October 1, 2016 Day #2 Twenty Nine Palms to Goodyear, AZ

The evening was miserable. If the noisy air conditioner wasn't on, the room was hot and stuffy. The motel, El Rancho Delores, was cheap enough at $65.40/night including taxes and the bed and room were fine. WIFI was fast and free but the advertised HBO on the TV was non-existent. It didn't matter because after 11 hours of driving yesterday, we mostly desired sleep.

There was a great Mexican restaurant, Edchadas, one block from the motel that served wonderful food at reasonable prices. I would recommend this to anyone finding themselves in Twenty Nine Palms.

We got up at 4 am and Earline was upset that the shower water was cold. I reminded her that perhaps being the first one to shower in the motel complex that perhaps the water needed to run longer to clear the lines. It finally arrived and I tried to turn off the overhead light to try to sleep more. However, when I did that, Earline was in the shower in the dark. She said she could not find the bathroom light that was on the wall outside of the bathroom. I am beginning to worry for her sanity. :)

At 5:45 am, Miss ADHD had to go walking. She already repacked the car, finished her knitting and began to desire coffee. Me, I was still reading about Boron.

We found a Denny's Diner open for 24 hours and had a great breakfast before heading to the Visitor Center at Joshua Tree National Park. There is nothing there so don't bother waiting for it to open.

 I would suggest you go to the park at 8 am before it gets hot and start driving the loop through the park. You can't get lost and after awhile, you see one Joshua Tree, you see them all. :) The park mainly is a preserve of Mojave Desert in its native state and for that reason it is worth seeing.

A Joshua Tree

 A Joshua Tree is a type of Yucca plant and grows like a tree but without tree rings. It can live for many hundreds of years.   The Joshua Tree Click the link.

Skull Rock

View at Highest Point

The Cochella Valley - View at Highest Point in Park

The loop around the park from one entrance in Twenty Nine Palms to an exit at Joshua Tree is about 66 miles. I would suggest you travel to the highest point called Key Views as it is a spectacular sight. There are no vendors in the park so take a lot of water with you if you plan to visit in the Summer or you plan to hike.

After we exited the park which took about 2.5 hours, we then drove to Goodyear, Arizona to visit with my childhood friend, Carole who I have known since I was 13 years of age in Pennsylvania. She just turned 80 years of age and is remarkable vital. It was nice to see her and to spend the evening with her and her husband.