Desert/Dessert OR A redwood's bark isn't red but a sequoia's is

My only frame of reference, when it comes to the desert setting, has to do with Looney Tunes. I am a daughter of the Great Lakes. The closest I get to sand is the occasional kitty litter box. So when my eldest daughter called me, en-route across the Mojave, I admit I panicked a little bit. "Do you have enough water," I asked anxiously. "It's just a four hour trip," Savannah sighed. "You should be drinking 2 to 3 liters a day," I advised, "It's hot where you are. Your body is made up of 65% water. What if you break down?" I felt my heart begin to race. Brad silently handed me some water to sip and began looking for a small paper bag into which I could breath. I heard another sigh from the phone. "I have plenty of water. The car is air-conditioned. I have my phone fully charged. Sam is waiting for me. You do NOT need to worry."

Sure. Right. And then she sends her father a picture of a coyote hungrily stalking her. "Why didn't she send ME this picture," I wondered, studying the creature who was regarding my child with the chilling intensity of a serial killer. "Maybe because the only thing you can picture right now is Savannah crawling across the desert, gasping for water...spotting mirages only to be hopelessly disappointed each time she reaches it." Brad explained.

"Wait! She's doing what," I yelled incredulously, later that day. "Camping in Death Valley," Brad winced, trying to hide his jealousy. "Amongst the skulls and the scorpions," I hissed at him. AND out of cell phone range. "They call it Death Valley for a reason, Savannah," I lectured later when she, somehow, had survived the experience. This was AFTER exploring a ghost town. "It's like she's on the Brady Bunch or in a Scooby-Doo episode," I complained to my husband who tried to nod sympathetically but was, under his breath, humming Neil Young's Horse With No Name.

It was relief when we left Wile E Coyote behind to be greeted by Yogi. The Mosimans are Forest-Dwellers. "When is the last time that you were actually IN a forest?" Brad asked me.

Never-mind.

"Look at the redwood," I marveled over the phone, having viewed the majesty of the great tree as it towered over my lovely daughter. "Mom...it's a sequoia," Savannah corrected me with annoyance. "Potato, patato..." I murmured. "The sequoia in the picture is the largest tree in the world," Savannah informed me. "It may be the largest," I retorted, "but a redwood is the TALLEST."

By the way...never drop the mic using your husband's fancy phone. 

After days of stealing glances at Brad and Sydney's phones to see the pictures that Savannah kept sending THEM...I FINALLY received one of my own. I finally felt my fear subside and, I admit it, a little jealousy crept up. Chocolate molten lava cake with fudge sauce, fresh raspberries, and whipped cream. This was a dessert worthy of a trek across the desert!

"Th-th-th-tha-tha-tha-that's all, folks!"