Learning to enjoy the silence

Monday 4/20/2015

Well, it’s back to the solitary life for me! Once again it’s just Jane and I against the world running down the blacktop to new adventures. Every time I leave some event like this it’s kind of jarring. I have to go from being surrounded by friends to being a one woman show. I suddenly have no one to talk to, just Jane. So sometimes I do act like a crazy person and talk to my car just because I need to hear a voice. That was definitely the case today.

To be honest though, I needed a break and some time for peace and quiet. I had been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle, as the saying goes, for 5 days by Monday. I had lost my voice from talking too much and I was that kind of tired that goes right down into your bones. So I took a leisurely drive out to Joshua Tree National Park.

Pretty giant wind farm on the way out of town.

I got there sometime in the afternoon and cruised around for a bit looking at the cool landscape. Joshua Tree is unique in that it is basically the intersection of two deserts – the Mojave and the Colorado deserts. So as you travel through the park you see a very distinct transition between the two with completely different landscapes, flora, and fauna. Super cool! I stayed in the northern end of the park for the day.

Jane and some Joshua trees

And a different view... couldn't resist taking pictures because she's so clean (for now)!

This thing looks silly.

Of course, the first place I pulled off to wander around, I hadn’t been away from Jane for more than a minute before she was besieged by Germans. This happens almost everywhere I go. Germans just have a thing for my car and I am happy to let them take pictures to their heart’s content – they’re always very respectful and admiring and I’ll admit that I appreciate the ego stroking.

Adding more people to Jane's fan club.

I went on some brief hikes, including Joshua Tree's most popular short hike - Hidden Valley. Absolutely beautiful though I am not the biggest fan of igneous rocks (which is a silly geologist thing to say).

Check out the size of these enormous cactus flowers! Holy cow!

It's like a pineapple, except disappointing because there's no pineapple attached.

A bird's nest in a cool cactus tree.

Jane found a friend! This is the first time I have ever seen a classic Mustang on my adventures outside of a city.

Yep, those are some nice rocks.

You can tell what direction LA is in because of the haze.

Jane and a tall Joshua tree.

Jane and a large rock and some Joshua trees.

Yep, still Jane.

After touring around for a little bit I decided to retire to my normal road trip habitat – the nearby campground. This little spot was just the place to really recuperate from my crazy weekend. It was located in an oasis and I had the whole campground to myself. Literally a two-acre patch of desert was mine to roam around in. But I prefer to keep all of my stuff close (mostly out of laziness), so I put it all in one spot and left the rest of the grounds to the tumbleweeds. Right next to the camping spots was a really nice pond full of ducks and fish. Of course I forgot to take pictures because ducks are one of my favorite animals (weird I know) and mostly I just wanted to sit there and feed them. So that’s exactly what I did.

Comfortable solitude.

As night fell I sat up against Jane and watched the stars twinkle into sight. A few shooting stars sailed past and a nice cool breeze gently stirred the palms fringing the oasis. It was without a doubt one of the most peaceful places that I’ve been in a long, long time. So I just hung out for a few hours and watched the stars rotate in the sky while I thought about my insane, incredible life. I say it all the time but I am so incredibly lucky to have what I have. Sure, I’ve worked for it, but a lot of it is just dumb luck. Not many people in this world can say that they have what I have: an incredible vintage car that always gets me where I need to go, a job that lets me roam on road trips freely, amazing friends and family, the freedom to do what I want when I want. And I will value that for my entire life.

Kelly signing out.