California-Twentynine Palms-15 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Welcome to California. A western U.S. state, California stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific for nearly 900 miles to Oregon. Its terrain includes cliff-lined beaches, redwood forest, Sequoia forest, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland, and the Mojave Desert. Reaching California we have now completed the south states in the Lower 48 the United States.

We are headed to Twentynine Palms. The time The Rivera RV Park, Las Vegas to Twentynine Palms RV Resort and Cottages in Twentynine Palms, California is 3 h 9 min (182 miles) via Hwy 87N and Hwy 380E via I-15 and N Amboy Road. Our reservation is for one night on May 16th.

Lora got up with me at 5:30 am (first light, Bella time). We were able to wash up, clean up the camper, pack things up, and get on the road by 8 am. The morning temperature was very comfortable. Once again we were surprised to how close we were to the California boarder. The drive to the boarder was all highway. We past Seven Magic Mountains, we visited last week. 45 minutes from where we started we hit the Primm, Nevada which is the last city before California. We crossed into California and all we seen was desert and a dry lake bed which the highway past through. At the end was a field of solar panels which appeared as a like in the distance.

As we started to prepare to climb the mountain, I looked down at google maps and seen I needed to turn off. I crossed the 2 lanes and pulled off the exit left of the solar panel field.

We crossed over the highway and drove what seemed into nowhere.

A few miles down we made a right hand turn into total desert. Within a short time we found out why.

Reading about the Mojave Desert we wondered if it will get super hot. The outside temperature was in the 70's which was great. We were absolutely in the desert. Basically one road in and out. The road was not bad, there were many dips in the road, but the signs gave us decent warning. The train track followed the road.

We past one abandoned town and sometime later we drove into Kelso, California.

Kelso is a ghost town and defunct railroad depot. It was named after railroad worker John H. Kelso, whose name was placed into a hat along with two other workers to decide the name of the town. The town was built in 1905 specifically as a railroad station along the rail line between Utah and Los Angeles, originally called "Siding 16," because of its location and nearby springs that provided abundant water.

Starting off as what was a simple train depot in the 1920s, the town of Kelso boomed briefly to as many as 2000 residents in the 1940s, when borax and iron nearby. Gold and Silver were also discovered in the nearby hills of what became known as the Kelso district. The town shrank again when the mines closed after about a decade.

After crossing the railroad tracks we went another mile or so and stopped to get pictures of the sand dunes.

We stopped a few more times before our next turn onto the Historic Route 66.

At Historic Route 66 we made a left hand turn. We started to see rocks laid out in words and symbols on the side.

We eventually stopped and decided to leave out mark. The sides were mostly populated, so I dropped into the dried creek bed and started my creation.

Maybe one day we will come back to see if our surname is still there. We past one more small town with a rest stop and gas station. Diesel was post over $5.00. Shortly after that we drove through borax mines on the surface of the desert.

Within an hour of our destination we started to see signs of life. There were small building that were actually homes or trailers. Occasionally we would see a developed property.

We reached the city limits of Twentynine Palms and a few miles down Twentynine Palms RV Park and Cottages was on our right.

Twentynine Palms RV Park and Cottages is very clean. The check-in office has a small store.

The property has permanent campers and separate temporary area. The cabins are throughout the property. The site has an indoor pool, workout room, banquet room and outdoor shuffleboard and horseshoes.

We were completely setup before noon. We had a normal day ahead of us. We needed to refill on diesel so we decided to head to Twentynine Palms the town. We found a few gas stations to refill, but decided to checkout Oasis Visitor Center 4 miles before the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

We drove to the entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. We used our National Park Interagency Pass to cover admission.

Joshua Tree National Park is an amazing place. The temperature was perfect all day which added to us enjoying the drive and stops. We stopped at Skull Rock and walked around.

Down farther we seen a sign for Desert Queen Mine Trail. The road was a one way dirt road.

The Desert Queen Mine Trail is just to the right of the bathrooms at the trail head for Desert Queen Mine and Pine City. We walked the Desert Queen Mine Trail. The walk is under one mile round trip and an easy walk.

When we finished the trail we met a gentleman in the parking lot. He lived in Greensboro, NC for many years as a billboard painter. He later became a courtroom graphic artist. He was the artist for the John Edwards trial. We left the trail and headed toward the city of Joshua Tree.

We reached the exit of the National Park at Joshua Tree. From Joshua Tree we drove back to Twentynine Palms. The distance is about 18 miles. We filled up on fuel and headed back to the camper for the evening.

I am glad we got up early, left early, and had the time to visit Joshua Tree National Park. It was not on the agenda. Tomorrow we head to Julian, California. Our goal is to visit with her brother Michael and family. We do not know what their plans are at this time.

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