Into the desert – Mojave meditations

We left the Kaweah Lake RV park in the beautiful early morning mountain sunlight, and the smell of orange blossoms wafted through the windows as we drove – orange orchards all along the road for miles. The scenery soon changed though, to a more desert landscape of rocks and a few shrubs, with the occasional cactus-type tree doing its best to look beautiful in the arid landscape.

 In the transition zone we saw the strange sight of oil wells in the middle of orange groves – a way to maximize the potential of the farmland, perhaps? We were set for the town of Mojave, which promised an RV Park that is “an oasis in the desert”, and when we arrived there we took one look at the oasis and opted for the desert! As it was only lunchtime, the sight of the stoney, windblown park with broken doors on the toilets was enough to send us hastily back to our truck and we pushed on to Barstow, another 2 hours further down the road.

                                                     The Barstow-Calico KOA RV Park was far more of an oasis, its facilities were good and we were relieved to unhitch and relax! As evening came, we realized that even the desert has redeeming features. We went for a long walk after dark (amazing to be able to do that in complete safety) and the night sky was wide and lovely, complete with falling stars and a cool breeze!

Refreshed and strengthened, Sunday morning saw us on our way to Las Vegas, and   more Mojave Desert. The scenery was arid, and the road, a 3-lane-each-direction highway, was so busy we thought that perhaps Vegas was being evacuated! We passed the turnoff to Death Valley, well-named if the scenery was anything to go by, and a stretch called The Devil’s 

Playground, equally aptly named. As we crested the top of the pass, the skyline was dominated by flailing wind turbines, a surrealistic blot on an otherwise already desolate landscape. Modern technology, once again maximizing natural resources, but creating a weird effect - one almost expected to be stopped and given a number before going on! The 16 miles of steady climbing up to an altitude of 5000 ft was long and hot, and the detours and huge, aggressive trucks were daunting, and we were really glad when we finally reached Las Vegas, and doubly grateful for the very definite instructions of Tom-Tom and Garmin!