We're goin' back to Cali...

Woke up earlier this morning than I have in quite some time. I think the time we get up is about to start changing drastically. First, if we're getting to bed at a decent hour as well as getting some good sleep, it shouldn't be a problem...a chore for some of us (pointing at me!) Second, by 7:45-8:00 a.m., it's cookin' in the van and the last thing I want to feel is sticky & hot in the bed...ewww. It's good, it gets Savannah & I out of the van to walk, giving J' room and time to get dressed so I can open the back doors to make the bed....a much easier process! With everything packed and ready to roll, we said our, see ya later's to Steve, Bryce left camp last night, and from there everybody is off in different directions. Bryce went North. Steve went East and we are driving West....Go Weeessst, life is peaceful there♫ ...Go Weeessst, In the open air...♫ (One of my fave Village People songs!)

To add to it...it's another gorgeous day in our 'neighborhood'! Everything is in bloom, the sun is shining, it's not too hot...yet!

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And one of the best parts...we're leaving Ehrenberg! I know I said this 2 months ago... haha But hopefully this time there will be a bigger space in between visits. It's not that Ehrenberg is a horrible place, it's just that...well, to me, been there done that. There are soooo many more places in this "little" world of ours...it's time to explore new lands, see new sights, smell new things...yada yada yada! So off we go...

 Our main plan was to drive toward Palm Springs and if anything caught our eye in passing, we would stop, have a looksie and go from there.

[caption id="attachment_4267" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Where to next??[/caption]

 The only thing we wanted to do before driving into

California was to fill the gas tank back up to full. Gas prices are high enough in Arizona, so we were sure Cali would be much higher. We filled up for $3.85 a gallon, ugh...at the same place we got gas for $3.19 back in January. Oh well...life on the road! After topping off, we got on I-10 and drove about 80 miles West until we saw a sign for Joshua Tree National Park. We've had a few people tell us if we were around the area to stop there...it's good for camping.

[caption id="attachment_4061" align="alignright" width="150"] Fees[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4060" align="alignleft" width="150"] Entrance[/caption]

We drove all the way into the parks' entrance, where we saw it was $15.00 for a daily pass...mmm, probably not. I popped inside to get some BLM places to camp and was given a "BLM camp map" (really just a sheet of paper, but good enough for us!), plus some maps of the actual park. We got back in the van and drove out of the park, about 7 miles, and followed the map to the Water District Road. There is a ton of land out here...you just have to keep an eye out for "pull-off spots".

[caption id="attachment_4062" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Rough around the edges!?[/caption]

Right now we are probably about 9 miles, maybe more, onto BLM land~pretty parallel to I-10. Even though you can spot the highway, the noise is very distant, it's actually pretty peaceful here.

[caption id="attachment_4063" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Joon by the Bloom![/caption]

It was 105* degrees when we pulled into our spot around 2 p.m., it's now 3:33 (Angels) and it's about 96* degrees out...it's cooling off!! haha 

J' got all cleaned up and showered as I made some sammies and packed the front. We've got a lot of our stuff up top right now, which is sooo nice not to have all of it in the van.

[caption id="attachment_4065" align="alignright" width="150"] Lunch!?[/caption]

Savannah has her 'loft' set-up and even though it's so hot out, we have the doors open with a real nice breeze blowing through, along with a small oscillating fan. It's more than bearable right now...it's pretty nice actually. I think we're just gonna chill here for a couple of days, let J' get some work done, I'm going to catch up on some things and it looks like Savannah is going to try to get ahead of this whole sleep thing, haha...lazy dog!

PEACE