In a just world, Tecopa, California would be in Nevada. It is only about an hour and a half from the Vegas Strip and, it has a definite Nevada vibe. Going the short way, Tecopa is about eight hours from home (and we didn’t go the short way). The problem, if you want to call it a problem, was caused because, unlike the East Coast states, the state borders west of the Mississippi were drawn by people who did not have an intimate relationship to the land. The people in this area are not mask-wearing liberals like Coastal Californians, this is Trump territory. But it is also the Mojave Desert and, besides being the driest and most extreme American desert, the Mojave is the wackiest American desert and the Tecopa area fits right in.

We started our trip by going over Tioga Pass and then down 395 to Big Pine, then we turned left to go around the top of Death Valley and south to Tecopa in the dark. Diving through the burned-out forests of the western Sierras was sad, the air was full of smoke and the landscape had a desolate feel but the air cleared before we got to Toulamee Meadows and the east side of the Sierras was clear and bright although we could see the smoke hanging over the mountain tops to the west. We ended the day at the Villa Anita DV where we would be for the next three nights.