Hot like hell but sunnier

Straight in at the deep end on a long drive that brought us to Salton Sea at about three in the morning. We found a place to stay that was a great combination of kitsch and oddly empty.  The only other guest I saw apart from DJG was the spider I shared my room with. I drove him off in the end too – he’d created a people sized web-trap which made me realise that not many people seem to have stayed there recently.

Driving through the sunset and into the night time I got to know my travelling companion a little better. He’s like online but 3D, it’s funny how people look the same but different to their photographs. We had a lot of coffee and touched down on the sand of Salton Sea to look up into the Milky Way, complete with shooting stars. I could hear the tide on the shore and smell the salt in the air. Unfortunately being a city-mouse, it seemed that I was also a bit more skittish in the dark. As we drive on, rabbits freeze by the side of the road, their eyes lit red, reflecting the headlights. This will take a little adjustment for me not to find it so spooky.

The next morning, by ten the air outside was hair dryer hot. I swam in a pool with no one else around, the water was almost bath warm and full of bees and wasps, it wasn’t a long dip. The sky was wide open and the barren lands around the hotel were pale gold. I still love the desert.

Upon setting off, DGJ notes that it’s about 48deg C out and it gets warmer.  We coast along, sort of headed maybe for Santa Fe – but that’s miles away. For two petrol head kids on an open highway, i’m not so surprised about what happened next, but I am surprised at the numbers.

We’re chatting about music and the heat’s hitting about 52 deg C when Smokey appears in the rear views and the lights come on. CA highway patrol arrive and they’re not so pleased to see us. I think DGJ has the patter on this one better than me, safe to say the cop was pretty pissy and it took work not to annoy him more. He was not lenient.

Back on the trail and Santa Fe seems even further away. The cool thing about a road trip with only a vague sketch in hand is that you can change your mind. It was worth it. We motored toward the Grand Canyon just as an electrical storm started to make shapes, darting forked lightning split dark clouds on the horizon. It was still warm and we were diving into one of nature’s more incredible light shows.

Between the wonderful heat, the wide open night skies, sunsets that seem like treasure and the light show, it’s been a journey so far to be awed by the US landscape and natural beauty. Natural beauty and electrical pylons…now that I will definitely leave DGJ to explain.

JK

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