We tried hard to find the camp ground outside San Bernardino, but after eight hours of driving and 45 minutes of searching in vain the Pilot station was our best option for the first night. I wondered why truck drivers don't use small generators, instead running their rigs all night. The rumbling cacophony was not as soothing as say a fan on a hot night, and the early morning dew ran down Tito's windows, but we slept well and had fun looking over the trucker's 12-volt cooking systems in the store. We entered Joshua Tree from the North, neither of us had been before, and lunched at Key's View. Tito gave us a scare, but M's quick use of the mini owner's manual solved our problem. Being Christmas Eve, the thought of being broken down for three days in the middle of Joshua Tree was upsetting but with a little thrill of spontaneity. There was food and water for days. We hiked to the abandoned Lost Horse gold mine, playing on the decaying machinery, and enjoying the expansive view of the Joshua Tree looking across the valley to the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Piles of rock left like so much earthen scat. It was getting late in the day and we were feeling spontaneous and relaxed so we camped at White Tank, and had a few hours to scurry around the magnificent granite boulders that mark the area where the Colorado desert meets the Mojave Desert. While Menyui stretched on a boulder I got some good shots of the fading sun light in little niches between the rocks. Supper was simple and great, washed with an elegant red wine from Jamie. This was what your people call Christmas Eve. Exiting the park the following morning, we caught the full majesty of the transition zone between the two unique ecosystems. Just before the flat expanse of the Pinto Basin is an intriguing concentration of Bigelow (jumping) Chulla cacti, sometimes referred to as teddy bear cactus. Browning as it dies, the thorny cactus often resembles a stuffed animal. Imagine the kids' excitement! Exiting JT via the Cottonwood Mountains, we made a run for the border and entered Mexico through Mexicali at lunch time... [on to Baja] |
