I left Thursday after dropping off my computer, and drove down to Barstow for the night. There was light rain in Mojave. Mojave is one of the places where large fleets of aircraft are stored. I'm not sure if they are there to be re-painted, sold, or choped, but I did see an airplane on which I may have flown. There were to Virgin Atlantic 747's just sitting there, as well as a lot of Continental MD-11's.
I had thje worst meal I have ever had on the road Thursday night; it was at Golden Dragon in Barstow. Allegedly, it was Thai-Chinese, but it really was bland chicken. Service was so poor (I was never provided with anything to drink, for example, and attracting the server's attention was impossible.) I left no tip.
Friday I explored the eastern Mojave. I went to the Rainbow Canyon area north of Barstow, then went to Kelso and Cima. I took a fair number of pictures. I then drove south to Indio where I watched the Duke vs Oklahoma game (we lost) and met Brian and Andreia for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant where I had escargot and risotto tute mare. Brian had the Godfather special (scampi, veal, and something else) and Andreia had osso busco. Delicious, expensive, and filling.
Saturday was Joshua Tree. We first looked for lizards and snakes, but found to rattlers all day. There were a lot of fence lizards.
We hiked to Barker Dam, which is now innundated with people. They've paved the road to a large parking area, two years ago it was a dirt road and was not visited much. We saw collared lizards and a whiptail.
Lunch was at Rocky's pizza.
The afternoon was spent on the Geology Tour road. At Squaw Tank, we did some rock climbing, and when we reached a good rest spot, just relaxed and absorbed the desert for about a half hour. Last stop was Key's View.
Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant. Good. I had empanadas and shrimp stuffed with pollock and wrapped with bacon. Brian had chicken mole and Andreai had tostada salad.
Sunday I woke at 1:45AM with mild acid reflux, and after getting antacid, decided to drive home. I was home by 10AM. It was an enjoyable trip.
All text and images are © Copyright 2002 James C. Armstrong, Jr.