Craft must have been setting on ground when we arrived. We were on vacation and were headed home from Northern California. We had pulled off of highway 5 in the Mojave area in the late afternoon, we made dinner and ate our dinner while it was still dust outside. Our rig was facing towards the western sky. When the sky had darkened the base of the mountains lit up, the light begain to rise slowly as it did, it increased in brightness. The light rose above the mountains and hovered for several seconds before shooting across the sky in a easterly direction.