Day 5, Palm Springs to Primm, Nevada
We got off to a purposefully late start so we could enjoy our friends and the pool for a bit longer. Plus, the afternoon light makes the scenery look amazing.
I love the windfarm right outside of Palm Springs.
We took highway 62 north east. Yucca Valley is a bigger town then I remembered, and seemed in decent shape economically. Joshua Tree was smaller, not as nice. Twenty Nine Palms was spread out and featured a military towns preponderance of bars. We were excited to find they have a working drive in though!
In Twenty Nine Palms, we turned north on Amboy Road. The population thinned, and I started seeing more of the decrepit, abandoned houses that I find so fascinating. The huge, flat valley seems to be divided into 5-acre lots, few currently occupied, though there were mailboxes by the road.
We turned onto a dirt road to get a better look at some houses. The photos are pretty (I think) but don’t adequately capture the feeling of excitement and fear I get when creeping around these places. I’m not sure if I’m being paranoid or not, but I worry that some half-crazed schizophrenic loner is going to pop out and get me. I mean, this is where crazy loners live, right?
Despite my fear, or maybe because of it, investigating these places is really cool. It is fun the way crawling around creeks used to be fun when I was a kid. I love seeing what people take and what they leave behind, and wonder what happened–why they came and why they left.
It was really hot today, 104, but I’m starting to get used to it.
Amboy Road was great – two lanes and zero traffic and neither of us had driven it before. We crossed Route 66 in Amboy. We have been to Amboy twice before, and I know this sign is overly photographed, but I still love it.
After Amboy, we headed north on Kelbaker Road up into Mojave National Preserve. Again, new territory for both of us. Gorgeous desert, dead quiet except for insect sounds. Also the kind of place that makes you feel a tiny bit nervous when you notice there is no cell service and no other cars on the road. We modern people are pretty wimpy, I’ll admit that.
Unfortunately, the sun set while we were still in a pretty area, so we did miss some good scenery.
We wanted to make it to Las Vegas tonight, but by 8:30 we were tired and hungry so we stopped just over state line in Primm Nevada and are staying in a casino tonight. Walking into that lobby was pretty jarring after such a peaceful drive.
Day four, Palm Springs
Yesterday was another pool day…too hot to hike. We had dinner at the Ace Hotel, and then drank and danced at Toucan’s Tiki bar. The go-go dancers there were very friendly.
Roadtripz and Other Journeys 