Leaving LA: The Frenchman's First Desert

I left LA and headed east. It takes a while to leave LA and its suberbs; but after an hour or so, I made it to I-15 and crossed the mountains that separate the coastal area of Southern California with the desert area. After cresting the last hill, I finally see the desert for the first time.

It wasn't exactly what I had in mind. No sand, no dunes. I guess it's just not that kind of a desert. It is fairly hot, though not as hot as I feared, and very flat, yet mountains are always visible somewhere.

As you can see, it isn't devoid of vegetation either, but what is there is tiny little shrubs that, for the most part, don't clear 2 feet. It is definatly an interesting sight, at least for the first few days, cause I'm still seeing similar things here in Arizona and I'm still liking them. But I digress...

If anyone is going to be taking this trip, I would advise fueling up before entering the desert. I almost ran out of gas there and the exits are few and far between... I don't know what I would have done, out of gas, in the middle of the desert... You think I'd have learned by now. Luckily, pohdunk town #3 had a gas station.

The Desert finaly yealds to some more mountains, which are I suppose, still part of the desert, seeing how little vegetation and shade there is to be had there, but the scenery is now vastly different.

Whereas the previous desert had a very distant horizon, with nothing to give me a sense of depth, this has staggered layers, and depth is very noticable as the near mountains fly by quickly, the range behind moves slower, and the horizon range seems to be still.

I believe it is after this range that I entered the actua Mojave desert (but I confess to not remembering exactly where that point was).
This is where I would post some of the pictures of it, but as I am getting tired, no more uploads tonight... and the words shall be fewer too...

Anyways, I finally made it to Las Vegas, and, after some difficulty, met up with some friends of Laura. They showed me around, took me to get some great Sushi, and pretty much entertained me all night.

Vegas is Shiny, and full of everything that makes right wing christians cringe. The new Sodom and Gomorrah.

I left Vegas and headed for the Hoover Dam. I figured since I was so close I might as well take a look.

After the token security inspection (which involved 1 bored cop casually glancing into the back seats of SUV's as they drive by, and waving me bye with not even a glance -- some effective anti-terrorist action that is...), I got to the place. It had been so built up to me that I was a little let down... but just a little. Definatly a sight worth seeing if you're in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't make a trip just to see it.

This is where I'd put pictures of the dam up, but we've already covered why I'm not doing it...

I wanted to make it to the Grand Canyon that evening before camping areound Flagstaff, but I left late, so I barely made it to Flagstaff Arizona before dark.

So, the following day, I got up bright and early, and visited the grand canyon.

I have to say... well... I don't know if there are words to describe it. It is so vast I that it looks like you're looking at a paining that starts at your feet and extends as far left and right as you can look.
In fact, the distances are so huge that the whole thing looked flat. The bottom is about 3500ft down from the rim, and the canyon is about 10 miles across.
I saw a hawk hunting, about 1000ft belowme, and he was still very high off the ground.

I'm going to put up a couple pics just because I can't explain it. But keep in mind: this is so vast that there is no way I can frame it into one, even two or three picures, so what you're looking at will be just a very, very small slice of the whole thing.

Anyways, after that, I drove through part of the Hopi reservation, and got to see part of the "Painted Desert". Quite a sight, but too tired to get into it.

Then I headed south towards Tucson. On my way, I took a detour by Sedona, and got to see the "Red Rock". Whereas the northern part of Arizona is very much a desert (albeit one with a fair amount of plant life), particularly the reservation, The area around Flagstaff and south of there is more of a forest. The Red Rock reminded me a lot of the eastern part of Wyoming I had gone through. The same red stone, the same color green.

Before I made it to Tucson, the sun had set, so I have no idea what to expect when I get up. But, I made it safely to Kristie's hideout, and finally got to put a face to the name.

I will be going to New Mexico tomorrow, and crossing it diagonaly to reach Oklahoma. The goal is to sleep in Oklahoma tomorrow night.

I should be in New Orleans in about 3 days.

With that, I'm getting some sleep!