Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023: Day 4 – Victorville to San Bernardino

By Nige on Sun 17 Dec 2023 at 18:59
Type: Post
Story: Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023
Tags: Hertz | Hilton | Trips | USA | Victorville

A little bit of a disappointing day today. Had quite a few things planned, but almost none of them actually came off!

Similar sort of night’s sleep as last night, so about 3 hours prior to midnight and about 3 hours after midnight. That’s enough to keep me going.

I was up in time for heading to Starbucks for 4:30am. It was chilly – wow – just 40 deg F!

Whilst I waited for Starbucks to open, I saw a funky coloured Tesla charging nearby – bright pink!

After picking up my coffee, I searched for an EV charger at which I could pay using my credit card, rather than needing an app.

First and closest charger I found to Starbucks was an EVGo charger, which seemed to need an RFID tag before proceeding.

I then drove about 5 miles down the road to an Electrify America charger, which was the same as the one I used the other day as a a test, and although my first attempt to pay failed, the second time it went through fine.

Only managed to get a max of 100Kw, even though the charger was capable of up to 350Kw.

So I was there over 30 mins. Spoke to Vick whilst I was there, so it was still worth sitting in the car.

Back to the hotel for breakfast and I overate to stretch my belly further into the afternoon. So I’d only need 2 meals again today.

I checked out of the hotel and had a clear plan of attack for the day: drive to another Starbucks for a caffeine top-up, then I’d head to the El-Mirage Dry Lake Recreation Area, not to participate, but to see what all the fuss was about.

Then I’d head down the road for about 5 miles to visit my second boneyard at the Aviation Warehouse.

Liverpool were playing at home to Man United, and I tend to keep away from the football when my team is playing – I can’t cope with the stress of it! The Vickster watches it and keeps me updated. So that was going on in the background.

Well, it all turned into a bit of a waste of a morning to be honest. Starbucks went well! Liverpool could only draw at home 0-0. Failing to score is unheard of for us.

I had to pay $15 to get into El-Mirage Dry Lake Recreation Area and other than a very short distance of paved road, it was all off-roading, so 10 mins later, I was heading out again!

So that was a bit of a waste of $15.

I was assured that I would at least be able to spend a bit of quality time at the Aviation Warehouse, but that was closed!

When I checked its website on line, it was no longer offering public access. It would only open for companies that wanted to buy spares etc.

Consequently, I decided I might as well head down to San Bernardino and see whether I could check in early. The drive was easy and I was at the Hampton Inn by midday.

Unfortunately, due to the hotel being full last night, they were unlikely to have a room available before 2pm.

I looked up local attractions and found Razor Ridge Viewpoint. I headed up there, but that was closed as well. Best I could do was park up at Hulda Crooks Park, which had a decent view.

Back to the hotel and after doing a bit of work in the Hampton’s foyer, I decided I was hungry enough to deal with another visit to BJ’s.

I thought it might he packed, with it being lunchtime at the weekend, but it was fairly quiet so I easily got a booth.

I ordered my first pint of Sam Adams and ordered a ribeye steak with a sweet relish, garlic fried veggies and fries.

It was gorgeous. The relish added a different dimension to the steak. The steak was tasty with not too much fat. Even the veggies were pretty tasty.

I washed it all down with a second pint of Sam Adams and hoped I could get a room when I got back to the hotel.

When I got back to the hotel, they found me a room on the third floor. No upgrade on this occasion, but it was time for a snooze after a very long and disappointing day.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023