Now don't be upset with me (Mom), but I did end up sleeping in my car for my first night of 2010. The image you see above is what I woke up to on the first morning of 2010. The sun had just come up over the desert mountains and highlighted the adjacent mountains you see behind the Shell. Even though I was a bit cramped and chilly, this was one of the most 'at peace' moments of my life. The world was so quiet and I couldn't think of a better way to start a new year, in a new place with new people.
After leaving my "hotel," I realized I was only about a five minute drive from the California state line. What I didn't realize, at that time, was the amount of empty desert to come before reaching the coast. Once I saw signs for "Mojave," I decided to pull off and get some gas, coffee and pee. On the other side of the rest stop, I saw a bird that looked like a raven. I thought, maybe home was following me. That, or it was waiting for me to die!
As expansive and long as the desert was, it was really very serene. I rather enjoyed the drive. I had some very strange road signs to see and played guessing games with myself to see how long it would take me to get to a town I saw down the road. The longest one was the exit for Death Valley. From the time I could see the town to when I got there was almost a full half hour. I've never seen a more open landscape.
