Road Trip Slices

Grey Skies, Red Rocks

It's January 25, 2013 and I'm sitting in Mesa, AZ having not done much of anything today.  I had big plans for this day -- one of two in Mesa with nothing on the agenda as the intrepid Nancy B (aka the B) makes art elsewhere in the hotel.   I was so torn between going to the Grand Canyon, Tombstone, and a day at the spa that I ended up with nothing planned.  Sometimes the best days are spent sitting on a couch watching old episodes of CSI and Law & Order: Special Victims unit while puttering around on my computer.  The only thing missing is a nap (but there is still time for that left in the day).

After a few days puttering around in San Diego (that included a whale watching tour with whale sightings from afar), the B and I set out for points east in California and Arizona.

Skechers

Our first --and unplanned-- stop was at the gigantic Skecher's distribution center and factory store.  It's something like 1.8 million square feet -- that is acres and acres of Skechers.  They can move 20,000 pairs of shoes an hour -- using a "highly efficient" robotics systems.  Methinks, despite statements to the contrary as this super-sized structure was being built, it did not create so many jobs.

Kate's Lazy Desert

Tiki @ Kate's Lazy Desert

After a late lunch at John's Place (yummy burgers and fries) and shopping at Von's (juice for the vodka, milk for the coffee, oatmeal for breakfast), we let Blondie (the B's name for her GPS) guide us to Kate's Lazy Desert.  It was quite the complicated little adventure with the final stretch meandering along an unpaved Botkin Road until we hit the gates at Kate's where we had booked two airstreams and had the place to ourselves.  It was a bit chilly for a swim and (alas) there were no stars to see due to a thick cloud cover but we made the best of it with cream flavored vodka and juice and a cozy fire.

Washer Drum Fire

Morning brought a cuppa coffee and a bowl of oatmeal before we set out on the next stage of our adventure.

Joshua Tree
This has got to be the fastest visit to Joshua Tree ever.  Fortunately, we had spent a day there a couple of summers ago.  I did get a few quick photos in under a grey winter sky before the rain rolled in.

Stormy Skies

Winter Pods

Red Rocks Rising

Fallen Joshua Tree

Driving, Driving, Driving
It takes five hours to get from Joshua Tree to the Phoenix area.  The first hour or so was on an endless road -- ominously marked as being "not" maintained.  Fortunately, it is dry out here in the desert so very few potholes.  The rest of it is mostly on route 10 which appears to be a major truck and RV route and also heavily populated with RVs -- at least until you hit Blythe where they all seem to veer off into the giant RV parks that line the road and house RVs of all shapes and sizes.


There was the excitement of trucks passing trucks,  RVs towing cars, trucks passing RVs, us passing trucks......

Mostly, the desert just flew by under the  moody light that only a cloudy sky can deliver.  

Highway to Infinity