Warmer

 2/21- BLM campground, south entrance Joshua Tree NP

   This morning started out cold as the snowman I made yesterday still lived. We got our act together a bit earlier than usual on this bright sunny day. All the windmills that were next door were cranking out the electrons. We dove down from 4000 feet to around 1000 feet or so and the snow slowly disappeared. 

   We were now in the desert. The road just went flat and straight for miles. We passed by acres of solar panels and they were even adding on to the pile. 

   Once we got far enough east we turned south and began to climb again. We passed over 4000 feet again and then slowly wound our way down to the town of Twenty Nine Palms. I certainly didn’t count them but I’m sure there were more than that. Again for the second year in a row we struggled to find the entrance road finally having to ask someone. 

   We drove into Joshua Tree not so much to see anything as we had been here just last year, but because the drive was much more pleasant. We discovered that it was Saturday and at the end of President’s week by the number of people swarming all over the park. Every parking place was filled to overflowing. We finally found a spot on the road at the Heart Rock trail. It was a nice walk and nice temperature but the place was stuffed full of people. You had to wait in line to get your picture taken in front of Heart rock. 

    It’s a 35 mile drive through the park at 35 mph so it took some time and once you got deeper into the park the crowds thinned out. We drove all the way out the south end and parked for the night at the BLM site. We just drove down this dirt road until we came to a spot we liked and set the brakes and we were camped. It’s a nice site out in the desert which by the way is blooming with all kinds and colors of flowers. You can see the constant stream of headlights down on Rt 10 a couple of miles away. It was a nice sunset and much warmer than last night.