Eastward Bound

Bliksem and I are enjoying life on the road. After leaving Huntington Beach we spent a morning in Palm Springs, more so that I could get a swim and shower than anything else. From there we headed to Joshua Tree National Park and spent the rest of the day. The hard thing about NPs is that you can't have your dog on the trail, so we did our run on a dirt road instead. I'd love to come back here and spend some time without a dog, but it is nice to have a travel companion. Even if she growls at me when I leave her in the car to go on a dog prohibited trail.

Sometimes I still wish I was into rock climbing.....

Sunset in J Tree

From J Tree we hurried on to Tucson where it was kind of cold so I only stayed there long enough to do a run. I probably would have rushed on, but after leaving the lights on in the van during my run I was stranded for a while. When I got to the park earlier in the day there were a dozen vehicles in the parking lot, but by the time I got back from my run there was just one left. I waited and waited hoping it's owner would return. After getting the car jump started I did get a pleasant surprise. The check engine light which has been on for a couple thousand miles was suddenly off. Apparently by killing the battery I fixed the engine. Woohoo! Onwards to White Sands.

Sunrise in White Sands was stunning.




If you check in the bottom right corner there is a coyote. Getting up early means the critters are still roaming about.

Kind of looked like snowbanks and they do plow the sand. It was cold enough this morning for snow.

People headed out to go sledding in the "snow".

Bliksem and I opted for a run on the Alkalai Flat Trail. It was about 5 miles, but anything but flat. The first 5 minutes were flatish, but then we headed up and over dunes. It was a lot of fun.... especially going down the dunes. I finished up about an hour later with shoes full of sand. From there we headed to Las Cruces, NM for much needed shower..... errr I mean swim.

Next up my trip to Texas and the Bandera run....