Joshua Tree

San Diego was rad, but I was fiending to get back to the road and some wide open spaces after almost a month on the west coast.  Before I left though, I had a happening to follow through on.  It's so frequent that life gives you lemons and you're forced to make lemonade from it.  Less frequently life gives you a nice, ice-cold, glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade.  When these opportunities present themselves don't forget to ask if there is a pitcher somewhere where you can refill! So I messaged Mackenzie to see if she wanted to go camp Joshua Tree with me for a couple of nights.  The answer, strangely, was yes.  I've invited a lot of friends who have known me for significant swaths of their lives to hop in the passenger seat and go exploring with me.  As of yet, it has been a completely solo road trip.  Imagine my surprise at finally having a companion to wander with and I have only known her for approximately 12 hours!  We arranged to meet up about an hour and a half west of Joshua Tree National Park and drop her car at a 24-hour WalMart.

The continuation:

We were already at WalMart - so why not go in to witness the dregs of society together?  I can't stand it, but they have Coleman propane tanks for cheap among other such advantageous accessibility. We loaded her stuff into the Land Cruiser and were on our way to Joshua Tree by 11:00AM.  Mackenzie popped my In-N-Out cherry.  "Animal-style" is the move. We proceeded to miss the exit for Joshua Tree twice due to getting caught up in some quality conversation.  Upon arriving to the park we putzed in the Cruiser to find a prime spot, mid-week at the park allowed us pretty much the run of the campsites.  After deciding upon a quaint little nook we hopped out to do a little wandering on foot. A visitor came to check out the rig, I dubbed him Peter (for obvious reasons). Ramen with potatoes and a fried egg for dinner.... classic.  The wind during our visit was quite insane, especially at night.  So we hunkered down and did a little bit of star-gazing around the campsite.  Slept in the following morning until the sun had warmed the surroundings up a bit.  This was followed by a quick breakfast and packing for a full day of hiking! It was non-stop walking with conversation littering the air.  Speaking of litter, we picked up a saddening amount of trash (including styrofoam plates?!?!?!) during our days hike.  Stopped for a brief respite on a cliff-face overlooking an incredibly vast and complex environment.  Joshua trees are something to behold, the way they populate quasi-equidistant from each other is remarkable.  Perhaps this is due to their root-networks being dense and shallow to collect surface water?  What felt like an endless day began to wind down and we found another spot to witness the sunset.  The company lightened my heart by and removed from me a burden that I hadn't realized was there.  Solo for two months with ephemeral visits to live other's lives was entertaining... however, to invite someone into my own had a more profound effect than I had anticipated.  Another incredible night of star-gazing and mind-questing.  I could talk to this chick until my jaw fell off.  We pulled out the hard-drive and sifted through all the photos that I've taken in the past 5 years, it was so fun reliving moments of home and giving Mackenzie (and myself) a window into the origins of this unreal journey I am on.  I got up early to watch the sunrise through the Land Cruiser's windows, and we had the usual for breakfast followed by packing up camp to go check out a different part of the National Park!  Found the mother of all Joshua Trees on a back road. Seriously, what?  We then drove up behind a parked ambulance, I was going to pass around it but I noticed what I thought was a rifle sitting in the road next to it.... Some Breaking Bad shit or something?  Turns out it was a cross-bow, because that's way more comprehensible.  Lorenzo, A.K.A. "The Dude", then inquired if we were interested in shooting it? Once again, a happening should not be overlooked.  Fiona, Lorenzo, Ruby, and Viva.  What an epic connection we all made for the briefest of moments, we parted ways after a little photo shoot and information swap.  Back to the adventuring! My face hurt by this time due to smiling so hard for the past couple days, but we kept on keeping on.  Mackenzie had to be back in Laguna for work the following day, so we started making our way out of the park with our eyes on the prize for yet another sunset spot.  I let Mackenzie drive, she slayed it.  We managed to get on top of a fairly large rock formation after a few tries and we posted up behind a small boulder as a wind-break. Sharing sunsets in silence is a pretty indescribable feeling. We hopped back in the car and left the park.  I was feeling a little hungry, and I asked Mackenzie if she wanted to stop and grab a bite to eat... like date style... before I dropped her off.  We never stopped for dinner, instead we had our first true date at a tattoo parlor called "Ink and Steel".  Woah, you might say. That's quite the turn of events.  I'll never be able to adequately describe what the past few days with this other-worldly human meant to me, but tattoos are sacred art for me.  So perhaps that speaks to the volume of impact that our time had together.  We both got inked by Gayle, an experience that could not have fit in Joshua Tree more.  She asked how we met, and I returned with "Do you want the whole story?" She said: "What the fuck? Of course I want the whole story, why do you think I am a tattoo artist!?"  So I reiterated the Laguna Beach fiasco, during which Gayle gave Mackenzie a raw "Amethyst and Emerald Fluorite" crystal.  It was during the telling of this story and the reactions from Tom and Gayle that an epiphany occurred.  These events don't happen everyday; and it is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity that two adventurous and independent spirits resonate with such intensity.  Passion rules my thoughts, it always has.  Sometimes to a fault. Always dreaming of what could be, rather than what is.  I believe it is a strength at the end of the day; and I have grown accustomed to relying on my intuition as a fulcrum for commitment.  My intuition was screaming at me, and I listened.  Spoke the words.  Heard the words in return.  The rest will figure itself out.  Once again, the most unbelievable part of this story, is that it isn't over.  Stay tuned, fools.