Western USA - Summer 2017

Before departing the Grand Canyon, we stopped into the Kolb Brothers studio and the Yavapai Geology Museum to learn a little more of its history. Once on the road, today was to be a long day, with 6hr20 of driving planned, all the way to Twentynine Palms via the Mojave Desert.

Much of the drive was along Route 66, and we made a brief stop to see the Americana in Williams, the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the Interstate system. Beyond this, the vastness of the America n west becomes apparent, passing no obvious settlements for hours at a time. We briefly stopped in Searchlight, for lunch and fuel before entering the desert, and we're thankful it was a brief stop!

The Mojave Desert itself was fascinating to drive through. Surrounded by Joshua Trees and scrub, the landscape was different again to anything we'd seen so far. In the middle of the desert was the NPS Visitors' Centre (happily in Kelso!), in the old train depot, where we learnt not only of the wildlife and vegetation, but the development of the rail system and the gold rush.

We arrived in Twentynine Palms, home to the world's largest marine base, just after 5pm, having checked out at 8am. The town itself is right in the edge of Joshua Tree NP, our stop tomorrow before LA. A quick driving tour of the town and a stop at a dollar store later, we returned to our two bed cottage on the edge of town. The clear skies and sparse city made for excellent star gazing, and the milky way was in full display.Meer informatie