DAY 5,6,7: 1st,2nd, 3rd/Apr/2011

LA – Long Beach – Dana point – Joshua Tree

From LA, we rode real slow, enjoying every moment of the beautiful ride. Stopped by the state beach at Long Beach, whiled away an hour or two. Then stopped by New port, had lunch, walked along the beach admiring the beautiful houses, then headed to Dana Point. John and Andrea had graciously offered that we could spend the night with them, and we gladly accepted. I was really sleepy after the time at the beach and heavy lunch, and didn’t want to look drowsy when we reach John’s place, so I coaxed V into stopping by a nice little roadside park J. V studied his maps, while I napped under a tree. Really needed it. We reached John’s house at about 5 in the evening. Andrea greeted us at the door, as John was out chasing his dog. He soon joined us. To my embarrassment, he had seen me sleeping under the tree. They played great hosts, and were generous enough to let us use the laundry (in hindsight, it was a great decision coz we wouldn’t have any laundry access for days to come). They even treated us to a yummy pizza dinner in a fancy restaurant called Selma. Mmmmm…. Thank you guys, you are angels.

The next morning we decided to use the opportunity to look around the small historic town of San Juan Capistrano (yes, 300 yrs old is historic for the US!! Tell that to Indians!!) It was a beautiful town, I must admit, and we ended up spending 4 hours there in contrast to the planned 1 hr!

We came across a small souvenir shop and picked up some scented candles and incense sticks for Andrea. I remember her mentioning the night before that she loved them. The lady at the counter was extremely helpful and she helped us pack them together into a sweet gift pack. My presumptions for the country were already changing. No, the people here did not have an air about themselves, like I always believed. They were very warm, open hearted and lovely people. And every bit as hospitable, as we Indians pride ourselves to be.
  

Time to go back, pack up and start moving, heading to the Joshua Tree National Park. Thank you John and Andrea, hope to see you soon sometime, you should plan a trip to India. You really must.

Tommy (the GPS) said JT was 196 miles, we almost fainted. It was post 3 pm when we hit the road and there was no way we could make it in time. We re-planned and re-planned but it was adamant on 196 miles. Wasn’t JT supposed to be just 2-3 hours from Dana Point? Something was obviously wrong, but we didn’t have anyone but Tommy to guide us. So we believed him, and started.
“It’s making us take all the wrong turns!” V shouted”
“Well, maybe. But it knows US better than you do!! So who should I trust?” the choice was obvious and we continued.
“No, I am sure this is wrong. I refuse to follow the directions.” This was V again, as he stopped by a fuel pump and refused to go any further till I turned the GPS off. He was already bent over his maps looking for the directions, looking all hassled up.
“Hey, wait a minute. I know what’s wrong! It isn’t Tom’s fault at all, STOP blaming the poor chap!” I was already referring to the GPS as our 3^rd partner on the trip! “Remember, WE changed the setting to ‘always avoid freeways’”
I promptly changed it back to ‘always take the fastest route’ and there it was. JT was 106 miles from where we were and we were already 30 miles off. “Let’s get going” and we were already looking for the next U-turn, relieved and all smiles.

On 29 palms highway, the winds were so strong that we thought we would be blown off the road. When you are riding at 70 mph and the wind is hitting you perpendicular to the direction of your motion with equal force, there is a good chance that you will skid off the road and move ahead at 45 degree angle!!! We had to put tremendous effort just to be on the road, moving as slow as 20 mph. This considerably delayed us, but we were focused on the road for now.

 By the time we reached JT National Park it was almost 7 pm. The sun was milder, and already scouting for the right mountain to set behind, and rest for the night. We should get going and scout for a place as well. At the Ranger Station, we were disappointed to find that all camp sites were full, but also excited at the opportunity of wild-camping or backcountry camping as they call here. We managed to find the Boys scout trail by7:45 and it was already getting dark. We had to walk a-mile-into-and-500feet-off-the-trail with the luggage (sleeping bags and the tent at the least). By now, we were walking into wilderness in complete darkness, and suddenly the idea didn’t seem exciting to me at all. I had all sorts of thoughts crawling in my head, and I must say they weren’t cool.
“Do they have animals in here?” I asked V
“It’s a desert, so I assume yes”
“What kind of animals?”
“I don’t know, it’s my 1^st time here as well, remember?”
“But you must have read it somewhere. Your biker friends didn’t tell you anything?”
“Coyotes maybe”
“Are they carnivorous?”
“hmmm”
“Will they attack us?”
“Don’t worry, I am around. Now will you shut up and just find a place to camp?” V was losing it, I could see.
“What if we are attacked?” I still wasn’t sure, he could protect us.
“If it wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t allow us to camp, right?”

Now this seemed like a decent explanation to keep me quiet for a while, and we set up a tent, when we thought we were way off into the desert now, and couldn’t be seen from the trail. All I wanted to do was get into the tent, and zip it up. If I can’t see them, they probably can’t see us! I tried to catch some sleep, but there was no way I could get my thoughts off those animals that were supposedly attacking us from all directions. I woke up V thrice that night claiming that I was sure there was someone outside our tent. V volunteered to step out and check but I clung to him, almost in tears, please don’t go, I am shit scared. I dreamt that night of all the possible carnivores that I had learnt the names of, way back in school.

What I felt that night is difficult to put in words and also embarrassing to accept now J but I swore to God that I wasn’t doing it again anytime soon.  

With the break of the day, it all cleared up, including my head. The night seemed silly in the daylight, as I looked around the beauty that lay in front of us. At times like these you can’t help realizing how trivial mother nature can make you feel. It was a vast desert and the beauty unparalleled. Nonetheless, we decided to pack up our stuff and go looking for a designated campsite. I had had a lifetime of backcountry camping. Despite the board that proclaimed that all campsites were full, we rode across the area to see if anyone was leaving. We were in luck and managed to catch hold of 2 guys who were packing up. I was hoping that the campsites would have some water, but there was none to be found. We offloaded our stuff and drove 7 miles to fill in our drinking water bottles. A shower was way beyond our thoughts as of now.

We spent the entire day just walking around the trails, trying to light the fire and cook some meal camping-style, climbing on some low rocks (that were accessible without the climbing gear), and drinking some beer. It was nice to be so close to nature. The only thing we missed here was a shower. We were dying to take a bath, but there was absolutely no water to use (even for the toilets, leave alone taking a shower!) As we hit the bed (an air mattress inside our tent); we were tired, and hoped that as we leave JT the next morning, we would have an opportunity to clean up. I dozed off dreaming of a nice, cozy, hot shower.