I grew up in east Texas where hot was sticky with humidity. For years my sisters asked when I was moving “home”. My standard response was, “I’ve lived places where you don’t have to be that hot.” Especially after I moved to Alaska. You know the difference between being hot and cold? When hot, there are just so many clothes you can take off; when cold, you can keep adding layers!
We left Big Bend traveling via I-10 past El Paso before getting off the beaten path again. Camped at Poncho Villa State Park in Columbus, NM. Made a trek to kitschy Tombstone, AZ before heading on west to Organ Pipe National Monument.
Know what we saw a LOT of? Freaking border wall. And border patrol officers. And border dirigibles. And border drones. And border checkpoints.
Have been asked by several which “major” national parks we were visiting on this trip. Only one: Joshua Tree. Couple of reasons: we’ve been to a lot of the most popular, we’re still trying to avoid crowds, and we’re trying to see some of the more obscure ones.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the Sonoran Desert is the northern-most natural habitat of the Organ Pipe Cactus...but after driving the 20+ scenic miles in the park we decided that it could’ve just as easily been called Saguaro National Park (but that name’s already taken). We saw thousands of saguaros and maybe two dozen organ pipes? Oh, well. Done.
On to Desert Center, CA. Oops. Flat tire on the truck. Greg was a trooper—wouldn’t let me call AAA—changed it himself. Had new ones ordered for mounting on Saturday. We drove into Joshua Tree playing the odds that we wouldn’t have another flat. In the desert. Drove/explored the entire park and topped it off with a sunset overlooking the Coachella Valley & Little San Bernardino Mountains. It is the “most enjoyable thing we’ve done since leaving NC” Greg said.
On to LA to visit LJ & Tye. Pics here.
2 comments:
Two good things about dry heat - it cools off at night and the stars are usually beautiful. Those wide western interstates are good training grounds for driving your rig - you'll be in practice by the time you hit the LA freeways! Hi to Laura and Tye!
I'm the Unknown. I thought my name would be automatically attached. Linda Pierce
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