Friday November 6
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| Donkeys imminent! |
Determined not to make the same
mistake twice stuffed myself with sausage, eggs and oatmeal at breakfast before heading out. Historic Route 66 winds up the hills to Oatman curvy and oozing pre-interstate charm. Even at that hour I passed a couple other travelers (in Mustangs).
I wasn’t sure of the feral donkey schedule, but when I rounded the corner on the town there were three just standing there like statues.
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| Southern Democrat party of Oatman? |
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| Donkey performance art? |
One immediately came over to inquire about food, and luckily I had that huge bag of inedibly unsalted tortilla chips! Donkey didn’t seem to mind so I fed him several handfuls through the window.
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| Who's photobombing who? |
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| Oatman waking |
After Oatman I headed to Joshua Tree and passed the ghost town of Amboy and its weird black crater on the way. Joshua Tree is not a pretty park. Approaching from the North it looks like several piles of rocks. I did the short Split Rock loop, which was windy with cool looking boulders.
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The abandoned Roy Motel and Cafe is across from the working postoffice
(and next to a gas station selling regular unleaded for $4.99) |
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| If Chi Ho hadn't told me it was a crater I'd have just thought it was a weird dumpy mesa |
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| Face Rock |
Towards the end of the trail a bramble caught the camera
strap and I dropped it on the gravel trail, scratching the lens protector,
ending the high res photography portion of the trip.
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| An unhappy turn toward the abstract :( |
I decided to wrap up the park visit and
head to Palm Springs. I passed a
wind farm on the way and because I was in the safety of my car I took off the scratched lens protector and took this one last shot.
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| Like a crowd waving to me as I drove by |
Palm Springs is like a mirage: a 1950s dream of a desert
city, palm-lined and full of cute businesses. I had a delicious GF grilled
cheese and tomato with a house salad and an awesome cilantro-cucumber juice.
Just what I needed after over a week of Mexican food. Then on the way to Santa Monica I hit rush hour and got on the wrong
road so I got in after 7pm, pretty tired.
At Santa Monica, I rented a bike long ago, and biked to Marina Del Re (many years ago when I spoke virtually no English.) It's an iconic scenery on the beach front. It's a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteI just hung out at the beach with my aunt and cousin.
ReplyDelete