Xmas with the Joshuas
It’s hard getting Kerri out of bed in the mornings. Really. If the temperature is below 50 degrees, and I am foolish enough to give her a cup of coffee while she is still under the blankets, there is no hope for an early start to our day. And that is exactly what happened the morning we woke after spending our first night back on the road – now Xmas-eve. It was almost 11 AM before we got rolling… but I’m not complaining. All we had was driving to do, and we really had no immediate need to get anywhere. One of the greatest things about our nomadic life is that we can move at our own pace. However, on the flip side, is the curse that we *must* keep moving to or we go crazy.
After getting the drive started, it didn’t take a whole lot of time before Kerri pointed us to a road leading out in the middle of the desert. Well off the main highway was an attractive hot spring that just needed to be bathed in. We have had some amazing luck with hot springs in recent years, and this one kept the ball rolling. One other van-dweller had beaten us to the pool so we took the time to walk the dogs around so that individual could have the pool to herself for a bit. We only went in after she called it quits with a loud, “it’s too hot!”
Although we originally considered camping nearby to take advantage of the hot spring to the fullest, we chose instead to only bathe for a short time and get back on the road. And yes, it was too hot. A few more hours of driving and we were arriving, after dark, at a boondocking spot south of Death Valley. We quickly settled under the blankets and got to more studying of the sailing literature. And once again, the following morning I patiently waited for Kerri and our post-10 AM departure.
It was only another hour drive to get to the Mojave National Preserve where we took the early afternoon hours to explore some of the preserve. Kerri loves leading me down random dirt roads, and for good reason. It is down those random roads, the scarier looking the better, that we stumble onto boondocking gems. This day was no different, ending early with a spectacular spot – covered in Joshua Trees and overlooking the Mojave. It didn’t take long for the cocktail glasses to be filled and we basked in our first warm sun in months… until the sun began to set. With it being Xmas-eve and all, Kerri set out some lights on a nearby tree (she found out later that this is a no-no) which was the extent of our Xmas celebrations. Then on Xmas morning I patiently waited for Kerri…
