camping...

so, I just spent the last 2.5 days in Joshua Tree National Park between Palm Springs and 29 Plams. IT WAS AMAZING. I don't even know how to explain it. yeah, we had to do school work, we had to wake up early, we had to clean up after everyone, we had to deal with the other people in the class and so forth, but I had more fun in the last couple of days than I've had in a while. I have this funny tendency to really loath camping until I'm actually doing it. once the tent is up and I'm free to wander I fall in love with nature all over again. I don't care if I can't shower, I don't care if I have to use an outhouse, I really don't care if I look like shit. All I care about is climbling the rocks, wandering through the desert, watching the stars. wow, the stars. I don't think I've ever seen so many shooting stars in my life. It was so beautiful. I miss the stars. I hate the purple haze that equals night on occidental's campus. I hate being able to count the number of stars I can see on one hand. it depresses me. but at joshua tree, I could see millions of stars. I felt so at home. And the rocks, I've never seen such interesting/amazing rock formations in my life. the first day Marquita and I climbed barefoot to the top of the one nearest to our campsite. the view was spectacular. and yesterday we went to skull rock and marquita and I blazed our own trail and climbed to the tippy-top of a ledge. It was very liberating.
and tomorrow's my 18th birthday. I feel like this trip was kind of like a right of passage. Like, look, you're an adult, you can do this, you can climb that, jump that, duck that, you can do it.
pictures will come soon. promise.