Thursday, March 25 - Day 15
Coronado to Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Went out for dinner last night with my host and friends of his - took a photo of a "typical" California mini-van. Thought you might enjoy it:
Said "thank you" and "good bye - see you on the East Coast" to my gracious hosts (unfortunately, their daughter had already left for an early class, so didn't get to include her in the photo)
and was on the road by 9:30. The temperature was 59F and the sky was gray. Within an hour it started to rain. Took I-5 north to San Juan Capistrano and then took CA 74 (Ortega Highway, scenic!) northbound. The road winds through the Santa Ana mountains and then the Jacinto mountain range, with lovely views (despite the clouds and the occasional rain) along the way, including a look at Lake Elsinore as the road drops down again.
Next comes a trashy stretch along the lake, but before long the road climbs back up into the San Bernadino National Forest, and there are good views of the Idylwild mountain range.
At the exit from the National Forest there is a viewing area -- worth a stop.
The altitude here is about 5,000' and now the road takes you down to 200' very quickly. Innumerable switchbacks. If you take a close look at the next two photos you might be able to make out the road far below.
At the end of the road is Palm Desert, altitude about 150' and a temperature that is 20F higher than it was at the top of the mountain. One resort town blends into the next - Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Palm Springs. Scenic CA 74 turns into CA 111. Nothing much scenic, as far as I'm concerned. Had to get gas for $1.339/gal. This was 10 cents less than two miles up the road. So I was happy, at least until I found that a station about 5 miles later was selling for $1.299. That's three bucks difference! After a couple of miles on I-10 westbound, picked up CA 62. Without much effort the road climbs from 200' at Palm Springs to 2,500' for the Morongo Valley, then to 3,500' for Yucca Valley, then 4.,500' for the Joshua Valley.
Entered the park at the west entrance, free of charge because of my Golden Age pass. Buying the pass last year was definitely the best $10 I ever spent. There are six campgrounds in the park. Only two have water, there are construction site-type portable toilets, fire rings, and picnic tables. The sites are free to anybody.
Here are views of my site:
Towards the end of the day the sun tried real hard to break through the clouds - perhaps he'll succeed tomorrow. Look for more photos of these incredible rock formations in tomorrow's report. Today I drove for 7 1/2 hours and covered 240 miles. Temperature high was 72F in the Palm Springs area, 50F was the low.
Friday, March 26 - Day 16
Joshua Tree National Park, CA to Phoenix, AZ
Woke up at 5:30 AM and noted that the outside temperature was 45F. Turned up the thermostat to 75F and crawled back into my sleeping bag. Slept well until 7:30 AM.
After breakfast, hit the road at 8:15 AM to look at some of the sights of the Joshua Tree National Park. Of all the NPs I've seen, this one ranks high on my list of parks worth visiting. The western part of the park is at an altitude of around 4,500' and the lower part is about 1,000' lower. The upper part gets more moisture and consequently has Joshua trees and plants.
The upper (western) part also has some incredible rock piles.
Left the park via the North exit and headed for the backroads I had chosen to cross the Mojave Desert. The road from Twentynine Palms to Amboy took me past several dry lakes. Next I picked up the old Route 66 from Barstow to Needles. Headed for Essex and Needles. At Needles I had no alternative but to jump on to I-40. As you know, in my dictionary "scenic interstate" would be an oxymoron, but I-40 from Needles, CA to Kingman, AZ might almost prove me wrong. Nevertheless, jumped off to take AZ 93 to US 60 and Phoenix. AZ 93, also called the Arizona Joshua Forest Parkway, is under construction, two lane for long stretches, and heavily traveled by trucks and slow RVs. There are some scenic stretches and views like the one of Burro Creek.
But all in all, I think I would have been better off finding byways through the Prescott National Forest.
AZ 93 merges into US 60 at Wickenburg, AZ - which seems to be a neat little town with a heavy German influence. US 60 is nothing special. It started getting dark so I gave up trying to make it to Phoenix, pulled into the Quality Inn RV park in Peoria instead. The most expensive parking lot I've ever used - $28.93 for electricity, water, sewer, and a very nice bathroom. But no fire ring, no grill, no picnic table - I guess they want travelers to use the inn's restaurant. Well, I was pretty desperate to get off the road before dark, and last night's site at Joshua was free.
Was on the road for 8 1/4 hours and traveled 410 miles. Altitudes ranged from 200' to 5,200', temperatures from 45F to 82F.