That’s the distance we have driven since leaving Avon 7 days ago. Those miles have put us in Indio, California, just at the feet of Joshua Tree National Park. 190 gallons of diesel fuel. 18 hours of “The Fellowship of the Ring” on Audiobook. Thousands of miles of desolation. Many, many rest stops. Zero arguments. That’s what it has taken to get here.
The drive from Phoenix to Indio was awe-inspiring and unexpected. For most of the day, the road snaked up and down (mostly up) elevated plateaus between rusty peaks. The fields, covered juniper and sage and interspersed with Saguaro, gave way to plains filled with mostly scrub. But all the while we were enclosed by high ridges coated in dust red dirt and growth.
And the distances were staggering. The brownish-red peaks seemed both close at hand and unimaginably distant. We never seemed to make headway. But yet, slowly, the far-away ridges were on top of us, the road bisecting each ridge.
Neither of us had any idea what to expect of Indio, nestled just south of Joshua Tree and just east of Palm Springs. But while we didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t expect what we saw as we crested the final ridge before descending into this valley.
To the north (the southern end of Joshua Tree), the dulled peaks looked like the desert. Little tall growth and lots of beige earth. To the south, incredible peaks reached directly from the flat valley to immeasurable heights. And in-between lay the pancake-flat valley where I sit to write this post. Nothing we have ever seen compares.
Of course, surrounded by all of this majestic beauty, our first stop on arrival was In-N-Out Burger. Yes. the scenery is unbeatable. Yes, we are on the border of an amazing national treasure. But… In-N-Out. If you have never experienced the simplicity and perfection of their food, I cannot describe it fully in this post. Suffice it to say, if I was on death row and had one last meal, it would be a double-double and fries.
Our campground is on the outskirts of Coachella, smack dab in-between the two festival weekends. That means low crowds and still great temps. We even got some pool time before dinner! What a great way to celebrate almost 2,500 miles of driving!
Tomorrow we head into Joshua Tree National Park. We decided to eschew the comforts of this RV park for the rugged beauty of camping in the park tomorrow night. Why? Because Joshua Tree is known for stargazing and we hope to catch a glimpse of the Milky Way. Consequently we may not have service to post tomorrow night.
If we are silent tomorrow, go outside and look up at the sky. We may be thousands of miles from home and from all of you, but we share the same sky. Don’t forget to look up from time to time.
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