Desert in its fullness Part 1

Last weekend, we were truly blessed to visit Death Valley National Park, a park shared by Nevada and California. True beauty in the dirt is what this park is about. When we started our journey on April 9th, 7:30am from Reno, NV, never in my wildest dream did I think that this would be one of the best trips we have made so far. Sometimes, big surprises come to us  in the most unexpected places. Incredible experiences, memorable times, and unique adventures - that was Death Valley for me and I can say it was the same for Ajo as well.

Waking up April 9th, Friday morning was truly a challenge like it has been for all our trips in the past. It was harder to get going that particular Friday morning since I had work the previous two days, I went to bed about 1am or so and had absolutely no packing started. Ajo did not sleep that night since he had a homework assignment due the following day and after finishing his assignment, he lingered on till the morning researching about the trip and doing random things.

I woke up at 5am and we managed to leave by 7:30am. We carried ample amount of water, drinks, and snacks for the road since we weren't quite sure what the desert had to offer us. We started our trip on US 395 North and continued. After taking a short nap in the car while Ajo was driving, I took the wheels from him to let him rest and catch some sleep. After sleeping for 45 minutes or so, Ajo woke up energized. We drove through Bishop, Lone Pine and then made a quick stop at Mt Whitney area to revisit the stature of the highest mountain peak in the US outside of Alaska. It was incredible to see the snow capped rugged mountain peak from the start of Whitney Portal Rd and it brought back memories from our trip on August of 2009.

Since we were going to stop by Vegas for a night, we reserved our hotel room prior to entering Highway 90 to Death Valley. Highway 90 to Death Valley has no cell phone reception, no gas stations and no sign of life except for the rare oncoming traffic every 10 miles. We stopped on Highway 90 to find a popular U2 album iconic tree, "The Joshua Tree". As a kid, Ajo loved the songs in the album and years later he was truly excited to remember his childhood memories. The iconic tree had fallen over and died years ago but fans had retrieved the spot and placed tributes in the very exact spot. It was truly an adventure to find this place in the middle of nowhere.

We started our hike into the desert abyss with our trusty rental GPS, a backpack with water, and above all with our trust in God.  After about 1/2 a mile, we found it, there it was lying flat on the ground proudly with a dead bark and dry roots. Around the tree lie memories and monuments created by fans all over the world which makes the tree alive even today. We had accomplished something at that moment and it was too surreal for me at least. We had taken up an adventure and followed though and it was our first time and perhaps it would be our last. Regardless, it felt great to be out in the desert on a late afternoon with our faith in God. At a distance I was able to spot the roof rack of our Toyota and I have to say that it did give me a sense of comfort. We walked back to the car and resumed our journey into more new discoveries. More to follow on my next post.