27/8/22 Heading East and a bit South

 Last night was fun, the air conditioning in my room decided that it didn’t need to chill the air anymore, just push it around a bit so that was fun.  I did find a huge ice machine next to the lift so I made do with very icy drinks.

I took this after I got into the car and took out my phone first thing in the morning.  

The heat is a bit much sometimes.

My first first of the day was pumping some gas (as opposed to producing it from some tamales), and considering the car didn’t catch fire or stop anywhere I guess I did it right.  There was a nozzle for petrol and one for diesel.  And of course the diesel one was green, just like our petrol ones - luckily I noticed before something bad happened.  But then I was faced with three buttons that you push to select they type of petrol that it pumps - 91, 88 and 85.  91 was more expensive but I thought I’d go with what I know and it worked fine.  It also only cost me around $50 for a full tank, so I pretended it was the early 2000s again.

Breakfast was the next order, since my alarm didn’t go off to get the hotel breakfast.  I didn’t realise it was Saturday and the alarm was set only for weekdays. The joys of holidays & losing compete track of the date and day.  My brother in law had recommended toasted sandwiches for breakfast from Jack in the Box so this seemed to be a great time to try it.  And of course there were several types as well as what they all sandwiches here (if it’s not a burger with beef, it seems to be a sandwich).  Then there was the challenge of a coffee with all the crazy options but luckily they did just a normal, plain coffee.  I got to practice my in-country lingo and asked for some half-and-half so that’s a win.  I am so happy with the coffee here, so far it has been really good and just the way I like it. NZ places always makes a flat white with milk and goes all tarty so I have to ask for an Americano with milk or hot water with some brown and then chuck some milk in. 

I’ve given up asking for (in my best NZ uccent) a fuzzy drunk, as the comedy gold is lost on them.

The sign said “over 100 types” which I assumed it meant like the Burger King machines that put flavoured chemicals into standard drinks but no, this was so much more!  Each selection then had the variety of drink for that type.  For example for the Minute Maid Lemonade it opened up another menu and you could have all the flavours they have, like peach, strawberry, chutney etc.  So it wasn’t just a set of 6 flavours you could add to every drink, they were the proper variations.  Thankfully I didn’t want a water, because the six dots one the left hand side were the different brands of water, with added variations of course.  I chose a Peach Minute Maid No Sugar, and it was grossly overly sweet.  That got chucked and a Dr Pepper sorted me out, with a Strawberry Lemonade for the road.

The toasted sandwich, with two different types of cheese and two fried eggs (actually real eggs and actually fried) with bacon.  One of the better fast food breakfast sandwiches / muffins I’ve had.

This would have probably interested and disgusted Dad since he hated dates but here are the date palms with the date bunches in nets ready for collection.

The famous Salton Sea, 236 ft below sea level and possibly the lowest point I’ve ever been, apart from when I watched The Phantom Menace.  

I didn’t stop since it was hot and the place looked a little feral and methy.

A fair bit of today was like this, very long stretches of straight road with bugger all on either side.

That dark line going across the middle - the fence between the US & Mexico, and the sand above it is Mexico itself.  It hadn’t fallen over so I assume this wasn’t part of the orange baboon’s wall.

Because where else would you put a church?

I crossed over the Colorado river and over the border into Arizona.  I know I did because I am here but I didn’t notice it at the time somehow.  I think I was between two large trucks so I didn’t actually see anything.  This was in Yuma, just over the border into Arizona.  I had a lovely welcome to the town of Yuma when some jackass in a impractically large Ute pulled out from a liquor store in front of me without looking then pulled into a tobacco store 10 seconds later.  

If his driving doesn’t kill him then his avoidance of physical exercise and addictions surely will.  

I didn’t use my horn because his probable insecurity blanket of a handgun would have ended me.

Another must-try ticked off: Jersey Mikes.  I can never go back to Subway ever again.

Now that’s a sub sandwich.  This is about as long as our Subways but this is a half size.  Two different types of entire pig when into making this ham, which is sliced fresh when you order, as is the cheese.

I asked for gherkins and got the strangest look from the guy making it.  They were actually gherkins but I “corrected” myself to pickles rather than try to educate the colonists, in case my lunch was taken out the back for some extra customisation.

There were some hills!  And green things.  The variety was appreciated.

They have the weirdest looking hills here.  Just vast areas of super flat land and then these lines of hills just stick up.

Gila Bend and some clouds.  I haven’t really seen any for a week so this was a novelty.

After a line of hills it suddenly became quite green everywhere and it rained.  For about 1 minute and some pretty light drops, but it was rain.

Cacti!  Lots and lots of them.

These animals seem to be far too happy to be featured on my plate tonight.

A genuine Arizona BBQ restaurant.  Yes, country music was playing.

Pulled pork, brisket and ribs.  Each was so tender and full of flavour.  I may not come back to NZ because of meat.

A Helton Valley Venom Pilsner (a fine beer, but not really deserving of such a long name), Mac n Cheese, smoked baked beans, coleslaw and potato salad.  Each side was pretty much the best version of it’s type I’ve ever had.  I left there very full and thankful the car has a reversing camera because I could not have turned around.

And finally I noticed this in my room, definitely an example of a sign that’s there because someone has done it.

Tomorrow is the Pima Air & Space Museum that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time!

26/8/22 Off to another kind of park

 Today was a great day mostly spent driving through the Joshua Tree National Park which is just above Palm Springs.  This will be a pretty photo heavy entry, but it was an amazing experience.  The rock formations are huge and very strange looking, and I’d imagine very popular with rock climbers and people who don’t have dodgy knees and enjoy physical exercise in the sweltering heat.  I did not climb over them, no.

While the actual driving time is probably around two hours, it took me around five hours to get around it because I was stopping so often to take photos.  Around every corner there was an amazing rock formation or stunning view.  I tried to put the camera on the windscreen to video some of the journey but it just fell off in the heat.

Of course the pool is being upgraded over summer, who would want to use it at this time of year?

The hills around Palm Springs are pretty spectacular and leave poor old Te Mata Peak in the dust.

The free hotel breakfast, I’ve had worse but it’s no IHOP.  At the top is my first time having sausage gravy.  It was fine, tasted kind of like a gravy but as a white sauce. I don’t think I need to have it again.

Like coffee, they do orange juice really well here, none of that orange flavoured breakfast drink, this was freshly squeezed tastiness.

Look at all the flavours! Somewhere in the middle is a chocolate milk one. I bet that goes down a treat in the hot summer sun, especially if it tips over in the car.

The cups on the side, second from bottom - that’s the large size.  

They do XL and 2XL, because America. I got the no sugar Dr Pepper because I like not having diabetes.

What I thought was an old Native American building seems to be a wildlife or weather monitoring station.  Why don’t we have zoom eyeballs yet?

Palm Springs in the middle, LA is further back in the haze

There were quiet a few trees that were burned and dead but nothing else around them. 

According to a sign they are the results of lightning strikes. I was nervously eyeing up any overhead clouds from that point on.

There were people camping here! It was 38c with no wind, why would you do this?

Supposedly Skull Rock but I think it would be better named as Homer Skull Rock, you’d know what you’re getting.

The wheels. I still look like someone wresting a bag of potatoes getting in and out of it.  I’m so used to getting in the other side I just can’t get my body to go into mirror mode.

The bushes around the place are creosote bushes and they smell so nice. It was like having a car air freshener that was actually pleasant.

I think this was a dust devil, it was there for ages and had a bunch of little ones around it.

114f, that would be 44c. This is why every time I have a meal I order 57 cold drinks.

Walmart.  Disappointingly I saw far more weirdos in the Hollywood supermarket. 

Not surprising, but disappointing. I had promised my brain weirdos and didn’t see any.

I asked for a local beer, but the waiter didn’t really speak much English so I pointed to the one that I didn’t recognise.  Coors, Bud and Millers can all go to hell.

Pretty much the best burger I’ve ever had. The yellow peppers on the side - not eating them was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Parmesan fries.  Yes, yes they were very good.

Tomorrow I’m driving to Tucson.  There is major road works on the Interstate so I’ve got the choice of going on that, with an hour and half wait, but only taking 5 1/2 hours or going down around the Salton Sea taking 6 1/2 hours but not sitting in a car for 90 minutes in the heat.  Think I’m going to go the long way round.