The winds finally died down today and we were able get on the road. The drive out of the Coachella Valley is a long uphill pull on I-10. The elevation near Indio, CA, at the northern end of the Salton Sea is -62, i.e., 62 feet below sea level. Ten miles up the hill the elevation is 1,621 feet above sea level. The General Patton Memorial Museum is located at the Chiriaco Summit. General Patton established the Desert Training Center in this area in 1942 in order to train troops for fighting in the African Deserts. The Training Center area was 350 by 250 miles. Patton would direct tank and troop maneuvers from the air. There are several old tanks at the museum as well as other Army memorabilia.

Desert plants along I-10 consisted mostly of creosote bush and paloverde trees. Except for an occasional ocotillo (now in bloom) this portion of the drive was quite boring. We turned north on CA 177 at Desert Center. This highway runs along the eastern edge of the Joshua Tree National Park. Here the creosote bushes were covered with white fuzzy seed pods that are left after their yellow blooms have disappeared. The most spectacular site along this road was the pink blooming ironwood trees. We had never before observed these trees in full bloom--beautiful. Once we turned north along CA 95 we started gaining elevation. Between 1,500 and 2,000 feet the ocotillo was in full bloom and many cholla were interspersed among them.    

We are camped at Blake Ranch RV Park and Horse Hotel about 10 miles east of Kingman, AZ. This is a great park and they give the Escapees 15% discount. On to Sun Valley, AZ tomorrow.