Desert Center, CA
(Jack) Camping in the Colorado
desert, 50 miles west of Blythe, we are in a dry lakebed, surrounded by mountains: Granite, Palen, Eagle. This desert bloomed profusely in 2005; now, the creosote bushes provide the only hint of living green. The desert is littered with the skeletons of plants that bloomed here in that wet year...the bird cage primrose is the most recognizable. We camp about a mile off the highway, along a dirt road that bisects the lakebed and heads another 3 miles through a low pass. the road becomes sandy, and I have chosen not to drive the additional miles and risk getting stuck in the sand. I could deflate the tires to 20 lbs and, with 4-wheel drive, no doubt negotiate the sand. But then I would be in quite a ways, and don't much care for the prospect of having to walk out for help. Besides, it is quiet and beautiful here. No one else around...not even any birds. Just the occasional car on the distant highway.We have spent nearly three days here, not driving around, just parked, camping, hiking barefoot along the sandy road. The november sun is still warm, but not scorching. This desert was too hot just a week ago.

I find a cd of old tangos and put it on, so that we can practice the few steps we know here on the sand dancefloor.

(Nancy) Today we'll go in to Palm Springs to visit World's Greatest Aunt, my Aunt Bell, and Kathy. I've wanted to visit them for so many years I've lost track, but until now was in such a rush I never made it. She's one of those amazing people who seems to inspire everyone she's with, and the time with her will be a treat. So grateful for the time, finally, to see our beloveds and not rush off to catch a flight home in a few hours. After Palm Springs, we we need to get home to figure out next steps... how to balance the financial with the needs we have to see the people we love more, and to get the precious whiffs of wilderness that keep us alive and interested in continuing to be.
This trip has been a sweet, welcome pause from reality, and one we'll for our whole lives be thankful for. It probably goes unsaid, but everyone should take as long a break as they can from the normal routine, to clear your mind and feed your soul. It's been amazing for me, the semi-workaholic, to just stop doing things for a while. To stop the urgency and the noise in my brain. To sit watching trees and clouds, climb a couple of mountains, read some books, laugh with people I love. Good medicine.

a couple of mountains, read some books, laugh with people I love. Good medicine.