know, secrets: who you have kissed, lies you have told, criminal records you
have accrued - everyday things.
By the time we reached the campsite we were a little hysterical due to
the drive and fear that we were getting too familiar with each other and might
have to split up. At least we had the prospect of the hot spa to look forward to
and a quiet night in. These plans were almost derailed when the 'snowbirds'
(retired people who spend half the year in their RVs avoiding colder climes
where they actually live) that made up 98% of the campsite population came
round singing carols and inviting us to join them for 'chilli in the recreation
room'. Fortunately we were able to be non-committal and knew we would not
be missed as they made it clear we were not their type of campers...owing to
our active pulse and combined age of about half of one of theirs. Instead we
had microwave tea in the van and then tried the pool, too chlorine-filled and
too reminiscent of Cocoon, especially given the elderly clientele around.
Following this we went in the spa. This turned out to be bigger than our one in
Vegas, more like a swimming pool, and a little too hot, but fairly
relaxing/scalding.
The next day we headed into Joshua Tree National Park. The park is smaller
and less well known than Death Valley or the Grand Canyon, however it was
also on the route we planned to take to LA and since we had already bought a
pass to all the National Parks we decided to drive through. In addition to these
practical reasons the write up in our guidebook sounded interesting. As well
as the trees themselves - which are short and spiky - the park was said to
contain surreal, dali-esque rock formations. This sounded like a description