5th July, 2009. Trip to Mojave, California Up and away again, not many of those to go now, down through Tulare, Pixy, Delano, and Bakersfield where we got off HW99. onto HW202 then up the Tehachapi Mountains, through Tehachapi and onto Mojave. Mojave is in a huge desert basin and of course in the Mojave Desert. Over the top of the Mountains and the first thing was how barren it was, only little stick trees and the Joshua Trees growing, the rest looks like it died years ago. We stopped at the Sierra RV park which was pretty good, the wind [View Full Entry]

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We entered southern California, expecting to stop at a visitor's centre to pick up brochures; instead we were greeted by yet another border patrol / truck inspection site. We had seen these in New Mexico and Arizona...but like everywhere else, we were just waved through, leaving us to wonder what that was all about. Taxpayer dollars hard at work? We needed supplies, but unfortunately for us, we had to drive past our destination to the town of Indio. By this point, both of us were a little sick of driving, so getting lost in Indio didn't suit us well. After picking [View Full Entry]

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We found an old time cafe, called Mike's Roadhouse Cafe. It was a no brainer, as the other choices were fast food, Denny's or Roberto's Menudo Casa. We actually had a very nice green salad and turkey dinner. But the best part was the children's push and pedal cars mounted on the walls. They had several for sale as well. They even had a green coupe like the one I had as a kid. They also had a little airplane that one of my sister's had back then too. We may go back for breakfast in the morning. The best car [View Full Entry]

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Thrifty Travel Tip #8: The KOA campgrounds will never know you were there if you're in at 8 and out by 6; if you don't use the water, you won't hurt them economically either. Don't pay for what you don't use. Hi, Hello, and Good day Family and Friends <3 We woke up well rested and happy after our adventures the night before at NAU. I found our sweet, generous host lying on the floor of his room with a pillow and a towel as a blanket. Talk about a bleeding heart! I gently woke him at 6:30 - we were [View Full Entry]

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It's a pretty drive down to Baker, CA and the entrance to Mojave National Preserve. We saw more desert flowers blooming, pinks, yellows, and whites. The cinder cones and lava beds were fascinating and the landscape everchanging. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Kelso Station and looked at the exhibits. The temperature was dropping and the woman at the Visitor Center said they were expecting snow storms overnight. We ate our lunch on the side of the road near the Kelso Sand Dunes. As we neared I-40 the dark clouds came closer. We heard on NOAA radio that the [View Full Entry]

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As I headed out of Death Valley with its bizarre and surreal terrain, I decided to take a side trip over to Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas, NV to do a little rock climbing. Having tasted the joys of scrambling over massive boulders of sticky granite in Yosemite, I was intrigued by what might be waiting in this little, rocky hideaway. My body had other ideas however. Rather than jumping onto the beckoning canyon walls, I found myself nearly passed out in a hidden oasis called Mountain Spring Ranch. Horses were having a languid brunch in the shelter [View Full Entry]

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Departed Terribles and stopped in Baker, CA to fuel up & eat lunch after filling up. Stopped at the Kelso Depot Visitor Center built in 1924 and in use by the Union Pacific Railway until 1985, the depot now serves as a museum and information center. After visiting the the Kelso Depot Visitor Center we headed over to Kelso Dunes for the night. The night was a cold one it got down into the teens over night. We decided to head towarn Joshua Tree National Park next. When we got to 29 Palms we decided to stop and spend the [View Full Entry]

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