California

 
The long awaited part of our trip. The beach, the sun, the warmth.. Well, we’d had warmth and sun a whole lot since leaving Columbus, but, I had had a taste of the beach in Biloxi and it renewed my love for the ocean.

The first stop was San Diego, where Jake’s uncle’s live, Jamie and Gerardo, and where the van was to have yet another engine installed. Yes, something had gone wrong and the mechanic had been nice enough to honour his warranty and rebuilt us an engine mailing it to a shop in San Diego. Fortunately, not on our dime, the new engine was installed and has so far been running great!

While in San Diego, Whipper went to doggy daycare and Jake and Kim hung out with Jamie and Gerardo. Arriving on the night of the Oscars (or the gay superbowl as Jamie called it) we had a fun night of eating and drinking well, while watching famous people on t.v.. The next morning we had breakfast and headed for the beach, while Jamie generously chauffered us around. We cooked them dinner and then went for a delicious desert. Picking up the van the next day, we started our trek out of San Diego and headed up the coast, as I had not had enough beach time.

We made it the first day to Oceanside where we found a marina that happened to have overnight free parking, so we slept there, steps from the ocean. After breakfast near the beach (in our van, whipper was not allowed on the beach), we continued our way up the coast and found a dog friendly beach where we hung out for the afternoon. That night we arrived in Newport beach and as we were driving along, we found a lot of side streets ending right on the beach. So, we parked overnight, in front of a house under renovations and across the street, a house with a sign in the window saying “Hippies use side door”. We figured we were safe. We watched the sunset, had dinner and sat on the beach in the morning with Whipper. It was delicious. We then hit the road for Joshua Tree.

J-tree was beautiful, rocks, trees and desert. The pictures speak for themselves. Limited with Whipper not being allowed more than 100 feet from the road, we decided to camp in the Hidden Valley campground (which is no longer free) and enjoyed walking to the crag where were able to do a couple of climbs and boulder a bit. It was great not having to move the van for 2 days, sleep in the desert and make some friends, but frustrating not to really be able to climb, so we left, promising ourselves we would come back again one day, without the dog and a bit more money.

Mojave desert was next. There were so few people there, dogs were allowed everywhere and there was free camping, it was great. The first night we camped just outside the main “town” unsure where to go and spent the morning learning some history and hiking up a 700 ft sand dune. Hard when your feet slide and sink all the time. Whipper took some time getting used to it, but was a great morning for all as Whipper was finally able to run free. That afternoon, we went to camping spot near some big boulders, as recommended and had the place to ourselves, managing to use our solar shower and play around on some rocks.

The next morning we did some hiking in the densest Joshua Tree forest that exists, and finished the day sleeping next to old volcanoes. I’m telling you, this place has it all.