Well, friends. We found our winding way to Colton California, and did not bust. Thankfully, there are no bathroom scales in motel rooms. We glanced at the idea of actually seeing the ocean, the Pacific to be specific,just an hour away, but decided that a cool, windy October day may not be the time.So we are turning homeward along a completely different path. We may touch Mexico.Plans include Joshua Tree, the Sonoran desert, Saguaro National Park, the White Sands Museum, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe National Park, Then, we'll see.
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Waiting for Jade and John at the Mexican restaurant near their enclave. I felt like I was part of a crowd, already.
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After lunch, John makes his opinion of posed pictures clear.
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Date Shakes! Great shakes, indeed. Hadley Orchards has been rebuilt since we were last here. I had to traverse two multi-lane traffic circles and recover from a few wrong turns to get there. It used to be easier.
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John waits patiently at the car while Jade works out which way is up before taking our picture.
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Parked at Hadley's, clearly California.
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The windy pass eastward from L.A. on the 10 is scenic, in a vaguely Quixotic sense.
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Leaving L.A. we head to Hadley's for a Date Shake before touring the Joshua Tree National Park. Karen has fond youthful memories of each. And a Date Shake is yummy.Anyway, I have always been impressed by the wind farms along the way. Last time I saw them it was from 10,000 feet or so, a couple of years ago.But as I was cropping this pic, I noticed the weird capitalization in this sign.And that exit 111 is to highway 111,and that 111 = 37 x 3.I further note the we are traveling today ,tomorrow, and the next day, the days between Columbus Day (observed) and actual Columbus day, on the I-10, aka the Cristopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.
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Traffic was thick up along the northern edge of Joshua Tree National Park this Tuesday. Pretty dense as we approach the turn off for the park.And also my first saguaro sighting.
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This is a Joshua Tree.
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A bit of a windy day here on the high desert.
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Little guy doesn't know it is a school day.
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See the climber on the right?
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A wider view of Joshua Tree National Park. Quite a forest of them up here.
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Standing on a rock to get a wider view than from down on the road.
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East Wall Hall of Horrors. Climbers seem to like terrifying names. Perhaps it reminds them of what happens if they have a moment of inattention.
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Karen warning me about the warning for a bee warning, ahead. I bee warned.
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Karen sniffing the sage.
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Turkey Flat.
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We exit Joshua Tree National Park at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. It was closed for the day.
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We pulled over to read a scenic sign. I saw some wildlife.
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The sun sets as we head to Blythe, CA where we plan to stop for the night.
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The Days Inn in Blythe, CA not as run down as in Colton, but the ice machine didn’t work, no cups, the pool was empty, and the manager clearly didn’t care. But it was clean enough.
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I did have to stop to mock the smallest TV we'd seen in a motel in a decade. I suspect the bigger one that the bracket was designed for had walked away.
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After Hadley's we left I-10 to head up to Joshua Tree, CA, providing us the longest route through the national park back down to I-10.
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