Last weekend we took a four-day camping trip to the Mojave National Preserve with Vanessa and Thomas. (Bob, unfortunately, had to stay at home due to a work emergency. He was missed.) I was worried about the 8-plus hour drive (!) and the inconsistent weather reports, but Bruce was really keen on making the trip. I’m so glad we did — it was an adventure-filled weekend.
We had the car mostly packed on Thursday night, and even though we got a later start than we wanted (those darn bikes take so much time to load!) we were still on the road before 7:00 a.m. Good thing, because it took us all day to get there. It’s just so, so far! Vanessa arrived an hour or two before we did and picked out a great spot. Upon our arrival, we started setting up our tent while the boys immediately engaged in a Nerf battle.
We were concerned about the ominous clouds rolling in and it was getting very cold. We heated up dinner and ate in our tent. Ezra had the right idea to keep warm.
We were snuggled in the tent for a couple of hours listening to the storm outside when we realized it was actually snowing. It was a very cold night but we managed to get a little rest, and in the morning we woke to clear skies and desert beauty.
I took a walk around the campground to get some additional shots.
We finally managed to get the water hot enough for coffee and hot chocolate to warm us up a bit. Finn hadn’t transitioned into wearing jeans yet, but it was about to happen.
As the morning warmed up, the boys had a great time throwing snowballs and scraping the snow off of the cars.
Then they went on a short bike ride around the campground while the adults figured out a game plan for the day.
We settled on a rockhounding outing, packed up stuff for lunch, and headed out. We weren’t sure how the roads would be, and some parts said a 4-wheel drive car was necessary which was a bit of a problem since we couldn’t all fit in our Subaru and Vanessa’s car is 2-wheel drive. But we gave it a shot. Almost immediately after turning off the main road, she was stuck.
The Subaru struggled too, but we made it far enough to realize we were in the wrong place. Luckily we kept going and got back around to where Vanessa was. Bruce had a plan to dig her car out and got to work.
While I made lunch for the boys, Bruce and Vanessa worked to get mats and rocks under the tires so her car could gain some traction. The fix worked, but I feel like a failure as a documentarian that I don’t have video of her hightailing it out of the sand in reverse!
We ended up heading back out the main road to try to find the correct offshoot to the rockhounding place. The guide books are vague and I think the map hadn’t been updated, so it was a challenge. We left Vanessa’s car at the main road, she and Thomas piled in the back seat with us, and we headed out over the bumpy but not quite as sandy terrain. We eventually found what we thought could be the right place, and we got out and started hunting.
Our trusty steed served us well again.
Once we’d had enough rockhounding, we piled into the car and headed back out the dirt road. I was just dozing off when Bruce slammed on the brakes and scared us all half to death. Turns out, he spotted a desert tortoise in the road and stopped just in time. They are endangered and in all his time in the desert he’s never seen one. Of course, none of the rest of us had ever seen one either.
He wasn’t very big and was comically slow; he barely moved the whole time we watched him. And we watched him for quite a while as we were trying to decide if we should move him out of the road. Bruce knew that you’re not supposed to pick them up, and since the road was wide enough that we could get around him, that’s what we did. We were, of course, worried about leaving him in the road, but since we hadn’t seen another soul the whole afternoon we thought it would be OK.
Eventually we left the tortoise and found Vanessa’s car. She took the boys and went back to the campsite; Bruce and I stopped at a local store to buy firewood because we hadn’t brought any and we couldn’t go another night without a campfire. We had dinner by the fire.
And a mini birthday celebration for Ezra with cupcakes and Thomas playing Happy Birthday on the ukulele.
Even with the fire it was super cold so we didn’t last too long outside. We’d learned our lesson, though, and bundled up in layers for bed.
Sunday’s excursion was Kelso Dunes with a stop at the Visitor Center first. The boys filled out their Junior Ranger booklets outside.
Then we took a quick tour of the center, they got their badges and patches for being Junior Rangers, and spent some time in the Kelso jail.
Next stop was the Kelso Dunes, that big giant pile of sand Bruce is walking to.
The day was spectacular.
Lots of wildflowers were popping up.
It wasn’t the most exciting walk ever …
… but once we stopped for a break and the boys played in the sand, they were happy.
I waited with the boys while Bruce made the difficult climb to the top. Then we all walked back to the cars and drove back to the campsite. After more Nerf battles …
… Bruce and I took the boys on a little hike while Vanessa made gumbo for dinner. The landscape was mostly burned out from a 2005 fire but it makes for interesting scenery.
Once back at the site, we got the fire going and had dinner.
The boys had lots of s’mores and had a super fun time roasting Peeps.
Thomas made a marshmallow sculpture (and got the thumbs up photo bomb from Ezra).
The next morning we had a delicious “griddle fest” breakfast and packed everything up to get on the road. Bruce and I decided to stop at the Pisgah Crater on the way home which was quite a sight.
The boys (all three of them) got some lava samples to add to our other rockhounding specimens.
Here’s our total haul, spread out on the dining room table once we got back.
The ride home was long and slow due to high winds and extra stops for gas. But we made it safely and have some great memories from the Mojave!