Chocolate Mountains & White Sand Dunes

Left Joshua Tree in the dark, to get back nearly 3 hrs east to where we quit yesterday. This is what the first 50 miles looked like from the VW van, but the bikers & Van were never together for photos on the steeper hills of the Chocolate Mountains.

Rode up & down more hills into the Mojave Desert, and Imperial Sand Dunes where it was in the upper 90*, but beautiful white sands in contrast to the dark chocolate brown mountains we had just left.

On a break with the van, Kathleen checked up on her college roomie who is in the hospital 5 weeks early to deliver a daughter. We went 29 miles farther than originally planned to be in Brawley, so we could be sure we had cell phone & internet as we are waiting for news of the safe arrival of Katelyn Amanda, born in the wee hours of the morning.