18th May 2025

I woke feeling grateful for our tent and sleep system. It’s taken a month for me to really appreciate our mobile home. Camping has never been something I’ve felt completely compatible with. The lack of space, influence of the elements, and the tendency for the sleeping mats to slide down the slightest slope are just some of the things that had put me off. However, now I’ve come to accept our cramped quarters for the sanctuary it is. My feet felt a little achy after our marathon yesterday, easing as we fell into a familiar pace ascending the tall-grass covered hills.

We passed through a graffitied tunnel under Highway 14 and found ourselves dwarfed by Vasquez Rocks. This is an interesting rock formation whereby layers of sandstone have eroded at different rates based on their varied composition. The site has been used in several films and TV shows, mainly westerns or sci-fis due to their barren, yet otherworldly appearance.

We raced to the car park to meet Sweet Rolls’s sister, Josephine, who had kindly agreed to pick us up and host us at hers in LA. She brought us iced coffees, a Guinness flavoured one for Dan and me, and a custard bun each. On the way to LA we stopped by Costco. Dan and I have never been to the superstore and we were very excited. Our jaws dropped at the scale of the store and the variety of products available. In hindsight perhaps we should have eaten before shopping because we both entered a crazed state of picking up anything we fancied and trying all the samples. After twenty minutes we both felt overstimulated and drained leaving with too much food. Although, this was nothing a $1.50 hot dog and surprisingly good pizza slice couldn’t resolve.

We reached LA and were treated with homemade pesto pasta for me and ox tail rice for the others. Josephine had also sourced a tin of Heins Baked Beans for Dan after he had been whining about how much he wanted an English fry up in Wrightwood last week. To finish the day we were treated with delicious tacos washed down with gin and tonics.