Phoenix, AZ to Palm Springs, CA

This morning we had coffee and muffins for breakfast, we packed up and left for our final desert trip. It took quite a while to get out of Phoenix, traffic was fine it is just a big city. As we left the city the desert looked the same as yesterday, cacti with arms everywhere. But after about 50 miles the scenery changed to less vegetation and a more sandy type of soil. Up to now it was more like a grain size soil.

We had more than 300 miles, that is over 500km, to go to Palm Springs and the surroundings changed as we went on. If I remember correct Eskimos have more than 30 words for types of snow, Indians probably have the same relationship with sand. The road is unbelievably flat and strait so we killed time with trying to take photos of passing cars.

After passing the state line from Arizona into California we ran into a traffic jam in the middle of the desert. California State police were checking every car with a dog, maybe drugs and asking about ones citizenship, probably to find illegal immigrants. But we were fine to carry on into California.

We had planned to go to the Joshua tree National Park and as we entered the park it was no surprise that it was a desert park. We saw all kinds of cacti, for instance the Cholla cactus which one should keep clear of and of course lots of Joshua trees. There are some nice hikes through the desert and with a permit you are allowed to camp anywhere in the desert. As long as it is not to close to natural water places and roads. Maybe something to think about for a future trip?

At 4 pm we got to our hotel: Palm Grove in Palm Springs. We went out for some shopping and had diner in the next door Irish pub. Our waitress, Shannon liked a joke or two and Mark and I enjoyed the food and funny waitress while talking about some serious subjects.

Tomorrow we will get to the Pacific coast on our way to Santa Maria.