After this we returned to the room and packed our cases and were on the road by 0830. We are travelling to Palm Springs today, about an hour and half drive. Traffic was still pretty heavy even though it was a Saturday, but then this is a bank holiday weekend here with Martin Luther King day on Monday so people are going away. On route Linda spotted a JoAnn craft shop, so we had to stop and she disappeared for a while, I just sat in the car reading the paper.
Eventually we were back on the road and reached our first stop of the day, an outlet shopping centre. Linda went into Tommy Hilfiger and found a few tops she liked. I then saw the Nike shop and needed some new running trainers as my current ones have worn out. They had a large selection, so Linda sat there while I tried numerous pairs on. I would collect the boxes and Linda sat there guarding them. They do large sizes, which as I need a 14 is useful. Eventually I settled on a Nike free 5tr which is a trainer that provides good support and greater flexibility.
We then finished our shopping and drove to Palm Springs. Linda wanted to go to Walmart so I found one for her. After this we went to our hotel, The Movie Colony and checked in. In the evening we had a walk around town. The temperature is warm during the day, but drops at night, typical desert weather....
I had a lie in on Sunday and didn't get up till 0700 and then went out for a run around Palm Springs, I needed to test out my new running trainers. They were comfortable to wear and felt good. I did a few loops round the town and then found a mountain trail and ran up a hill. I took some photos at the top and messaged them to Linda so she could enjoy the sun rising as well. I then ran back to the hotel, unfortunately not seeing a raised pavement and tripped over. Although I didn't hurt anything I was slightly bruised.
Breakfast wasn't till 0830 and was rather disappointing, toast but nothing to put on it, no yoghurt and a very sullen member of staff. The standard has dropped since we were last here.
We had researched a church on the Internet and found one about a mile and a half away, The First Southern Baptist Church of Palm Springs. As it wasn't far we (or I) decided that we could walk. It was a lovely sunny day and we had plenty of time. It took about half an hour to get there. They had about 30 people present, mostly older folk, but a few visitors. They had a visiting speaker who described himself as the 'minister of coffee' and I thought that's the job for me. His sermon was good and was based on Psalm 15 with the question 'why are you here?'
Having walked there we had to walk back, but I did take a different more scenic route. I found out afterwards there was a free bus we could have used for some of the journey, but it was a warm pleasant day so better to walk. We stopped on the way back for a coffee and visited the arts festival. This was a number of craft and art stores on the village green displaying their works.
Once back at the hotel we decided to sit outside in our t-shirts and shorts around the pool. Linda went swimming whilst I did some reading. It was very pleasant. It started to get chilly around 1600 so we went back inside to read.
On Monday I had a surprise, Linda wanted to come on a morning run. We left just after 0700 and started running, I was under instructions that we were not too go to far, but she did manage to get out of the hotel complex. I planned a route and we ended up at Elvis' hideaway (photo above), a house he lived at between 1966-1967 with Priscilla. The only difficulty was it was slightly up hill, but as I had my headphones on I was able to ignore the comments. However, I did point out that the good news it was downhill all the way back. It was just over a mile to the house and then a mile back, but we stopped for coffee and Linda had a rest. In the end we did about 2.5 miles.
Breakfast was even worse today, the assistant was still sullen and the bread frozen. We went to Shields date garden, where they have been growing dates since 1935. It was interesting and we had a walk around the shop, stopped for a date milk shake and then sat in the garden. There was a walk around a second garden which had different stages of Jesus' life recorded, alongside biblical quotations. It is warm today, so still in t-shirts but slightly cloudy.
Our next stop was El Paseo which is an upmarket town in the area. It was very posh and full of old people. We did have a wander around and enjoyed a coffee. Linda wanted to go to a different Walmart, as it may have different items in it, I managed to find one using Google. We had a wander around and Linda found some more craft items she wanted and a new pair of jeans. It was mid afternoon by now and getting hotter so we returned to the hotel to relax.
Tuesday's bible reading was all about Jesus in the wilderness, whilst I only spent a day travelling through it, I could see how it would be tough. It was the same scenery of desert surrounded by mountain for mile after mile after mile.....At one stage I covered over 100 miles and only saw one car going in the same direction.
We left Palm Springs around 0930 and Linda had a choice the scenic route or the interstate. She decided on the scenic route, which was about 300 miles to Furnace Creek in Death Valley. Linda did have her camera out but there are only so many pictures you can take of a Joshua tree, mountains and desert. The road was straight, very little traffic, so put it in cruise control and relax. It did get a bit boring in the end and a few bends would have been nice.
After driving through the Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Johnson Valley, Mohave desert and Joshua Tree park, we finally made Barstow by early afternoon and stopped for a Starbucks, I needed a caffeine input badly. It was then on the interstate for about fifty miles, before we turned off again at Baker. It was raining as we came across the mountains. We had crossed several Indian reservations, but I didn't see any Indians, I told Linda to look out for them but she didn't spot any either.
The last thirty miles from Death Valley Junction were more entertaining as you came down from 2000 feet to the bottom about 214 feet below sea level. We arrived at the ranch and booked in, good news Linda likes her room.
On Wednesday I ticked off another item on my bucket list - running through Death Valley. I was up early, keen, as the sun rose and out running. I did a six mile loop including Mustard Canyon, it was mainly flat gravel roads and a reasonably quick time. it was great fun running in the valley, and could have gone further but didn't have time. I also took some great pictures but couldn't message them to Linda as there is no signal in the valley.
Linda was sitting on the balcony drinking her tea when I returned. She had been watching the sun rise from the comfort of our room, not too much effort involved there... We went to the local cafe for breakfast (the only cafe of course) and I had eggs and toast, Linda had blueberry pancakes.
After that it was time to pack the car up and leave, it was another 2 hour drive back to Las Vegas. We stopped at Zabriskie Point after about 10 minutes drive to have a look around, take several photos and admire the view. It is warm in Death Valley today, mid 60's. The road was empty and a pleasant drive, although I am getting slightly bored of desert, mountain, sky, it even makes I Spy difficult to play. The speed limit increased to 70 mph when we crossed the state line in Nevada and then joined the 95 road which goes straight into Vegas. We did go past the US airforce base at Indian Springs and saw several drones land and take off.
After 2 hours we were back in Vegas and Linda wanted to visit a craft store so I found her another one. She had a look around but did not actually buy anything. We then went to the Hotel, we are staying at the Hampton Inn, just off the Strip (the Trump was full). It is fine and does provide breakfast.
In the evening we went for a walk along the strip and had a meal. They are closing the Strip down at night for filming the new Jason Bourne movie. We saw some of the action, but not Matt Damon.
We have driven about 1050 miles, walked about 75 miles and I have run 35, not a bad effort overall. Thursday was a slow day, sort out some washing, packing the bags and going to the airport. Cold England here we come.
There are some more photos here.