It was refreshing to take a little trip away from our usual surroundings. We took a longer road trip down the coast, stopping along the Mojave Desert on our way down to San Diego. Given it was still winter, there was a chill in the air, but tempered perfectly by the sun shining over the open landscape.

We took our dog, Yoshi up the dunes with us. As he’s been adjusting to life with us, we’ve been testing to see how comfortable he is with hiking and how far he can go. So far, he’s been keeping up and seeming to enjoy himself. I think he’s starting to associate car rides now, less with fear, but more with excitement that we’re going exploring.

Given the expanse here, it was fairly easy to remain socially distanced from other people. The sand was soft and fine. We hiked up to a few peaks in search of “S” curves near the top. We took a few photos and rested for a bit before heading down. My husband, Irving carried Yoshi here in the last stretches of the hike.

I’m hoping to come back here someday for some night photography, with moonlight along the dunes or a dark, starry sky away from civilization.