Joshua Tree

The Mojave Desert....why in the world would a southern girl with a penchant for shoes, wine and spas decide to go there?

Heading east from L.A., the air gets very brown for a while...and so thick that I had to close the vents in the car because my eyes were burning! Eventually, the city disappears in the rear view and acres and acres of giant windmills come into view.  They eventually give way to a rocky, brown (earth, not air) and yes, rocky landscape.
Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms have a small town, everyone knows everyone, hippy, pierced and tattooed kind of vibe, with a military base influence...and I mean all of that in a really good way.  When I first drove through I could swear I heard the theme music from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing (in case you need a reminder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4 ); but somehow it quickly transitioned to Elvis Costello  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYPCP2RSXA
Don't ask me why....
(First time using links in this blog...hope they work!)
I met really nice people, ate really good food and bought some meals anonymously for some young Marines.  I saw some really amazing sights, including the San Andreas Fault, a desert sunset, and giant rocks.  I saw lots of rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks.


See?  I really was in the desert
 

THIS is a Joshua Tree

 

I was there because I wanted to see the desert. I wanted to understand the appeal and the whole "yes, but it's a DRY heat" concept. I wanted to see a Joshua Tree.
And I wanted to go to the Integratron...
So what the heck is the Integratron, you ask?  Well, go here for the full scoop:
http://www.integratron.com
It is a place of really, really good energy that you can feel the moment you get there.  It is an acoustically perfect dome where you are bathed in music played on quartz bowls that you can feel in the very center of your being.  It is a place I really didn't want to leave and will definitely go back to given the chance.


The Integratron

 

When you leave the Integratron, you leave with a warm and fuzzy, very peaceful feeling.  If you've ever had Reiki, it's the same feeling (and if you haven't, you should try it sometime!).  It was the perfect way to close out my desert experience. 

I drove back to town down the dry, dusty roads and saw how beautiful the desert really is.  I "got" the appeal of the landscape that was at first so foreign to me and I felt the peace in the place.