day 4

Yucca to Bisbee

I knew it would be a big driving day, so did what I could to have a relaxing morning while still making it on the road before 9. Woke up to a cloudy morning which made my morning walk feel very different from my evening one. Made some breakfast, took a nice shower (the showers on the property were 10/10) and hit the road.

Listened to a lot of my audiobook today, but also two episodes of Normal Gossip, the newest season of which I had saved to listen to for this trip (thank you past me for doing this).
The dirt roads heading out came with some spectacular views. I listened to Jessica Pratt’s album Here in the Pitch for that. It felt so right I listened to it twice.

Spent the rest of the day driving Southeast across the majority of the state and into Bisbee - a real cutie of a town. Got a fried chicken sandwich at Bisbee’s Table. Sat at the bar and had some funny conversation with the bar tender and her friend who is currently fighting with her cheating ex over who gets their paddle board.

day 3

Newberry Springs to Yucca

Woke up, had some yogurt, went for a desert walk, and jumped in the pool before heading out

Drove out of California and into Arizona. Listened to Bruce Springsteen, Nilüfer Yanya, more book, more TAL

Took a longer route so that I could drive on as much of Route 66 as possible. Stopped at Ludlow Cafe for a bite, played tag with some trains, pulled over at a giant crater, paid $8.50 a gallon for gas (yooooo) and generally got cooked by the sun.

Drove about 24 miles of dirt roads with insane views to my hipcamp in Yucca. It was out there, lemme tell ya. It was well over 100 degrees when I arrived, so I set up my camp chair in the shade of my car and read for an hour or so. Once it cooled off a bit I went for a walk around the property, then made myself a little dinner and enjoyed the sunset before heading to bed.

I was pretty nervous to sleep out there! The owners were on the property but not super near, I was the only guest, and it was so hot I needed to keep the front of the tent open. I kept waking up and having trouble falling asleep until I woke up a little after midnight and saw that the stars had come out. I took a stab at photographing them with my camera, realized that it was completely silent outside because there was nothing to be afraid of and slept like a heckin’ baby till the sun came up.