Let me just preface this post by saying that when my friends and I booked our trip to California we were hoping that we’d planned everything far enough in advance that things would be normalized a bit more than they are, but they weren’t. Still it was an over all positive experience as we made sure to follow California regulations while we were there.

It was good to go to a place that wasn’t my house and I was excited to spend some time exploring San Diego and seeing some of the sights in Palm Desert where a few friends of mine and I stayed during our week long trip and using this opportunity to do some writing research.

The first part of the trip was starting later than we’d planned but we made it to our first stop of the night at a cheap but kinda shady motel in Saint George. The next day was another travel day that was mostly miles desert.

Some of the highlights of the trip included the beach which was oddly the place that felt the most normal since not very many people wear masks on the beach.

My favorite part of the trip was seeing the ships at the maritime museum even though they were closed to tours and we could only see the ships from the harbor.

Joshua Tree National Forest was pretty cool too.

All in all it was a fun trip and I’m excited to take what I learned to make the next draft of Mark of the Thief better.