Christmas from Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson, Az.
(I posted this on my social media a couple days ago but want it saved here to be remembered amidst the memories I’m saving regarding our travels)
A Christmas reflection. May it be a blessing to anyone experiencing the season very differently this year.
May you realize the real meaning of the season; Anticipation, joy, gratitude, being in present moment. Perhaps you’ve slowed down enough this year to observe the play of darkness and light and come to accept that we need a healthy dose of both at differing amounts in different seasons.
May you realize that you have all that you need and even, likely, most of what you want. That this year you got new shoes and that was enough because it means you can keep walking and exploring new trails. May you have gratitude for the simple things, a warm vintage sweater, a cozy little corner, thriving plants, desert sunshine.
May you accept the grief this year afforded you to fully feel. The grief of missed family gatherings, hugs from friends, meals together, shared smiles and laughs.
May you have a new appreciation for such simple yet meaningful relationships the next time it is safe to be together in person.
May you continue chasing wild dreams and allowing them to play out without your controlling direction or obsession, realizing that something Higher has conspired in your favor this whole time for you to experience it all in its perfect unfolding.
May you continue to rest in the assurance that you don’t have to perform or share it all as you go. That it’s always about being in the moment and to continue letting go of the compulsive desire to make it look easy or perfect.
May you continue to give yourself and others such abundant grace that it acts as a balm for all that ails us. May you see fully that it is about all of us, we are all connected, that the least of these and the other are all one of us. That apathy and indifference and ego must be universally healed and that it’s up to all of us to do this healing work together.
May you experience curiosity and joy in starting new traditions, especially if you’re celebrating this season somewhere unexpected or alone.
May you find wonder in the mundane, rest and renewal in the dark hibernation time, and growth and perspective in the extended solitude. Keep doing what you’re doing and remember to be kind to everyone you encounter on this journey. May we all know what true suffering is and appreciate one another all the more for experiencing it collectively yet in our own unique ways.
In-between our hiking days we spent one full day exploring around the Salton Sea. My artsy Denver friend Emily also cued me in that Salvation Mountain and East Jesus were in the area and a definite must see. This was Natalie’s favorite day, maybe of the whole trip so far!
Salton Sea derives its fame as the biggest environmental disaster in California history, its remnants have been transformed into an artist’s community – we stopped at Bombay Beach and walked around taking it all in. There is nothing to do on or in the water, it’s too salty for life to thrive there. Yet some super creative folks are transforming areas around here into giant art installations. We’ll let the photos do the talking here:
That’s right, I’m fancyLoved that we could interact with the piecesIn a backyard, as you do…Definitely a vibeFound his seat at the drive-in!
Just a 20 minute drive from Bombay Beach was Salvation Mountain. Leonard Knight really loved God and spent the last 30 years of his life living on the margins in the desert and painting his monument for all to see.
All of it was very imaginative and interesting. We all wandered off in our own directions letting the art lead the way. I was particularly moved by the Black Lives Matter display and the TV installation. Such a strong visual reaction to such powerful current events. Slab City (what this area is known as), left a deep impression on us. And speaks to the boundless imaginations of people society has deemed as broken and rubbish, they are far from that and we could all learn something from allowing ourselves to step into their world once in awhile.
There’s always been an intriguing draw for me to get to Joshua Tree NP. From pictures and descriptions, I just knew it’d be an interesting place unlike anything we’d ever seen before. We chose to camp on the southern boundary of the park since they are at peak season and getting a spot in the park was not going to happen.
Chiriaco Summit is a small family-run oasis community. Even though there is only a gas station and small cafe at this exit, you could sense the hospitality exuding from the people working there. We set up at the free Dry Camp right behind the General Patton Memorial Museum, the full timer there welcomed us and got us “registered” since we were planning on staying more than one night. (This was more of a place for people passing through but welcomed weary travelers for up to seven days as well.)
Dry Camp entry, a great spot for the week
Our first foray into Joshua Tree was a stop at the Cholla Cactus Garden right about sunset on the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday week (it was quite busy). There were a lot of “influencer” type photo shoots happening and it felt as though we had truly arrived in California 🤣🌵💃🏽
The garden itself was fascinating. Just miles upon miles of this one species of cactus. It whet our appetite for what was to come with the other desert foliage.
Cholla (pronounced choya) cactusCholla garden at sunset
The next venture in, we planned on a whole day. From our southern location you had to cross the Colorado desert into the Mojave and drive about 40miles into the park to start to see the Joshua Trees. That’s been an interesting take out here in the dirt, I thought a desert was a desert, but you could actually see the terrain transform crossing these two distinct planes.
The most popular and highest elevation hike, Ryan Mountain, was suggested to us by a ranger so we started our adventuring there. It was a steep climb up, about a 1000ft elevation gain in 1 1/2 miles. We are out of condition for high elevation hikes like this! But we persisted and made it to the top for the 360° views. After that we made our way to a picnic area and a lot of roadside pullouts featuring rock formations and Joshua trees. We didn’t make it to the northern most part of the park because we thought we’d approach it from another entry point later in the week but that plan fell through. We still saw a lot though and were super happy to check it off our must see parks list.
The summit of Ryan MountainPicnic with the big rock formations
The third full day spent in the park was on the southern end and a longer hike called Lost Palms Oasis. We hiked to just what the trail was called, some lost palms settled into a wash that someone must have planted for relief from the desert heat who knows how long ago. Camden was in high gear on this hike, a surprising development for the day, he had been expecting some scrambling and rock climbing the whole time so he was in a hurry on this hike. It was the fastest pace we’d ever done 7 miles in, just under 3 hours! From the end of this trail, the boys decided to bushwhack down an old canyon and waterfall that fed basically right back to our camp, that satisfied his want for an challenge. Us girls went from where we came to retrieve the car. We got home early and rested for the remainder of the day, after ice cream of course.
Palm trees hanging out with Cottonwoods in their fall gloryThe grove of palm trees at the end of our long hikeOcotillo blooms, my favorite desert plant so far
Back at it with the paddleboardSolo time on the water
Our next stop was just about 90 minutes down the road and still a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, though quite different in feel. Zach found us a free campsite (with toilets even!) called Telephone Cove that was right on the water. We pulled in Sunday mid morning where there were maybe a dozen or so other rigs amply spaced out. This seemed like a beach reward to us having spent the previous week near the water but rarely ever close enough to touch it. The paddleboard was promptly filled and launched and we all generally slowed way down to just take in our surroundings.
This was the first opportunity to socialize (safely of course, we’re all outside and socially distanced) with some other people as we met a family of four from Grand Junction, Colorado who have been traveling and living out of their Skooly (renovated school bus) for the past four (!) years. Their 14yo son took an instant liking to Camden so the boys got to playing and chatting right away.
A whole gaggle of kids to play with for the week
We sat around a campfire with this family for a couple of the nights and had great conversations about life on the road, similar places we’d been, new suggestions and the like, when the question came up, “So, are you guys full-timers?” We’d never pondered this deeply before but it brought up all kinds of existential feelings. Are we full timers? Well, if we stopped this we don’t have an established home to return to, we don’t have any work pulling us anywhere, we homeschool, so I guess if those are our qualifiers then yes, we are full timers. I’d been having separate but similar thoughts these past few weeks when looking around at some of our fellow campers, especially this week at the free spot. Some of these people are homeless, living out of their vehicles / Some of those people are US! That’s us, we live on the road, granted we chose this, but it puts this lifestyle into perspective and gives a huge dose of humility and compassion for anyone experiencing homelessness, regardless of how they arrived there. Also, we are a scrappy, resourceful bunch. This place felt the most like a community with friendliness and conversation beyond the normal head nod or wave. We rather enjoyed this camaraderie and didn’t really want it to end. When our skooly friends departed two days ahead of us camp felt a lot different, like a piece of something special had moved on.
In addition to the great home vibes here we did manage to venture out for a couple of hikes. The surroundings are definitely transforming more into desert and less mountainous. A hike right by our camp was up an old wash with a lot of scrub oak and cacti, gravel terrain and millions of rocks of all sizes. Our second hike in Grapevine Canyon was filled with petroglyphs, and, surprising to all of us, actual vegetation – grapevines, trees, green shrubs and grasses, all credited to the active water flowing through this canyon.
Petroglyphs at Grapevine CanyonFall colors in the desert
We knew it was getting close to time to move along when for two days we were caught in another storm system that brought incredibly strong and unrelenting winds. I don’t recall ever feeling so anxious overnight about weather, it was like the wind and endless rattling camper noises were blowing right through my body. I thought we were going to lose everything that was still outside or sustain major damage. What really happened is one of our outdoor rugs flew down the beach but we were able to retrieve it in the morning. We moved up the cove for our last night here to be closer to a natural windbreak. This sweet spot will be remembered for glimpses into community and another unconventional Thanksgiving for the Mashek’s.
A perfect spot right on the beach (until the wind forced us to move)Didn’t stink waking up to this view
Our long walk to the Hoover Dam Catch you later, Colorado River
Our journey further into the desert has commenced with trading pine trees for palm trees, and red Utah sandstone for barren mountain landscapes. All in an effort to stay warm and dry for the colder seasons ahead. In a way, it feels like we’re chasing fall, but that’s quickly diminishing into places with mono-seasons and we are here for it.
Las Vegas Bay Campground is located on the northwestern edge of this park. We stayed in one campsite for two nights then hopped over to another one for the remainder of our visit here. (Note to self, always always choose the “no generators allowed” section of a campground if that is an option, this was our first experience of having that as an option). We moved due to two noisy generator users who also would mosey into our campsite at all times with unsolicited advice to us about the area. Thanks but no thanks, this is not a time to be a space invader! #realitiesofcovid
Our second camp spot featured incredible vistas of the Las Vegas River that feeds into Lake Mead. We were happy to be parked near the sounds of running water, morning birdsong, and yipping coyotes, and away from the machine noises of generators. Just say no to gas people, off grid solar and batteries have served us well this entire trip. I’m so glad we made the investment into that system.
Can you spot the tarantula?
After the requisite drive down the Vegas strip (completely over stimulating and glad we stayed in the car), we shifted back into our nature mode. There are plenty of hikes around this huge playground, the first we chose was the Historic Railroad Trail a robust 4 mile jaunt over to the Hoover Dam. We explored the concrete giant and it’s surroundings (most everything was closed so it kept the crowds away), learned quite a bit about hydroelectricity, admired the Art Deco flourishes that reflected the dam’s construction time, then headed back the same way we came. Although the trail was a mild grade and relatively easy, the desert heat and monotonous trek back really wiped us out. We found some ice cream in Boulder City and headed back to camp for an early dinner and bed.
Sunset from our campground (withwater so close, yet so far)
Worth noting, we’ve all been sleeping really well this leg of the trip. When the sun goes down around 5pm, we end up cooking in the dark, eating in the dark (aided by headlamps and small exterior lights), then clean up and by about 7:15 are done with our activities for the day. On the rare occasion we watch a downloaded show or play a game, but mostly we sit outside and listen to the night scape and watch the stars. It’s a simple form of entertainment that is good for reflection and relaxation. After this wind down it’s really easy to fall asleep somewhere between 9-10pm. This simplicity coming from a compulsive late to bed person, where I’d be checking social media or news far later into the night than I care to admit. I rather like this reset and hope to continue this evening practice wherever we end up in the World. And now that we’re on Pacific standard time we all also tend to wake up early, well-rested, and ready to start the day.
Explorers in Owl Creek Canyon
The next morning we did a quick trail called Owl Creek, where we wound our way around a small canyon that was filled with evidence of owl habitat. After the dam hike from the previous day, the shorter hike in a cool canyon was a welcome reprieve. We headed back to camp early this day for a restful afternoon and a grocery store run. It’s still hard to force ourselves to slow down when we’re in the parks, even if we’re staying a longer span of time. While some of us (the ladies in camp) are content to stay home and bake or craft, the boys are generally after an adventure or jaunt out into the wilderness. Looking for opportunities where everyone is happy and can do what they want is our current tension that we are navigating.
Wednesday morning we chose to do a longer drive north to learn about the remnants of an old Mormon pioneering town of St. Thomas. Hard to imagine, but some hearty people settled here as a passing point between Salt Lake and Los Angeles. That is, until the reservoir was planned. Also hard to imagine, living and working somewhere your whole life and having a government dictate that your town will soon be under water and you should take their offer to move and settle elsewhere. Well, thanks to climate change and receding water levels, many of this ghost town’s foundations survived and reappeared along with its history. It was a very educational walk for all of us.
Getting festive for Thanksgiving
The rest of our week here was peaceful and slower-paced. Either the boys have acquiesced or we’re all good and tired now. We took plenty of rest days, helped a fellow camper with a dead battery, wandered up and down our camp plenty of times, and basked in the warm desert sun. We’ve been lingering longer in one place going week by week instead of 3-4 days as we head into late fall and have shorter daylight hours to recreate. This means slow home cooked meals and plenty of lounging around with exploring mixed in vs the other way around. I am rather enjoying this rhythm and hope to continue it through winter.
