A plan? What's that?

After leaving Joshua Tree NP we continued heading farther South. Within less than half an hour we were driving through some amazing dirt mountains, that I never even knew existed. How could I live there for so long and NEVER once travel this route? We saw only a few campers snuggled up into the crevices, unlike Joshua Tree that was packed. Joshua Tree brought out the rock climbers and repellers, and this place, I'm sure, attracted the four wheelers. It was too soon to break camp, plus the map shows a lake ahead, so we wanted to check it out. Knowing the desert I was sure it was half dried up.

Wrong! And no, it wasn't the ocean, it was a salty lake called the Salton Sea.

Not coral either, it was dried salt on the rocks.
You could tell it was once a happening resort type of place, but now it was completely run down and all but abandoned. We debated on camping, but decided to just keep on going.

I even convinced Joey that a warm mexican beach was where we should be, but after consulting with twitter friends, and the hassle we'd have not having the kids' birth certificates we sadly abandoned that idea. Joey remembered about an article he read about the Imperial Sand Dunes and an old Star Wars set left in the dunes, so we headed straight there. Would you believe it was packed solid, and there appeared to be some type of carnival event going on out there? While trying to find a legal place to set up camp, I used my cell phone to try to find where the old Star Wars set was, and this is where looking at more than just the pictures would have come in handy for Joey. The set dissappeared about thirty years ago!

We're not happy cammpers at this point.

Except this one...she's a cute camper, too.

We ended up driving late into the night until we reached Alpine, CA....just outside San Diego. This is the point where I'm thinking a little bit of planning might have come in handy.