1:30 am: I just drove and drove and drove. 7 1/2 hours later, at 1300', found me approaching Joshua Tree on Rte. 10, officially desert. The intent was to drive all night through California. I've done it before and there's not much to see. The plan is to get about one hour into Arizona, snag a bit of sleep, and then travel the rest of the way to Tucson, about 3 hours, in daylight hours. Arizona I want to see.

2:10 am: First sign for Phoenix, 4 hours away; 2 more hours of California. These are my normal waking hours, so I can cruise all night, but I don't want to arrive in Tucson immediately needing to sleep, so a nap at some point is called for.

2:43 am: Cactus City Rest Area past Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree is the farthest I'd gone on Rte. 10, so this is all new territory for me, climbing up to the Chiriaca Summit. It's about 70 degrees at night and the sky is clear with the Milky Way spilling across the night sky. It's such a shame, there's a reason the Greeks called it the Milky Way, whatever that is in ancient Greek. Stars so densely packed that it formed a pathway across the sky. Now in no urban area can you really see the Milky Way, you have to go way out from the lights to see and appreciate it, and it is just breathtaking.

The modern night sky is two-dimensional, just points of light on a dark background. When you go out into the country, the night sky is three-dimensional, the stars so many deep, you really get a sense of depth.

3:26 am, 1300', Desert Center: a car with Arizona plates flies by me and is now gone.

4:10 am, 500', Blythe, CA: first sign for Tucson, still more than 260 miles away.

4:45 am, 1490': just saw a shooting star, didn't make a wish. Making one last push to a rest area to take a nap. It will be perfectly about 3 hours away from Tucson.

7:30 am: after what may fairly be described as two hours of napping, after more than 10 hours of driving, I poked my head out to look at the Arizona desert. Lovely. Grand. And to my amazement, I'm treated to my first glimpse of the rare "Arizona Rest Area Sand Circles"!