Day 17: Lake Havasu to I-5

Long Day. We had breakfast at the TravelLodge. This was a very pleasant place to stay. Teresa talked to the owner's wife who had her baby with her and was keeping the breakfast area stocked. Evidently, the hotel was run down when they bought it, but they fixed it up and got some very positive reviews on some travel sites and now are quite busy. We really liked Lake Havasu City -- a very nice place.

We changed time zones as we crossed the Colorado River into California. As we passed through the Sacramento Mountains (2,770 ft.), we said goodbye to the Sonoran Desert and the distinctive saguaro and hello to the Mojave Desert and the distinctive Joshua Trees that were replacing the saguaro in the landscape. Different name, still in a desert. Sandy, dry, brown ... We stopped for gas ( $4.59/gal !) and I noticed a number of Route 66 souvenirs for sale. We kept seeing signs for Historic Route 66 along the way weaving in and out across the interstate. As our map stated, "Historic Route 66 passed through this area along various alignments."

We returned to the Mojave National Preserve -- this time from the south. We saw the Kelso sand dunes, stopped for a train at the Kelso station, turned off onto a dirt road to cross over to the "Hole-in-the-Wall" camping area, were passed on the dirt road by 12 dirt bikes, ran into some cattle (not literally), passed by a ranch, got back onto a paved road at the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Center, and took a trail to see some petroglyphs.

Teresa got to show off her forest-road driving skills and I learned what "washboarding" means (visualize driving over one). The guide at the visitor center told us about the trail. She said that the petroglyphs were small and easy to miss, but showed us on the trail map where to look. I said to Teresa, "I'm sure they are marked." She said, " What part of 'small and easy to miss' don't you understand?" She was right, but we found them. There was a hiker in front of us taking pictures and that helped. The trail continued on taking about an hour and ending in a literal rock climb -- using metal rings that were embedded into the rocks to climb on. We turned around at the petroglyphs.

At this point the sightseeing portion of our trip is over. Now it is about getting home and visiting relatives in Santa Rosa and Redding. So we drove... and drove. The desert went on and on and we were low on gas. We reached Kramer's Junction just in time. No palm trees, but this was a real oasis in the desert. Two roads intersect and there is a light -- with a left turn lane/light even -- and 4 gas stations, a truck service place, mini mart, local restaurant, a Burger King, and souvenir stands and shops. We gassed up and had our usual 3:00 "lunch/dinner."

Somewhat refreshed we drove on. Encountered dark clouds as a front moved through, but missed the rain. We finally came out of the desert into the valley and headed north. We cut across from highway 99 to I-5 and enjoyed the sunset view at Wasco (they have a rose festival there in September). Then we drove up I-5 and stopped at Kettleman City.

But the motel had a sign in front that said, "Internet service is temporarily unavailable." Well we couldn't have that and as we debated whether to go to the Motel across the street, the clerk told us there was another exit with motels 20 minutes up the road. He said the one across the street was overpriced. So off we went and here we are at the junction of I-5 an highway 198. It will make our drive to Santa Rosa that much shorter tomorrow, but it was a long, long day.