Five groups of people come to visit the kilns while I'm curled up in the backseat of my car. The first three are all couples--one of whom includes a German woman who is openly suprised when she notices me dozing in my car. Being in the presence of so many pairs of people makes me feel temporarily lonely, and so I start to write post cards to my friends once I wake up from my nap. While I'm doing that, the fourth group of people arrives: four Japanese guys in a mini-van. The driver gets out, bypasses my car, and starts talking to the third couple, who appear to be preparing themselves for a long hike into the mountains. Incredibly, the driver explains to them that he and his friends are trying to get to Los Angeles, and have lost their way. It's as unclear to me as it is to the couple how anyone could have come this far into the wilderness without either turning around or asking for directions, but the driver insists that's exactly what he's done. Eventually, the couple sets them straight by pointing the Japanese guys in the direction of Ridgecrest and U.S. 395, but it's never made clear where they have come from, or how they could have come so far out of their way.
After the Japanese guys get back in their van and leave, the fifth group of people--a Japanese couple from LA--arrives at the kilns. They ask me if I've come here all the way from Indiana and, once I say that I have, we talk for a little while about how much fun it is to get away from civilization. Even though they're together, they seem a little lonely, too--and happy to talk to another person for a change. After engaging them for a few minutes, I get back in my car and head back down to the valley, where I hope to catch some pictures of the sunset over the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells.
