Earlier this week the desert temperatures moved into the 90’s which prompted us to flee the heat and head towards San Diego. Stephen had his eye on the World Baseball Classic games that are played once every four years. All circumstances aligned, so we ditched the camper for two days and slept on my sister Jane and her husband Marc’s couch. They live 100 steps from the beach and graciously shared their home. While Stephen spent time at Petco Park watching the baseball games, Jane and I enjoyed an afternoon of pampering.

After our wonderful experience in Joshua Tree we are ready to visit another relatively new National Park; Great Basin in Eastern Nevada. At the moment, we are in a holding pattern while Stephen returns to Minnesota for a week of Twins guest services training at Target Field. I’ll remain in the desert and visit a college roommate as well as sew and read. (Yes, I have a sewing machine in the camper.)

Our tip of the week: While Google maps is great and our primary resource, the internet is not always available in remote areas. We discovered the Benchmark Road Atlas series and so far have purchased five in the Benchmark collection through Amazon. These state atlases provide detailed road by road turns, landmark information and campsite locations. If you choose to travel the back roads, these maps are a great accompaniment to Google maps.