Desert to Desert

I once again have been reminded how much I love the desert. We are at a really odd campground in Newberry Springs, CA tonight, which is just east of Barstow- and it may or may not be on the map- there is really NOTHING going on here, not even a gas station at the exit off of I-40. We pulled into camp at about 6:30 after a late start leaving Prescott around 1pm. We realized we needed to have our oil changed, as we've already driven over 3,000 miles on our trip so far!

This weekend was great- we visited with friends in Prescott- Geoff, Lisa and their 10 year old daughter, Aless. It was great to see them, and the last time we saw Aless she was just 6, lots has changed in those 4 years! Parula and Sorrel both adored Aless and they all played very nicely together; Aless had a chance to be a big sister for the weekend. The unfortunate thing is that Parula has been sick for the past 2 days, it seems a lot like what Sorrel had, only she has been lethargic and says her stomach hurts for two days straight now, and Sorrel was over it, or appeared to be, much faster. Poor little girl!

Being back in Prescott reminded me of how much I love it! But, I was also reminded of the things that I just don't want in my life anymore, like how little water there is, and how pedestrian and bicycle UNfriendly the town is.....but it was nice to be in a very familiar landscape and visit some of my favorite places- like Flynn Park, Maya's Mexican food and the Dinner Bell for breakfast! James and me and the kids visited with Carl Tomoff, my mentor when I was in college, and we also visited with his wife, Joanie, and it was so good to see them! He says students are still trying to keep up with him, and has no vision of ending his teaching in sight, which is so great (I think he may be getting close to his 40th year of teaching?). He has been such an inspirational person for me, and still has the same twinkle in his eyes, and magically calls birds to appear to sing goodbye, it was so uplifting and inspiring to share some time with them while we were in Prescott!

Today we drove west on I-40 across the Colorado River past Kingman into California, and entered into the Mojave Desert. I absolutely love this place! At a rest stop that we made to switch James driving to me driving, to stretch our legs and walk the dogs, there were some amazing sights and sounds. I heard Cactus Wrens chortling as soon as I stepped out of the car. There were Joshua Trees, Barrel cactus, cholla, prickly pear and palo verde all in the same place- a small bit of the Sonoran Desert mixed in with the Mojave- it was amazing! The smell of the desert is also another element that I have missed so much, and was reminded of while I walked the dogs along a 4x4 trail next to the gas station. River and Pia both seem to know to beware of cactus, and have been doing a good job of avoiding the spines.

Tomorrow we will head over to Santa Cruz to visit with Faye, my mom's friend from college, she now teaches at UCSC and I have visited with her several times over the years, and the last time I saw her she actually came to visit us in Maine! We are also going to see Ryan Moses, who was both my friend and James's friend, and the reason we met each other! He now lives in SC and works in Carmel, and he will get to meet Parula and Sorrel for the first time. His dog, Harmen, and Pia played together a lot when they were back in Prescott together before we all moved away. We talk to Ryan quite frequently, but haven't seen him in about 4 1/2 years.

Today we discovered a new town that we want to check out in CA, which is Ojai. Does anyone know anything about this place? We read some stuff about it online today, and it sounds really great, but we shall see what we actually think of it! All of CA is much more expensive than Maine, so we shall see if we like it enough to make some other sacrifices in life, and what that will be exactly....