We woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning at the Salton Sea. We had coffee with Leon and got some great advice about life on the road and some places we should go including the nearby Bat Cave Buttes and the San Andreas  Palm Tree Oasis.

We hiked to the Bat Cave Buttes and spent some time climbing the buttes and exploring the caves before heading back to the truck to check out the palm oasis. The palm trees were enormous and it was nice and cool inside the oasis.

Our next destination was Joshua Tree National Park. We had a few free campsite options near the park we wanted to check out. The first spot we looked at was on BLM land near the north entrance to the park. It was ok but we wanted something a bit more scenic with more privacy. On our drive we had seen an area with dispersed camping we thought looked nicer so we headed back that way.

As always, our search for just the right site took us on an adventure. We wanted privacy, a nice view, and for an extra twist, we needed phone signal because I had a 9 am conference call scheduled with my board of directors to plan for my return to work. A tall order, but we were determined. The road got pretty hair raising in some areas and there was one really scary spot up a hill ( a couple we met on the road advised us not to try it but they stayed and watched out for us when we decided to go for it).

After some white knuckle driving, we did find a beautiful spot. There were flowers blooming all around and in the distance we could see a glimpse of the Salton Sea.

Happily, there was still plenty of daylight to make dinner and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The weather was perfect for staying out long after dark enjoying mugs of tea under the stars.