Day Two, in words

The second day brought…

• A night in Lompoc (second “o” is long), right next to Vandenberg Air Force Base…and a trip around the base. It is huge, like half-the-Bay-Area-sized huge, and since Lompoc is a military town, it is very, very different from, you know…Berkeley. Lots of Wal-Marts and chain stores, not so much tie-dye, but very friendly people that you get the idea would help you out of almost any jam you were in. Food for thought.
• Oh, the beach! The beach! Carpinteria State Beach, that is. I love this place. It is in Plato’s head as the ideal “beach”, the beach to which all others only pretend an approximation. Sand, surf, Southern California, and full of families (as opposed to a meat market). I walked from one end to the other, ever the observer…it felt great to have sand between my toes and the waves washing over my feet.
• “The Spot”, the other great part of Carpinteria State Beach — basically a little shack by the beach run by some high-school fundraising group. Their service is slow, but the food’s pretty good, and the atmosphere just plain can’t be beat…Californians (and others) of every shape and size, all completely blissed out from the beach, munching on onion rings and hamburgers.
• Traffic.
• Traffic.
• Traffic.
• My God, Los Angeles has a lot of traffic. Even on a Sunday afternoon. (Perhaps especially on a Sunday afternoon.) I averaged seven miles an hour for a good two or three hours. So. Much. Driving.
• Indio and TODO “Other Desert Cities”…that sign that finally you’re leaving the sprawling civilization of LA and you’re off into the desert…
• The best by far: pulling into a completely-deserted campground at Joshua Tree, late at night, and finding it completely magic. I set up my tent, laid down on my back on the giant rocks, and stared up at the stars, the enormous rock formations all around me. The only creatures I saw were myself, jackrabbits (of the Golden-Retriever-sized variety, apparently), and the occasional coyote howl; the hot desert wind poured across me. I don’t know a more beautiful, or amazing, place in the universe than this. I really don’t.

Day 2: (Sunday, August 5, 2007) Lompoc, CA to Joshua Tree National Park, CA.
Miles: 468.9 + 404.3 = 873.2 total. Current distance from home: 503.6 miles.
Photos: 393 (5.31 GB) + 24 (68.1 MB) = 417 (5.38 GB) total.
Next up: California deserts, Arizona highways, and…wherever the spirit takes me.