Week #8: Joshua Tree National Park

Our van excursion so far has had no sponsors which we're generally fine with but it does seem like we're missing out on some excellent marketing opportunities. Imagine the possibilities - my daily run could be brought to you by the good people of Hoka or Salomon, our camping excursions could be sponsored by North Face or Patagonia and our van itself could be sponsored by any number of companies looking for maximum exposure and association with a worthy cause. In fact, we have a number of white patches all over our van (see photo below) just waiting for the right sponsor to step forward and slap their logo on our vehicle to turn their fortunes around. Now that the call is out there, I suspect in no time we'll be more sponsored than your favorite NASCAR driver! So don't be bashful, spread the word and let's watch those lucrative sponsorship deals roll in! 

We received some excellent suggestions for our van name a couple weeks ago. Thanks so much for submitting your ideas. Honorable mentions go to Vincent VanGo, Vanny McVan Face and van Rocinante after Don Quixote's horse. And now for the big reveal - we're 98% sure that this will stick - we've named the van Gemma. This name came from our friend Adam who suggested Jem who is Scout's brother in To Kill a Mockingbird. But we modified the name to Gemma as Ginny insists that the van is a female. We still sometimes refer to the van as Willy Wonky as problems arise so perhaps that can be Gemma's alter ego.  

After spending a relaxing Christmas with family in Santa Monica, we decided it was time for some adventure so we headed east to Joshua Tree National Park. I had visited the park more than 30 years ago with my uncle when it was still just a National Monument and Ginny had never been so we were looking forward to the trip! We made a stop for groceries on our way out of LA and a couple asked if they could see our van as they were thinking of doing something similar themselves. We showed them our van and they turned out to be the nicest folks and these types of chance encounters are what makes life on the road so fun! And turns out, the guy is a former NFL wide receiver who was a Patriot for a season and whose daughter went to school near Northampton and then Berkeley.

We spent our first night in Joshua Tree at the Black Rock Canyon campground as I had snagged their last available campsite for the night. We mostly don't stay in campgrounds as we like to boondock as it saves us money and also allows us to get away from the crowds. But this campground was pretty nice and it had a ton of trails heading in every direction. We took advantage of the proximity of the trails with a great hike up Eureka Peak (see snowy photo below) as well as a nice trail run up the California Riding and Hiking trail. While we spent the next couple nights just outside of the park on BLM land, we went into the park each day to explore the tremendous beauty of the national park. See photos below from some of the highlights, including Skull Rock, Jumbo Rocks and the Cholla Cactus Garden. 

                                                    

Aside from our short jaunt last week out to the Renogy parking lot in Ontario, this was our first excursion with our new swivel seat and back windows. (Side note: a marketing person at Renogy contacted us about  a potential collab, so maybe we'll get that sponsorship deal after all!) They don't sound like a big deal but let me tell you, they truly are amazing! The swivel seat provides a whole new seating option for us (see photo below) and really opens up our spacious floor plan. The rear windows are also a game changer as they really brighten up the space and allow us to see what's going on behind our van - what a concept! I'm not sure what our next van upgrades will be (projector screen? bike rack? dash cam?) but here's hoping they're as good as these ones turned out to be! Have a great week and let's hope that 2022 is better than the last couple years!