Cool Mojave

Woke up this morning and it was, for the first time this season, cold. Hoo wee, it got nippy allasudden. And even
though I know it’s time, meteorogically-speaking, I do feel the need to register a complaint with Mamma Nature: 
Dearest Madame, please give us just another week or so of Indian Summer. Please! I promise I will harm no more harp
seals.

Well, when it gets cold, the best way to deal mentally is to think of warmth. And so I am thinking about the warmest
places in the country right now…during the day, that is. I am thinking about the 1.5-million-acre
Mojave National Preserve, a pearl on the necklace of the Park Service that sees
very few visitors, relatively-speaking. And yet, it is a lovely, sprawling place where you can hike and bike and make
the trek to the top of Kelso Dunes, a field of 700-foot high sand hills that offer glorious views of the surrounding
park.