As we all know, Americans are a very patriotic people; when we stepped out of LAX we made a bet on how long it would take us to spot 100 US flags (real fabric flags, not just printed on packaging etc). Aleks bet 1 month, Alenka bet 1 week. At the end of our first day in LA, we were on 32. 5 days in, it looks like Alenka is winning…

Our first night in the campervan at Lake Perris was seriously cosy. Even though it was definitely much cooler at night time than during the day, our car kept us warm and happy – though we learned not to camp so near a street light in the future! The curtains in the van reminded me of the doors in public toilets here in America – they don’t quite fill the space they’re supposed to…

This was the morning we had to learn how to operate our propane camping stove. The picnic table in our campsite served as our kitchen – we got a kettle on the go (for much needed coffee) and fried some bacon and eggs. The eggs were cooked “au noir”… a.k.a. pretty burnt after chucking them straight into the hot bacon pan. Camping stoves only really have one setting: super hot!

After a stroll up to the lake itself, we headed out in the direction of Joshua Tree National Park, via a quick Starbucks stop (mostly for Wifi… and an excuse for Alenka to buy a coffee).

As we drove, the scenery changed from verdant hills to more rocky outcrops with the odd scrubby bush. Then out of nowhere, the Joshua trees started popping up. They almost look like a cross between a tree and a cactus.

As recommended by our Starbucks server, we stopped by the park visitor center; the street was lined BBQ joints, diners, laundromats and bingo halls, as well as souvenir shops full of Coachella-esque gear (like bunches of sage, to chase out evil spirits). Coachella festival is actually on pretty soon (in a couple of weeks) and not too far from Joshua Tree.

We wound our way up Park Boulevard, the sole road that runs through Joshua Tree. The landscape became increasingly dramatic; huge, bouldered hills and forests of Joshua trees appeared. We reached Barker Dam trail and set off on our hike for the day. The sun beat down at well over 30 degrees, so we were grateful for the trail taking us through a cool, shaded valley.

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This was heaven for our resident mountain goat (Aleks) whose main joy in life is climbing up whichever nearby rock is the most precipitous!

While the sun set that evening, we headed to our resting place for the night. All the official campsites were full, so we journeyed to a designated dispersed camping area just to the north of the park. In America, there is a vast amount of public land, where it is free to camp: national forests, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, and so on. Obviously, avoiding campsite fees is a definite plus, but at the cost of having no facilities whatsoever! The patch of land we called home for that night was down a dusty, dirt track; our toilet was the biggest shrub we could find (his n’ hers toilets though, such luxury!). It felt pretty adventurous, though we have to admit we still had phone signal and could see the nearest town in the middle distance…