I rolled in to California in late afternoon. The earth just east of the Colorado was dark brown, and stony. Earlier in the day I had seen poppies and lupines at the edge of the road and had been wondering where I was seasonally in relation to the cactus bloom. Just right, it turns out. The hills that bordered the highway were covered (as best as stony ground can be covered) with prickly pear sporting large magenta flowers. I also encountered an unusual phenomena as I drove – this was an area I had flown over many times (as Pilot in Command in the mighty Piper) but this was my first time driving. The miles, as gorgeous as they were seemed to go on and on; what had previously taken less than an hour to cover now took over two.
I reached Barstow at sunset. After a quick stop for petrol I headed west on towards Mojave. It was a thin, two-lane highway that crosses the desert, linking Barstow and the lower Sierras with the coast. This stretch of road passes between Edwards AFB and China Lake NAS, two major test facilities. Above is a ten-mile path of airspace between the ranges, one of the few available aviation routes through the test ranges to the LA Basin and California coast. I had driven over 700 miles at this point, and was starting to droop. The sun set, and NPR switched to classical, then was gone. I fished around the center console for something to listen to and discovered the only CD I had with me was Rage Against the Machine. Perfect! Or so I thought, until I came around a turn after the crossroads with CA395. My brain was numb, and it was dark, the kind of night you can only get in the moonless desert. Suddenly, an array of red lights sprung before me, then went dark. A few seconds later this repeated, and again, and again. In the back of my mind I suspected it was position lights from the wind farms but, to be honest, with all the experimental aircraft ops in the area my first thought was ‘It’s the landing lights for the mother ship!’ I will leave you to your own conclusions.
In the morning I set out from Tehachapi. My first stop of the day was the Tehachapi Loop. For those of you who are not train aficionados, the main east-west rail line out of Los Angeles passes through this area. The elevation change is so steep, the track curves and loops to maintain a two percent grade. I was not the only one who made the trek, there 
were six of us, a couple from Germany on a motorcycle, another couple who had driven up from San Diego, a local in a week-kept ranch truck and me. After about five minutes we heard the train whistle, and a minute or so later an engine appeared from around a corner from the east (up-grade side). It was just long enough that then engine passed the last cars on the loop.
This is such fun! Enjoy your first retreat.