Baker, California: Gateway to the gaudy land of locked secrets and slavery.
We started a day late. This is vacation. We begin when we begin! And so we are on the road! Our road trip custom is to get out of California as quickly as possible, so we cannonball it our first day, through the pale desert, past our favorite dusty, bare mountains, up into the high desert, past the cousins, past the enormous thermometer begging all to abandon hope, as our skin is about to bake on our bodies, and into the land of ridiculous casinos and magical buildings whose purpose is mainly profit and forced promiscuity.
The kids were awestruck by the bright hotels, roller coasters on towers, and the distinct feeling that we were posisbly driving past something like Disney Land without so much as a second glance. Miss Bunny Boo asked, *What do people do here?* I jokingly said, *They sin.* All eyes in back grew quite wide, and the kids were silent for a few minutes. Then they wanted to know exactly what sins were committed, and how it was different than their own. Note to self: Do not bring up prostitution and sex trafficking code language to small children unless you are prepared to discuss it in depth with them.
And then the desert opens into a playground for all manner of hardy creatures to frolic and thrive. The Sonoran Monsoon is glorious, thunder, lightning, rain, rest from the heat and dust. 
We drove through to St. George, our favorite splash pad land of all the places we have been to!
Kiki played *who can avoid dying of asphyxiation* with some new friends at the splash pad.
Sweet baby loves to snuggle with his Popi!
This is what a baby looks like when you tell him it is time to leave the splash pad.
We originally planned to drive through to Arches National Park, but we ditched that idea for now, and we will come back to this area later this summer. If we want to camp in the Adirondacks or the Smokey Mountains, we need to get out there. BUT FIRST, we stop in Fort Collins.
We are taking I-15 to I-70 this trip. The drive up the 15 is about as magical as it can get. We were even blessed by a little lightning storm, a rainbow, and bright sun showers. Adding to the adventure, we met with a little traffic, and a semi truck that had gone over the edge of the hill, and it by the damage, it appeared that the driver would be in the market for a new one.
When we reached the 15/70 junction, my handy camping ap. indicated that there was a great, remote, camp ground, so we pulled off. It was dark, but the sweet songs of the local creatures and a little rushing brook welcomed us, and we were soon settled in, kids asleep. Brandon caught the Magpie*s plague, so he felt less than splendid and went to bed, but I stayed awake with a beer, a book, and the songs of the wilderness.
This is really big, wonderful country!
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