First - Thank you Billy, Richie and all the Veterans who lived and died that I may have the freedoms that I enjoy today.
Second - For those of you who are wondering why "Needles, California" sounds familiar and haven't figured it out yet, Needles is the home of Spike, one of Snoopy's brothers. We have not seen Spike and have not had the time to look for him but we have seen a business that he runs. As a matter of fact, it is just up the road from the Desert View RV Resort where we are staying. Here's a picture of the sign in front of Spike's business. ;o)
Our destination for today was the Mojave National Preserve. (We have seen the word "Mojave" and "Mohave" spelled both ways. I use the "j" spelling here because it is how it is spelled on the brochures and "newspapers" from the Preserve. Ya pays yer money and takes yer choice. :o) )
Our first plan was to drive west in California and then north into the Preserve but the need for gas took us into Arizonia first where we knew that we could get gas for $3.69 per gallon against an unknown in other places. That's where we headed when we left a little past 8:00am. Then north and then west past the casinos just after we entered Nevada. The road took us into the mountains but never higher than 5000 feet. We saw the signs for 4000 feet several times and then went higher and lower but we never saw a sign for 5000 feet. The temperature did lower as our altitude increased. It was so comfortable
outside.
We found our first geocache in Nevada before we entered the Preserve. Since that was the minimum that we wanted we did not look for any more because we wanted to see as much of the Preserve as we could.
Soon after we entered the Preserve we saw a sign which said, "Watch for Tortoises" or something like that. Tortoises are threatened. They are not to be touched or bothered. They are susceptible to diseases that can be transmitted through human contact.
Thirty-five miles into the Preserve we came to the Kelso Depot Visitor Center. It was built in 1924 as a railroad stop and quarters for the crew. The town grew up around it as it was also the home of the "helper" engines that helped the regular engines get the heavy trains up the rest of the mountain.
There we also saw a movie of the highlights of the Preserve. We would have liked to gone to see the Mitchell Caverns but they are closed for repair and it sounds like they will be closed permanently in the fall.
Another part of the Preserve is called "The Hole-in-the-Wall." It's a rock formation made by certain materials in certain conditions that create actual holes in the rocks. We would have liked to go there but it was in and area that would have taken us in the opposite direction than what we needed to go. Plus neither of us were in the the condition need to climb on the rocks to really see them.
So we went south from Kelso to the Kelso Dunes. The prevailing winds carry the sand from "local" areas and deposit it at the base of the Granite Mountains, creating dunes up to 700 feet high. We had been seeing these wide expanses of "tan mountains' for a long time and wondered if they could be the dunes. They sure enough were.
We drove back the road to the dunes and parked with other cars. People were preparing to go to the dunes, leaving to walk to the dunes or walking back from the dunes. There were photographers, hikers and people just out to walk to or on the dunes. We started out walking to the dunes knowing full well that time would not allow us to get there let alone climb the dunes. Both of us would have liked to have heard the sands of the dunes "boom" as they move across each other as they are pushed by someone walking on the dunes. But we got closer to the dunes and took some neat pictures with a camera that is acting funny. I hope it lasts until we finish the trip.
There was a chance to see a Jack Rabbit too but we never did; not even around the RV Park.
We arrived home in time for a nap before dinner. I would have liked to have had another swimm but that didn't happen either. All these pools and I'm not getting in them. :o(
It just seemed that we were being overwhelmed with dirty dishes so I stayed "home" and did the dishes as Tom headed off to get some more "cheap" gas before we start out tommorrow. We have about a 5-hour plus drive east tomorrow. We will leave the desert and mountains of California and go to the town of Holbrook in the mountains of Arizona again. We will have to dig out the winter sleepwear. . . again!
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