November 10th

Birthday Weekend

Hi Ya'll :)

It's been a busy week. We did make it out to the desert and it was beautiful....I've always thought of the desert as being nothing but really big sand dunes that went on mile after mile after mile. I've discovered that once again (I know it's rare but!) I was wrong. Thanks to my favorite reading book of the moment (AAA Guide for So Cal.) I discovered there was a 'ghost town' in the direction we were heading. So off we went to "Calico Ghost Town" about 15 miles (or less) north of Barstow, CA. It has 3 original buildings (4 if you count the 'outhouse') and is being restored to give visitors the vision of a mining town from during the silver and gold strikes of the 1800's. After taking a tour and visiting what we could...I came away with a new respect for those prospectors it was a rough, hard life.

After we left Calico, we headed for Camp Ironwood out in the desert. Camp Ironwood is a Western Christian Camp. One of the employees is a former member of our church and it was wonderful seeing him and his wife. They gave us the Grade A Tour of the Camp (we got to ride in a golf cart instead of walking everywhere :) We went into 'town' and had 'authentic' Mexican food for dinner and then stayed up late visiting! We spent the night at camp, it was a full moon and oh so beautiful-- it was so big and bright and CLEAR!!! Amazingly spectacular is the night sky out there!!!!

I got up the next morning and watched the sun come up over the mountains and desert - may I say here "BBRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" but it was worth it. We went into Barstow for church the next morning and really enjoyed the service there.

There were 2 'taste' events that I had on this trip that were firsts for me. Did you know you can taste as well as see smog....YUCK!! My second taste event was the grit of the desert sand.....if I have to choose I'd rather eat grit than taste smog.......as least the desert has fiber!!! :)

Well, thanks for visiting; I'll catch you later!

Have a Hoppy Day!