Day 89

September 5, 2017                                                                                                    Day 89

All night I kept waking up every hour thinking that it was morning for the moon was casting such light over the desert that it looked like morning outside.  Finally, my alarm sounded at 04:00 for me to get up and prepare for hiking Ryan Mountain for the sunrise.  Once I changed, for once I was not cold and dressing under the covers, I stepped outside without the aid of a light.  As I boiled water in the moonlight I went about packing everything up for driving and getting my day pack ready for the hike. When my coffee was done and my camper was locked up I headed out towards Joshua Tree National Park.  I hoped that I would not become lost on the dirt roads heading out of the BLM area for there were no signs and the roads went off in all kinds of directions: but alas I made it.

Driving the thru park in the dark was interesting and there were lots of mice crossing the road in front of my vehicle and I may have killed a few who didn't move fast enough...natural selection with a little assistance? Right before I reached the trail head I pulled over at a rest stop to use the restroom and then parked in the trail head lot.  It was bright enough that I did not need my headlamp so I didn't even bring it with me.  The climb to the top was 1.4 miles and all uphill but thankfully I did not become dizzy or lightheaded at all during the hike.  Nearing the top, I was now in a race with the sun who seemed to be beating me and it did not help that I kept stopping to take pictures for it was just too beautiful.  Sunrise was around 06:30 and I made it in the nick of time and boy was it worth the hike up.  I had a 360 degree view and as the sun rose on one side of me I watched the valley on my other side slowly light up as the sun crept over the mountain and touched the other side.

As I was sitting up there I was completely content and blown away by the beauty of the area.  I tried to call my mom but there was no answer so then I called my dad in Florida to tell him that I was calling him from atop a mountain. I just sat there, on some rocks, looking all around me soaking it all in for some time until I decided it was about time to head back down.  Going down is always easier and to add a little more "umph" to it I ran down the mountain.  At one section of the trail I happened to look up and noticed that I had come upon a herd of Bighorn Sheep with two males and four females.  I quickly swapped out my camera lens and snapped a billion pictures; all from only a few feet above them!  When I put Dixon Lake into my GPS and when I got there I saw it was a man-made lake and there was no swimming.  So once again I was sitting back in my vehicle trying to plan something.

I called up my mom and spoke to her about my options which were: one to pay $25.00 to camp at Dixon Lake and then drive into town to go to the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens or to just head to Stone Brewing and try to camp in a Walmart parking lot.  Once I found out that the campground would be open 24/7 so if Walmart didn't pan out I could drive back to the campground to at least have a place to say I got ready to go out.  I did my make up while sitting in my vehicle and then went into the womans bathroom to straighten my hair and then changed in my camper.

After missing the place the first time driving by, for there were no signs letting one know it was there, the woman inside told me I could sit anywhere I wanted.  So I took a seat and after 10 to 15 minutes of no one coming by to see if I needed anything I walked back up to the hosttess stand to ask what was going on.  She then informed me that I have to go to the bar to order...would have been nice to know that before.  So although I had planned to just sit at a table alone, writing in my journal and sipping on a beer, I ended up sitting at the bar.  I was not there for more than a minute when a gentleman already sitting down began talking to me.  While we conversed I was also trying to keep up with all the messages my friends were sending me for it seemed they all decided to talk to me at once!

Sitting there I ordered some soft pretzels and of course a beer and continued to talk to that gentleman until his daughter and brother showed up.  When he left an older gentleman came and sat down next to me and began talking to me.  While I was talking to him and the bartender another guy sat down on my other side and after awhile he too began talking to me! Now I was talking to three people, one on either side of me and one in front of me, and at times they were all trying to talk at the same time and I am sorry but at that point I never know who to focus on so I end up jumping from one person to the next never truly hearing the entire story.  By now I was a few beers in (so much for my one beer and leave policy) and the older gentleman left to go talk to another friend across the bar, the other guy left to go back to his hotel and so it was now just me and the bartender.  Which that didn't last long either for a fourth man moved over a seat and now all three of us were talking.  They were extremely helpful in giving me pointers and things to see and do in the L.A. area.   When the bar closed at 22:00 I was pretty much the last customer in the place which almost never happens.

At this point, I had already drank way more than I should have and luckily the Walmart was right across the street and easy to get too.  After tonight, I will be initializing a two drink limit for I just don't need that alcohol in my body when I have hiking and other physical activities to do.  Plus I liked when I was off of everything for awhile at the beginning of my trip so I think I will periodically be doing body cleanses to rid myself of the toxins to start anew.

love his face!