Motel 6 El Centro

... whole lot of creosote bush scrub and some curious cacti gardens. Further in the scenery transitions to the Mojave Desert. The temperature falls, granite outcroppings pierce the Pinto Gneiss and of course the tree-sized Yuccas that are the Joshua Trees appear then get bigger and more abundant.

After walking through cacti, clambering over rocks and resisting the urge to hug a Joshua tree I drove up the look out at Mt Ryan and watched the sun go down over the San Jacinto ...

... mourants, montrant en premier plan leurs vieilles maisons rafistolees de tole et de planches disparates.

Arrivee a Joshua Tree a la brunante, encore une fois nous devons monter notre campement a la noirceur, ce qui n'est pas toujours facile quand on a deux enfants qui ont faim et pour ajouter la cerise sur le sundae, petite fuite de la vessie juste en ces moments palpitants.

18 ...

der joshua tree national park ist bestimmt wunderschön aber ich war kaum mehr fähig dies zu geniessen und neues aufzunehmen. vermutlich stellt sich langsam aber sicher eine übersättigung ein, nach all den wunderschönen eindrücken.

wie auch immer, wir ...

Das letzte Mal war ich wohl in Sedona in einer Library - jetzt also Yucca Valley!
Yucca
Valley liegt bereits in Kalifornien, ca. 2.5 Autostunden oestlich von
L.A. entfernt und direkt am Joshua Tree Nationalpark.

Von Sedona
aus bin ich via Jerome, Prescott, Wueste und dann schliesslich zum
Suedeingang des Joshua Tree Nationalparks gefahren, ca. 5 Stunden
Fahrzeit.
Der Joshua Tree NP ist natuerlich bekannt fuer seine
Joshua Trees (wer U2 ...

... So I gladly took a ride, turns out she was headed to LA. Not exactly where I planned to go, but she agreed to take me to downtown, Union Station. I unpack and seek shelter in wonderment of the city. Being in a vehicle after being on the bike was a bit scary in the traffic snarl, way worde than Phoenix it seemed. The 80mph hairpin braking and accelerating of the city was terrifyingat first, but we arrived safely. I find a hotel up the hill from Union Station on Sunset Blvd ...

Thursday evening we headed back to L.A. Jamie lives in the Westwood area, which reminds me a lot of Manhattan, in a way. In her neighborhood, most people walk everywhere they go. There are grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants of every fare, and every store you could possibly imagine within a half-mile walk of Jamie's apartment. Friday, Joseph, Jamie, and I drove south-east to the Mojave Desert and visited Joshua ...

... behind me, but it was much slower going than I had thought it would be. For those of you who haven't taken the backroads through the desert before, believe me when I tell you there is a whole lot of nothing in some parts of this world. I was way past the point where the hoot owls were hookin up with the chickens. In my last 50 miles before I got into town, I was passed by 2 cars. Roads were pretty ...

... the area makes it all the richer for us!!! We drove into Joshua Tree National Park and were amazed at its vastness. It covers miles and miles of land.....like it is its own state! Instead of staying overnight we took in a tiny bit of the park from our RV and headed out again. Stayed the night at a truck stop at Chiriaco Summit. Turned out to be very interesting. It is a monument to General Patton and all ...

... found out about Eagle Mountain from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia: Eagle Mountain was founded in 1948 by iron magnate Henry Kaiser. The town, or what's left of it, is at the entrance of the now-defunct Eagle Mountain iron mine, once owned by the Southern Pacific RR, on the southeastern corner of Joshua Tree National Park. The town's fully integrated medical care system was the genesis of the modern-day Kaiser Permanente ...