OAKLAND TO MOJAVE DESERT

Mojave is a DUMP. I picked it for my first overnight because I liked the name on the map, but would have done better in Tehachapi, which is still in the mountains and beautiful, or Lancaster, a is a city of sorts, with hotels, restaurants and places to explore.

Glad to be off, of course, finally on my way to fulfilling my dream. I am always ready to GO ... anywhere, anytime, but this time it wasn’t that just can’t wait to get on the road again kind of feeling. And it’s not because I’m getting old ...

It’s because I left someone behind, someone who pulls at my heartstrings more than I realize when we are side by side. We've been together almost ten years, and I’ve left him lots of times to go off traveling, and will do so many times again. But we spent the past few daystogether in such happy companionship – reading, writing, walking, talking, cooking, eating (him cooking, me eating). This feeling counters my wanderlust. Next time I see him will be in my casita in Taos, NM.