Mojave Report #1

Incredible Daughter #1 at Pisgah Crater

The Mojave, for all its beauty, is not blogger-friendly. I tried to post Wednesday night from my room in what is quite possibly the worst motel in the Continental United States -- Arnie's Royal Hawaiian Motel in Baker, California (but then, what did we expect?)-- but my Verizon connection could only download (slowly), and not upload.

I didn't have time for you, anyway! Every moment was filled with wonder. We saw the poppies in Lancaster, Pisgah Crater near 29 Palms, hung out at some desert ghost towns and even quainter near-ghost towns, saw the Mitchell Caverns, Kelso Craters and a field of 40 cinder cone volcanoes, one that blew just 1,000 years ago (!), and wildflowers everywhere.

Apologies to Allan. I said "emerging volcanoes" in my last post. My daughter corrects me. They're done emerging, although some are quite young.

As soon as I get a chance to download them, I'll put up some Death Valley photos. This was a one-in-500-years year there, with lots of rain that brought up a rainbow of wildflowers, and created a massive shallow lake on the valley floor. Just as stunning was the Panamint Valley, one valley to the west of Death Valley, which we drove through for 70 miles or so of incredible beauty, and not one house. And they say they're paving over California!

Here's one more photo, of Pinon Pines just outside Mitchell Caverns.