Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012: Day 4 – Palm Springs

By Nige on Thu 07 Jun 2012 at 22:00
Type: Post
Story: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012
Tags: Hilton | Joshua Tree National Park | Mustang | Palm Springs

Slept well considering the jet lag.  Planning to head to the Joshua Tree National Park this morning.

Another fine breakfast at the HGI – always gets us off to a good start.  We can go easy at lunch and then have an early dinner.

The drive to JTNP wasn’t straight forward thanks to our Sat Nav which decided to take us to the south entrance rather than the north, even though I told it to direct us to Joshua Tree city. 

After some debate at a rest area off the I10, and bemusement that there was no Starbucks nearby we entered the park from the south.

JTNP is an amazing combination of rock formations, desert, Joshua trees (as per the name of the park), and one view in particular at Keys View. 

Look at some of the photos to get an idea. 

We came across a number of cyclists in the blistering heat and we both thought “that’s mad”.

JTNP is wild, desolate and inhabited by dangerous cacti that ‘jump’ their needles into you if you go near them, weird trees and, curiously, cute bunnies. In places it’s how I imagine the surface of the moon.

After JTNP we headed north out of the park and stopped at the first Starbucks we came across. 

No coffee this time, but we tried some smoothies which were not good, and Vick had a frappucino. 

I had to sneak in a yoghurt parfait thing which was very nice and avoided us needing to get any lunch.

On the way back we stopped at Palm Springs where briefly our Mustang’s temperature gauge hit 117f (47c), which is majorly hot (as our friends in Qatar can testify). 

Down the main street all of the restuarants have water spraying out over the pavement to make it more comfortable for pedestrians. 

We also were tempted by some very nice T Shirts in the Crazy Shirts shop. 

The woman wasn’t prepared to do a deal on 4 t shirts, and we weren’t going to pay $31 each. 

We may go back there tomorrow morning.

Driving along in 117f heat with the top down can only be described as HOT.

We needed urgent medical assistance, and found some at Ben & Jerry’s.

Anyway back in our hotel room now – Vick’s watching elephant videos, and that’s not a new kinky X rated top shelf movie before anyone asks!

We went out to a Mexican restaurant just up the road for dinner and for the first time we were really disappointed.  We grabbed a drink at the bar initially and other than one guy (that also works at the hotel in the mornings that we recognised) they weren’t that friendly.

The food was ok, but they forgot to bring out our starter, and my chimichanga was made with chicken and not beef.  Such is life!  No tip left this evening!

Stats for Day 4: 180 miles.

Plan for tomorrow is to drive to San Diego.

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012