout, Indio-CA. Another reason not to skedaddle early? Joshua Tree is but a short 30 minutes/miles away! So I said a leisurely goodbye and many thanks to Indio, to the Starbucks staff who graciously tolerated my perpetual presence, to Spotlight 29 for it's kind, altruistic boondocking policy (last night, I was even able to log-on to the Casino's wi-fi - no charge!). Thanks for the memory Indio California (yes, the lyric is the singular word, memory - not memories. I looked it up!) And just like that I was on the road again. As I rapidly approached JT, driving thru Yucca Valley, a mere 6 miles from my destination, it occured to me that I had not yet figured out where I was going to stay overnight. No Walmart parking, no Spotlight 29. No luck? Hmmm...

My GPS and interweb searches had given me the vague impression that there was NO Starbucks in JT, so when I spotted a Starbucks right there in puny Yucca V, I took a hard left and pulled in. But it was a Micro-Starbucks with single space parking, no good for someone pulling a trailer. So I parked in the establishment next to it - a McDonalds! It was a SURPRISINGLY good move. The coffee there is only a dollar with FREE refills, plus, PLUS, solid wi-fi! I got on airbnb and booked a place for tonight in a jiffy at an intriguing place called Divinity Rising. I entered the address into my Garmin and departed the Mickey D's. The formal, refinely spoken GPS lady, who I belive goes by Samantha, guided me with robotic precision, instructing me to "Continue on I 10 East", then take a left here, a right there, etc. As always, I obeyed. But the address to Divinity Rising soon took me off the beaten path - I was no longer heading quite towards JT. In fact, I was completely off the beaten path. The paved roads stopped being paved. I was now being directed toward my destination along dirt roads. Forward progress became rough. EXTREMELY rough. The dirt roads were not flat. They were deeply rutted, uneven, and in places, steeply inclined. The ruts in their most extreme were like miniature crevices, like mountain climbers encounter while summiting Everest, but smaller. My Forester is well suited for rough terrain since it's AWD (all wheel drive). At one point, I felt the tranny shift it's torque from one tire to another, which felt reassuring. I was rocking, rolling, pitching from side to side, all the while going sloe. 3 miles an hour slow. And, AND, for crissake ---- I was pulling the ATXBreeze! It took a good long while to cover 1.5 miles of classic off-road conditions, but I at last got to the gate. I felt relief, but some anxiety lingered. I was greeted by Divinity Rising host, Patrick, and his 2 high energy, extremely friendly and sweet, Pit Bulls. He opened the gate and I pulled into his impressive compound.

Warning. Tangent!

Way, WAY out in the country, last stop, last house, where the street ENDS. That's where Divinity Rising STANDS in domed, mystical, righteous right. It welcomes. It sez, it sez... AHHH, there you are motherfucker, I've been waiting for you (but friendly, like an old pal with a salty tongue). Come on in!

And when it gets dark around here - really dark, the puny Joshua Tree city lights over yonder... Look, see (I'm pointing at the puny lights but I KNOW they're kinda hard to see) well, they just sorta twinkle kinda dull like. But the Moon! And twinkle, twinkle little (lots) of stars. Behold. When you're at Divinity Rising proper, you just gotta behold. And Mars, Jesus H Christ, is winking at me tonight! And at everyone else, too, if they bother to look up. MARS. The Red Planet. To my eye, tonight, she's a ruby masterpiece, the cosmos showing off. Mars beckons but I know not what. Bradbury, Heilman, Assimov, Dick and Clarke. Especially Clark. They knew the score. Yeah. Wow. Amen.

I camped at Divinity Rising. Slept quite nicely in the Breeze. Had electricity, which meant heater-heat and bright lights. I even took a shower inside the big house. Patrick offered larger accommodations, gratis, a more spacious out of commision trailer, but I was used to my camper set-up and stayed at home. Next morning, early, I brewed coffee, tanked up, doubled checked the car and trailer, and pulled out of Divinity Rising. I made sure to say goodbye to kind, kind-hearted Patrick, who once hailed from Boston but got away just in time. Navigated along the same, treacherous road toward Joshua Tree, did I, but it wasn't as nerve wracking as before. It was downhill. And leaving somewhere, to me, always seems faster, and less stressful, than going somewhere.

November 17th

Once on a paved roads, I got to Joshua Tree in 25 minutes. Before hitting the Park's visitors center, paying my $30 entry fee and talking to a Ranger for the general low-down, I decided to stop at an open air market right there on the main strip. I was curious about the real estate here. And what it's like to live in JT. I wandered about the vendors and their candles, jarred honey and curious. A lady smiled at me, and I asked her about home prices. 250K. Which is about half price for an okay place back home that's not way the hell out there. I asked her to take a picture of me, which she did. Then I drove to the visitors center, yakked with a portly Ranger named Dustin for a bit, and bought my entry pass to the Park. The entrance from there was a straight, 10 minute shot.

Joshua Tree National State Park is Spectacular. I did the short, car tour, which if I hadn't stopped over and over, takes about an hour to cover from park entrance to park exit (that's the "short tour" exit. There are numerous other exits for longer, and way longer tours). I reckon with all my stops and photo ops, I was in the Park for nearly 4 hours. I was constantly stopping and snapping photos of the amazing rock formations, and strangely beautiful joshua trees (EVERYwhere). The iPhone camera and my 5 dollar Walmart selfie-stick got an unusually hard work-out. I had a great time! There were loads hikers everywhere, some packed heavy, others light, all eagerly entering trailheads, bent to it. And it gnawed at me that I wasn't one of them. But I just wasn't prepared to do a hike. Along the way I saw someone scaling along a vertical rock face, doing some genuine rock climbing. Another time I spotted a rather large umbrella off in the distance, at the foot of a mountain. Underneath the shady canopy in a communal circle were a bunch of folks casually lounging in chairs. Hanging out in what I imagined was relaxed, what's the hurry, we're in the most beautiful place on the earth contentment.

Came out way further than when I entered the park, and headed for home base, to Indio, to re-group and decide what to do next. Along the way I drove thru 29 Palms. I've also been thru Desert Hot Springs, Joshua Tree and of course Indio. I think I've been to/thru nearly every town in the "high desert", which was a goal of mine. I like the feel of this part of California. I like the climate.

Signing off for now - stay tuned :) - Max