July 17

July 17, 2006
I finally hit the road today at 1:30p.m. It is now 9:30 at night. I am in Cottonwoods Spring Campground. It is about half empty. I’m not a pessimist, I like half empty camp grounds. I can hear lots of crickets and a few creaks from other rv’s but it is mostly quiet. There is finally a breeze. I went 178 miles today. I took CoHwy 74, Ortega Hwy to 111 to 10. Cottonwood is in the southern part of Joshua Tree National Park. It is strange to sit outside in my lounge chair with a lap top illuminating the night. I have a lantern on the table tha the moths are congregating around and I am a few feet away, with enough light to see. After the over 100 temps today, this is a delight. There is so much beautiful land in California. I appreciate the desert more now, then when I was young. The colors and vastness are awesome. I had a burrito for lunch in Lake Elsinore, after enjoying the desert and the tip of the Salton Sea. I stopped for coffee in Hemet, pop 68,000, twice as much as Laguna.
My accomplishments today were figuring out the refrigerator. I ran on 12v while on the road and switched to LP now that I have parked. So far I still have yogurt for the morning. I enjoyed the winding roads and desert vistas. Can I say I’ve been to Palm Desert if I drove through today? It seemed like an oasis for rich people. Many resorts, gated communities and art galleries. I was glad to drive through, even passed up the Target.