Arrival in the Desert

I'm about a month and a half into my desert adventure in the great state of California. It has been a crazy, terrifying, and fun few weeks. I survived driving my beloved Escape and two giant dogs from Dayton, Ohio to southeastern California by myself. For someone who does not like to drive, even to the mall, this was a major feat for my nerves. My husband and I spent 10 days in a temporary house on the base, where we had our first encounter with a bobcat. I had no idea what a bobcat looked like, but they resemble obese house cats with over-sized limbs. Where we are now living, bobcats are less of a threat, but there are black widow spiders, a few other thousand varieties of spiders, snakes (haven't seen one yet, but I look suspiciously at every bush I pass), and ants to keep us feeling warm and cuddly at night.

Our house is beautiful. The owners, also an military couple, have obviously taken great care of the place. Our large backyard is entirely dirt, which is both a blessing and a curse. The plus side is that our dogs can't do any major damage to landscaping, because there is none. Tess, our golden and resident archaelogist, can dig up as many ancient tennis balls and tin cans as her canine heart desires.

The curse is that when those notorious Mojave winds kick up, the dust blows. Everywhere. I feel like I sweep the patio daily, and I don't even want to think about the dirt accumulating in the windows. I learned what a swamp cooler is, and helped my husband install it, by that I mean, I dropped my end of it and almost busted it in half before he could hook it up. Thankfully it is working, and survived the unfortunate incident yesterday where I overflowed the tank.

Our town is small and there are many signs of economic suffering here. The job market here is non-existent, and housing foreclosures are numerous. Despite that, there is something strangely comforting about this little hamlet. The landscape while stark is so beautiful, and I am certainly going to enjoy the warm dry weather. There is a McDonald's, Taco Bell, Subway, and Domino's, so we have the heart attack portion of our nutritional intakes covered. It's 20 minutes to the Walmart/movie theater, and about 40 minutes to the mall. This has been a challenge for me when it comes to planning meals, I'm used to having a Meijer within two miles that I can run out to whenever I forget something. I'm a city girl, so the isolating nature of a rural town is a challenge, but one I'm ready for.

The amount of friends we've made so far has easily outweighed the loneliness. Everyone has been so welcoming, and there have been no shortage of social events. People drive over an hour sometimes in order to gather with other Air Force couples. The bond here at the squadron level is something we did not experience in Ohio, and it is a welcome change. There are several other wives in my age group, and it is nice to be able to do some girly things, and escape the hoorah-ing military men now and then :)

We're looking forward to a long Memorial day weekend coming up. I just found out there is a Six Flags about an hour away, and am now determined to make that happen soon. There's also possible hiking, minor league baseball, and a showing of The Hangover 2 on the agenda.

Well, that's about it for now - it was a lengthy intro, I apologize. Anyway, I hope you will join me on this blog for all the new and riveting happenings in the "High Desert."

Happy early Memorial Day - thank you to all who have served.