Not so sure how this is gonna go down...

Lo and behold, we have been in Victorville for two days now...well a night, a full day then today...so we'll call it two full days! Now that me and myself have had our conversation...back on topic

When we drove into Victorville, I have to be honest, my heart wasn't in it. Some parts of me really wanted to be back out on public land but some parts of me were yearning to turn around and go back to the beach. The parts of me that wanted public land were yelling in my ear: You can spread out, get some guitar practice in, do your meditations, Savannah can be outside again, it will be great. There were other parts of me whispering...but hey, I'm the beach! haha To go along with my indecisiveness when we woke up yesterday morning it was 52 degrees outside...good thing we prepared and got our comforter back down! I was not a very happy camper yesterday. In my mind I was thinking, we left the beach for this?? J' was kind enough to get my chair down for me but due to the chill, little bits of rain and massive winds yesterday, my chair would sit outside empty for another day...boooo. I think Savannah was even a little depressed yesterday. Upon waking this morning, things "cooled" off in my mind and I figured I would embrace Victorville in all of its glory! ha Savannah and I went on a nice long walk, I handled some business I needed to tend to, charged my battery (did I tell you I got a new computer battery, hallelujah!), made Nana a place to hang out with me, got out my guitar, and placed my happy butt outside in my chair. I practiced some on Claramae, it's been a while, so practice was short due to my sore little fingers but getting 'her' out again is huge! After messing around on ole Claramae, I revisited my mediation course. It was so hard getting any meditation time at the beach because we were always driving or simply enjoying our day out and about, it definitely was pushed to the back burner, but I was living life so I don't feel so bad!

We found a spot right before sunset the night before last. It seemed to be a pretty good spot with a really cool Joshua Tree right in the middle. We made it our camp and haven't moved...that was the whole point right!? haha

[caption id="attachment_4400" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Camp[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4401" align="alignleft" width="150"] Find Joon[/caption]

We are the only ones here. There are houses a few miles from us but other than that it's just us and the desert

...the wide open desert.

I have been able to sit outside, but there is a time limit!

The mornings are a bit chilly here and the early afternoons, about 3:00 p.m., the wind picks up and can really be a pain having my computer outside. Even just trying to play the guitar, leaving all electronics inside is a mess...I have sand flying in my face and eyes and in my guitar, my hair feels incredibly dirty and I just washed it yesterday. But I am delighted that I get the time I do and I use that time wisely!

Savannah has been hanging out with me. I put her blanket in the shady areas of the branches of the Joshua Tree. Some branches have fallen off of it but it makes for a nice place for us to hang out.

[caption id="attachment_4407" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Outside again[/caption]

It sure is nice to be outside again. How I love the fresh air, the sunshine dancing on my skin and feeling a little more at peace with not having to move every 5 minutes.

Oh, but the wind....the ever-blowing, massive wind, it's enough to drive ya mad!

I guess we'll have to play it day by day here.

PEACE

So...we drove

First things first this morning...we had to take Joon to get one of her tires patched...man, what's up with our tires!? Ends up we had sprung a leak in one of the rear tires. *Thanks to Mr. Bicycle Man who rode by and yelled, "flat tire" to us yesterday. I'm sure J' would have seen it sooner rather than later but it's always nice to have people looking out for ya, even if you are strangers. To a Wal-mart we went, we had shopping to do anyway and it's nice to know that Savannah is in a cool, shady spot and she's not alone.

[caption id="attachment_4377" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Fixing, yet another tire[/caption]

Our plans were to disperse camp in the San Bernardino National Forest. We had done tons of research and for what we wanted...free camping still close enough to the beach...it seemed like a no-brainer. That was, until we got there! The National Forest is beautiful and there is some vast open land intertwined between the mountains, and there are roads...where the roads lead was another thing. We drove the roads, they were rocky but we've done much rougher roads so it wasn't a big deal and we could tell that these roads are used.

[caption id="attachment_4379" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Pretty drive[/caption]

At the same time, all of the roads (not many) that turned into a place to camp (or what other people would see as just open land), were 'blocked' off with "No Parking" signs and "No Trespassing" signs, even signs with fines on them due to parking in a wash. When we got to one of the numbered dispersed camping signs, that we had written down from our research, we couldn't do anything but laugh...

[caption id="attachment_4380" align="aligncenter" width="350"] No wonder it's free[/caption]

 Ummm, that's the side of a mountain!?! haha Now we were wondering if all of the "dispersed camping" areas were going to be signs, with the camp site number on them, stuck into the side of a mountain. And plan #B would be?? We drove on up the road a few more miles, only to see more of the same. We stopped to take a break, we had been driving and doing for quite some time now. We stopped to take in the scenery and some fresh air...and couldn't help ourselves but to admire our less depressed Joon!

[caption id="attachment_4381" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Admiration[/caption]

Away, we drive...back, the way we came.

Quite beautiful to drive through. No where really to park and camp.

[caption id="attachment_4383" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Cool as a cucumber[/caption]

 Driving along a few miles down the road we see a side gravel street, turn off and almost immediately start climbing the side of this mountain. The road was definitely maintained but at the same time was mostly made for one vehicle to be on at any time...no passing, period.

I was not having as 'great of a time' as I would have liked to, due to the high altitude we were gaining driving up this road. Not a huge fan of the heights! Most of my pics were just sticking my camera out of the window, still looking forward, white-knuckling the arm of my chair and holding my breath. Appealing, huh!

(I actually got a couple of good shots though...to enjoy for the first time later! haha)

[gallery ids="4384,4385,4386,4387,4388,4389"]

As beautiful as it was at the top, there is no place to camp no matter how ya slice it...so we drove back down. We thought Big Bear Lake may prove to have a solution for us, so we drove. Another totally rad scenic drive, lush and green mountains...a very cool change.

[caption id="attachment_4392" align="aligncenter" width="350"] We're not in Kansas anymore![/caption]

We are quite the funny pair now aren't we?

When we drove into Big Bear, J' started laughing, pointing out my window...I turned to look, there are people dressed in Winter clothes, sledding down a snowy hill! There are inches of snow on the sides of the road and down by the lake in the parking lot (now kicking ourselves for not sticking some in the cooler while we drive). We got out to throw some trash away and we have come to the conclusion that it was probably about 40 degrees outside. I don't think we left the coast to camp in snow...so, you guessed...

we drove...

actually we are driving. 

[caption id="attachment_4394" align="aligncenter" width="350"] ♥[/caption]

I think Victorville will be our resting place for the night. In the morning , we'll either choose to stay or choose to mush on.

PEACE