As we drove into California, we had a forced stop for agriculture control at the California state boundary but we were just waved by.
We were impressed that during our drive in the desert heading north on CA-177 from I-10, and then west on CA-62, we did not encounter a single house or business for more than 100 miles. We sure wouldn’t want to have mechanical issues on the road in that area…
Its the desert – but it looks different than the desert in Arizona. Turns out that in Arizona, we were in the Sonoran desert, whereas now we are in the Mojave desert.
We drove into our second BLM dispersed camping experience. This one was not as appealing at first sight. The surface is dried & cracked clay mud with areas having deep ruts, likely from significant rains that feel a few weeks ago. While the area is said to be limited to no more than 14 days of camping, a lot of the equipment strewn around some of the RVs suggest that some people have actually been there with quite a few belongings that they can’t possible be traveling with.
There was definitely no highway noise. However, strong gusty winds howled for most of the night (this was an issue thoughout Southern California based on what we saw on the news).