Now I ain’t no milkman, no milkman’s son I can pull your titties ’till the milkman comes ’Cause I’m an all-around man . . . I mean I’m all-around man I can do ’most anything that come to hand. —Bo Carter, “All Around Man,” 1936
As an added bonus I have worked out how to show you the route of our daily travels. These four maps will catch you up. Day one of Last Hurrah U.S.A road trip LAX to Joshua Tree Town
I drink so much jake, it have settled down in my knee I retched for my lovin’, my baby turned her back on me. —Ishmon Bracey, “Jake Liquor Blues,” 1930
Neither Wendy nor I had a good sleep. We are both suffering from a bit of a head cold. Keeping up with the blog is a little difficult as we are cramming a lot into each day. I know I had two typos in the last upload.
Today is helicopter day and my palms are already sweating. This will be my first flight in a helicopter and what a scary start it will be flying over the Grand Canyon. We get on the road at 7:30. I mentioned in the last blog that there is still some snow around Flagstaff. Also noticed today that some homes still have sandbag protection around the fence line. Another beautiful day is in store for us, bright blue sky and still a bit of a chill in the air. We will be seeing a lot more snow shortly as we head out of Flagstaff and head up the mountain to a height of 7000 feet. Flagstaff is one of the snowiest cities in the country with up to 100 inches annually. By the way, this is only the second time I have seen snow! Once we leave the mountain we head into the open plains. We take a left off the highway and are now only 23 miles for the Grand Canyon.
We arrive at the airport just after 9. Plenty of time to confirm our booking. We are flying with Maverick Helicopters. It is still perfect weather for flying but my apprehension is rising. We get called to meet our pilot (I wish I could remember his name). There are four flights taking off at 10-minute intervals. We are flying with a German couple and a Dutch couple. Safety procedure done we are strapped in with a small life jacket around our waists (we will be flying over the Colorado River) and each of us has our own headset and microphone. Nice touch, as we wait to take off with music playing through the headphones it is the Star Wars theme. The egg beater is getting faster and just like that we are a few inches above the ground. I can feel a little sway from side to side but no big deal. We gain height and fly over a large forested area. Some snow on the ground. The pilot relays lots of information. I have to say I am pretty relaxed. It hardly feels like you are moving. We bank to our left and are told we are approaching the rim. The pilot lets us know that if you are scared of heights then look away to the side. Once we pass the rim the majesty and size of the Canyon take your breath away. Simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen or most likely will ever see again. We are provided with so much historical and statistical information that it is hard to keep taking notes. Best just to forgo the writing and sit and enjoy the spectacle. Here is a link about the Canyon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon
The Colorado River is below us and from this height does not look so big. We are told it is in parts 100 meters wide and 14 meters deep. You can just see some rafters down below. The Canyon itself in parts is blue, green, and red. Old Lava flows can be seen. We stay over the Canyon for a good 30 minutes, so many things to see and learn about. This is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Looming right in front of us now is Point Imperial which is the highest point. The Point gets 10 Meters of snow per year. I feel that we are very close to banging straight into it. Our pilot tells us that we are going over the top. The first time my heart beat a little fast. Due to the scale of the Canyon, we were not really that close, and over the top, we went. We then did a big turnback over some forest. It was bumpier over the forest than over the open Canyon. In this area they can record up to 1000 lightning strikes a year and the strikes have been known to start fires. Bison come into the area when the snow has melted and elk are here all year long. Another statistic that blew my mind is that in some places the North and South rims are 30 kilometers apart with the average being 15 kilometers. All in all the flight was 45 minutes. I said to Wendy I would do it again!
Hoff and Bernie come to pick us up. They have already had a quick look at the park itself. Why you may ask did they not come on the flight. SCARDY CATS. We drove back into the park and joined many other tourists looking over the rim from various vantage points. The elk in the park have no fear of people and a few are wandering around. We caught a free shuttle bus back to the Market Village for lunch. Back in the car we drove around the rim road and stopped off at other viewing platforms. Around 4 PM we left the park and headed back to Flagstaff. Taking a different route home we went through the town of Cameron. we are on Navajo land. The Navajo Reservation is some 25,000 square miles! What is interesting and confusing is that the Navajos do not observe daylight savings time. So when we leave the Reservation we gain back an hour.
We are back in Flagstaff just after 5. Bernie has read about a Cornish Pasty (correct spelling) that has 70 different varieties. The pasties are also BIG. Bernie and I go for a Tiddly Ogie, Hoff the Cajun, and Wendy a Shepard’s Cornish Pasty. Oh, and Bernie also orders a Scotch Egg.
Another fantastic day was had, Early to bed as we leave early tomorrow on another long drive.
You can reach over in the corner mama an’ hand me my travelin’ shoes You know by that I’ve got them Statesboro blues. —Blind Willie McTell, “Statesboro Blues,” 1928
Today is all about hitting the road and driving. To be exact about 550 Kilometers. We are heading to Flagstaff, Arizona. We grab a coffee first before hitting the road and head back to the infamous Joshua Tree Inn (room 8) for a photo. ‘Gram Parsons spirit lives on here’.
Hoff has taken over some of the driving duties today and Bernie is in the navigator’s seat, they will swap from time to time. The traffic is light this Easter Sunday, maybe we are the only heathens not at church. We are heading down Route 62. I am feeling a little jaded today as are my fellow travelers, maybe jetlag is kicking in? We are heading out into a true wasteland. Not a lot to see, including a distinct lack of roadkill. Sure, is a rural desert area, and what houses are about are run down. Ventura Highway playing through the sound system. Mountains to our left and dirt roads link to the scattered homes. Just saw a road sign for Trump and Pence, time to take that one down!
We are now heading on a road that is taking us through two mountains. Desert and snow all at once. We are still in California heading toward Arizona, the countryside now looks like a moonscape. Here we are driving through the desert and a road sign says that the road is subject to flooding!
Now as far as the eye can see are salt pans and indeed there is a salt factory up ahead, the National Chlorine Co. of Arizona.
Mr. Tom Tom tells us to take a right onto the National Highway and then we turn right again (10:15) onto East 48 towards Needles which is 63 miles away. We are now officially in the Mojave Desert which is 25,000 square miles. Another bit of trivia about Needles is that it frequently records the highest desert sun temperatures. Providence Mountain is in the distance which is especially important to the Mojave American Indians. Interesting that we are listening to the song Ol’ 55 ‘Freeways, cars, and trucks’ and that is exactly what we are experiencing, not so much on our side of the freeway but across the other side the traffic is very heavy. Amazon, as we all know, is a behemoth of a company and the number of trucks with the Prime symbol is astonishing. One of the missing t-shirts I ordered a few months back might be in one of those trucks!
I am feeling tired now, but I must keep my eyes open as I will never be in these parts again, besides I have a blog to write. These desert vistas but I must enjoy these sights to their fullest; they are so foreign from anything I have ever experienced.
The time is 11:19 and we are turning onto Route 66 heading toward Kingman. At 11:50 we cross the mighty Colorado River into Arizona.
We stop in Kingman funnily enough on Beale St and have a half-decent lunch at the Grand Canyon Brewing Company. My homemade chili served on a cob is not to be bad. We also shared an appetizer of deep-fried pickles. Nothing much is happening in downtown Kingman may be due to it being Easter Sunday and families staying home to enjoy the day.
We are staying on Route 66 and are now heading toward Hackberry. Running adjacent to us is a rail line and we pass a couple of freight trains pulling some impressively long containers. We have stayed on Route 66 as much as we can to enjoy the history of this mighty old road as much as possible. The newer freeway is not that far from us and can be seen from time to time. Maybe the freeway would be quicker but there is a hell of a lot less traffic and no trucks on Route 66. Maybe it is just a bunch of nostalgic tourists like us making a pilgrimage and wondering what this area was like in the not-to-distant past.
We stop at Peach Springs which is on a Hualapai Indian Reservation. I have a stiff neck from all my gawking and swiveling my head. We went into the local market, and I found some cream. Went up to pay and the young girl who couldn’t scan the product, she asked her supervisor how much, and she just shrugged her shoulders. The young girl said $5 will do, it was $11.50 if they had only walked a few feet to check the shelf.
We are now 30 miles from Seligman which will be our last quick stop before getting into Flagstaff. One thing we have all noticed is that all the small towns really play on the ‘Route 66’ theme with their signage trying to encourage you to stop. We did stop at Seligman and went into the Roadkill salon. ‘You kill ‘em, we grill ‘em’. Across the road is another diner where the T.V. celebrities the Hairy Bikers enjoyed a milkshake.
It is now 3:57 as we turn onto the I40, and Flagstaff is 73 miles further down the track. The terrain changes again as we now head into pine forests and there is some snow to be seen and snow-capped mountains loom again ahead of us. We are surely out of the desert and are now only some 60 miles from the Grand Canyon National Park. The changes in scenery today have been mind-blowing.
And so, we made home base at 5:16. What a day. Wendy has been dozing for most of the afternoon and is having a problem with her sinus. All of us still have desert dust up our noses. I must admit to a bit of a sore through as well. The accommodation is fantastic we even have a little bit of snow in the back yard. It is not cold, but it will get so tonight.
We decide to go have a Mexican meal with Wendy deciding to have an early night as she is feeling unwell and a little feverish. After looking at some reviews online we opted to go to Agave. It was a good choice, the food was very good, the service was as well and my margarita was a winner. I went for the Pork Chile Colorado. My t-shirt now displays the chili I had for lunch and the chili I had for dinner. The waitress told us that they had a lot of heavy snowfalls this winter hence all the snow still lying around in parts of the town.
Another winner of the day.
Oh, and by the way, well done indeed to Bernie and Hoff for driving and navigating so a long day (on the wrong side of the road). Excellent work boys.
P.S. Hoff is starting a food blog and hopefully, in my next post, I will hook you up with his food reviews.
Ain’t no heaven, say there ain’t no burnin’ hell Where I’m goin’ when I die can’t nobody tell. —Son House, “My Black Mama, Part One,” 1930
Everyone has had a good night’s sleep and we are not jet-lagged. We head out to have a look at the Joshua Tree township. We knew that it did not have a lot of attractions when we booked our stay, but it is a great launching place for today’s tour and for starting tomorrow’s long road trip. We found a happening coffee shop and made the order. Hoff’s order confused the young girl as he asked her for an extra shot, she said sir the coffee you ordered already has four shots! It is a little chilly this morning, but the sky is a bright blue. We did not realize that there was a Saturday fresh food market rocking the town every weekend. I got a punnet of the biggest strawberries I have ever seen. Joshua Tree Town has a bit of a hippy feel to it. Fantastic bookshop and Visitor’s Center (American spelling I am going to stick with that spelling to keep you in the mood). I had a nice email from my N’awlins buddy Jeff who has offered to pick us up from the airport, so I had to let him know we were driving over from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
There is a guy selling all types of minerals, rocks, gems, and meteorites. He proudly showed us his most expensive item for sale – a Lightning Ridge Opal for $ 4000 USD.
We hit the road again going back to Palm Desert which is about an hour’s drive. From here we will hitch up with the Tour Company that is taking us on a four-wheel drive through the Joshua Tree National Park. Palm Desert is the home of many retirees and has a number of large, gated communities.
Bernie is driving like a local now and has even started overtaking vehicles. We sure miss our local radio RRR and PBS as the commercial radio that is available is terrible.
The countryside is sensational, desert, yuccas, and mountains still snow-capped.
On the first part of the journey I was looking at all the life There were plants and birds and rocks and things There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz And the sky with no clouds The heat was hot and the ground was dry But the air was full of sound
I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name It felt good to be out of the rain In the desert you can’t remember your name ‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain La la la la la la…
Oops, we just worked out we are going the wrong way! The speed limit is 55 miles P/H and is aircraft enforced whatever that means. The Joshua Trees are blooming this time of year (early Spring) and so are the wildflowers. Bernie has located a USB stick he prepared, and we are blasting Steely Dan, the Doors, the Eagles, and Neil Young.
It is 11:50 and we have just hit the turn-off to Palm Desert. Other road turn-offs are Frank Sinatra Drive, Gene Autry Trail, and Bob Hope Drive. We need a quick lunch before the tour starts at 12:45. Pulled into JT’s Diner. My choice was pork chops and eggs with a side of potatoes, and I somehow (unbeknown) had a side of Pancakes.
We scoffed the food down and made the pickup point only 2 minutes late.
We are introduced to Will who will be our Tour Guide. The first thing we do is use their QR code to accept the Terms and Conditions and take a selfie of ourselves to upload to complete the sign-in. I think the photo is needed to confirm any fatalities as this is going to be a hairy ride.
Will asked if we preferred the enclosed off-road vehicle he was in or if we would prefer an open type of safari off-road 4-wheel drive. We all agreed on the open back. It was just a short trip back to the company’s depot to swap vehicles over. Will is a very friendly guy, big and strong looking. He told us a fair bit about himself. He is married to a French lady; he also has a Native American background. Had a few different jobs over the years. A prison corrections officer and a parole officer are just two. He is now semi-retired and drives for the tour company on weekends.
Will explains that the tour is going to take us through two different desert ecosystems. First, we will go through the Sonora Desert and then through to the Mojave Desert. To get to the four-wheel drive entrance we drove on a sealed road for about 20 minutes. Will is already pointing out unique desert flora. He also directs our attention to what is known as the San Andreas fault (824 miles long) which runs all the way to San Francisco, in truth it is two plates that are moving against each other, the Pacific Plate and the Atlantic Plate. Another big earthquake will occur and is in fact more than 100 years overdue! Way off in the distance, we can see a bluish tinge named the Salton Sea, the largest free-standing area of water in California. As can be gathered by its name it is a Salt Lake. Also visible are patches of greenery in some of the desert areas we will be travelling through. The whole valley was covered in water some time back and now the sunken water bubbles through splits in the rocks creating a little oasis that supports the Californian Palm.
We enter the off-road track from the sealed Berdoo Canyon Road which is suitable for 4-wheel drives with high clearance. Will tells us that we are going to get pretty shaken up. I am riding up front and Wendy, Bernie, and Hoff are strapped in the open back. Not long after going off-road, Will tells us not to be alarmed if we see a lot of people brandishing firearms (guns and rifles). Families and friends come out and set up some shade and targets and fire away at their will. Will said to make sure we wave to everyone to be on the safe side!
We are hoping to see some of the local critters. Mountain Lions are still around the area. We have already spotted (well Will did) a Red Tail Hawk being buzzed by a Raven. Ravens, we are told are among the smartest birds in the world.
We are now entering the Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Trees are in reality not a tree but belong to the Yucca family. They can live up to 300 years and grow as tall as a medium-sized tree, there is a fascinating history of how they were named. To save me typing the full story here is a link to read at your leisure Joshua Trees – Joshua Tree National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Will was not kidding when he said it was going to be a bumpy ride. The guys in the back are hanging on for dear life. The road in some areas is more rock than the road. In some parts, the road is enclosed with huge rock formations on either side. We are doing the tour at the right time as many of the various wildflowers and cacti are blooming, we stop off at an old mountain lion den and are told to look out for Nelson Big Horn sheep which make a nice meal for the lion,
Will stops regularly to point out different cacti and yuccas and surprisingly moss growing on the side of some of the formations. We stop off at Jumbo Rocks (that is their name) and Split Rocks for some photo opportunities. Will took a photo of all of us in front of one of the biggest and oldest Joshua Trees in the park.
We now start descending down into the valley and you can feel the temperature drop where. There are two large extinct volcanic cinder cones off in the distance. One of the rock formations has a small hollowed-out hole that was used to crush seeds etc much like a mortar and pestle
We made a stop at cap rock where Will told us this is the place where Gram Parsons’s body was bought to be burnt’. There is no signage of this failed cremation (for obvious reasons). Will is also a Gram Parsons fan and rattled off his favorite songs. As we get back onto a sealed road the traffic is back. There are a lot of rock climbers doing their thing. We head towards the park exit having done a full loop. Our tour was supposed to be three hours but as Will said at the start, he loves doing the tours, and if he gets the feeling his tour party is having a good time he will stay out longer. We were out in the park for at least five plus hours. Wow, how good is that?
We exited near the old part of Joshua Tree Town where Will explained that when he was a parole officer back in the 90’s this was the meth capital of California, his job was an early version of Breaking Bad. Not sure how the subject came about but Will has told us that if a skunk spays your dog and you can’t get rid of the smell then bathe the dog in Tomato Juice.
We were back home just after 7. Another long day but what a ripper.
When I reach old Los Angeles, California, you oughta hear me jump an’ shout Now the people in Los Angel’, they didn’t know what it’s all about. —Lane Hardin, “California Desert Blues,” 1935
And just like that, the time has come to commence our last road trip to the old U.S. and A (The Last Hurrah). We are up at 3:10 AM to get to the airport for the first leg of the journey, a short hop on to Sydney. Cara has kindly offered to drive us. We take a quick detour down to Willy to pick up our travelling mates, Bernie and Hoff. As could be imagined at that time of the morning there is not a lot of traffic. We are flying with Delta although the first flight to Sydney is with their affinity partner Qantas. Bernie’s neighbour is a Qantas pilot and although he is not piloting our plane, he arranged for 4 small bottles of bubbly to be delivered to our seats once we took off. The hostess said we must be V.I.P.
It was a smooth flight to Sydney and the check-in with Delta was painless. Our flight to L.A. leaves a little after 9 AM. I had a quick scan of the available movies and was very pleased to see the 2022 release of “Jazz Fest A New Orleans Story” was showing. A good start to a long flight. Airplane food gets a bad rap in general, but I must say the food served throughout the flight was pretty good and the service was friendly. Well done to you DELTA. We landed in L.A. a little ahead of time just after 6 AM. As is the case I didn’t get any sleep during the flight.
No problems getting through Border Control. My fingerprints could not be lodged on the little pad thingy they use which was a bit strange. We caught a shuttle bus to pick up our hire car, the company aptly being named ALAMO. Bernie and Hoff completed the paperwork and we were told to go out to the lot to pick whichever SUV we fancied. We finish up with a Chrysler Voyager with Idaho plates. As Bernie and Hoff are very seasoned travellers, they ensured we has a spare tire (American spelling) and took some photos of the exterior as well. Now comes the hard part. Bernie has not driven in the States for a number of years and an L.A. freeway will be a rude awakening. It is still Good Friday here and pretty much a normal working day. Easter is not a holiday event like in Oz. There is no onboard navigation system but the hiring company does supply a Tom Tom (are they still a thing in Oz). Hoff is our official navigator and they both do a magnificent job negotiating the freeway. I will never be scared of our Western Ring road again, there are cars flying everywhere and roads merging and twisting, and a sky full of vast concrete flyovers. I start singing a Guy Clarke song over and over in my head “If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway, without getting killed or caught, down that road in a cloud of smoke, to some land I ain’t bought, bought, bought”.
The traffic is relentless, but time passes quickly by just reading the different road signs to turn-offs to towns that are well known. To our left is a mountain range still snow-capped. Weird looking at the view of snow through L.A. palm trees. Oh. There goes a turn-off to Newport Beach. Now to our left are grass hills with the mountains further behind.
The first stop is College Town Riverside. We stretch our legs and head to a T. Moble outlet to get a SIM card. Daniel was in charge and he did a great job together with his assistants, one of the girls commented on my NOLA tattoo as it is her favourite city. Found a decent place for a recovery coffee and we then headed to “Trader Joe’s” grocery market for some food supplies, well booze. They are selling a range of N.Z. whites but no Oz wine. I did take a photo of a license plate GODCNDO there may be something in it as they had a good parking spot. Haven’t spotted any MAGA nutter-butters yet.
Off again for the second leg. Bernie has settled into driving on the “wrong side “ of the road like the U.S. citizen he once was.
We just went past the Sonny Bono Memorial Drive which makes sense as Palm Springs is nearby and from memory, he was once the Mayor of that well-heeled enclave. There is a spectacular view of the snow-capped mountains to our left but we are still on a 5-lane freeway.
Another quick stop at a Walmart for a wander around. We need to kill some time as we can’t check into our accommodation for a while yet. I was tempted to use one of the enormous ride-on shopping carts. I should be o.k. as the maximum weight for the rider is 275 kilos!
Another stop-over at Beaumont. Hoff had done a Mr. Google and found a BBQ diner. “Cornerstone BBQ” http://www.cornerstorebarbeque.com The food was magnificent and on the off chance you ever stop in this small town, you need to go there.
The terrain is starting to change to more like our saltbush as we head through rolling hills covered with wildflowers, blue, yellow, and white the predominant colours. Just ahead are miles and miles of wind turbines. We are a mere 9 miles from Yucca Valley where Joshua trees will abound. Our final destination the small highway town of Joshua Tree is now only 19 miles ahead of us. We made it! Time was 3:23 PM as we headed past the infamous Joshua Tree Inn where the legendary musician Gram Parsons tragically died. Bernie told me you can book room 8 the very room Gram passed in at a premium to the other motel rooms. For those unfamiliar with Gram and his music legacy and this weird story check this out https://www.desertusa.com/dusablog/the-strange-tale-of-gram-parsons-funeral-in-joshua-tree/#:~:text=During%20a%20friend’s%20funeral%20in,the%20body%20in%20the%20desert.
I promise you will not be disappointed with the macabre story.
Checked into our Air BnB on Granada Drive which is most acceptable. Must say I am absolutely knackered. Hoff and Wendy decide to go for a walk which to Bernie and I seems a little crazy. Hoff came back telling a tale of being attacked by a cactus while taking photos and one of Wendy’s boots has fallen apart.
So ends the first day of a near on five-week trip. We are gunna have fun. Hope you stay along for the journey.
Don’t forget to leave a comment. All the ‘Blues Song” quotes you will read are from a great book “Barrel House Words – A Blues Dialect” by author Stephen Calt.
I got the key to the highway, and I’m billed out and bound to go I’m gonna leave here runnin’ ’cause walkin’ is most too slow. —Big Bill Broonzy, “Key To The Highway,” 1941
And so it will begin. The Last Hurrah. A five-week trip back to America however this time around it will not be just to New Orleans. My traveling buddies will be Hoff, Bernie, and Wendy. Our trip begins April 7th (Good Friday) with a short flight to Sydney and then on to L.A. airport. We will be picking up a hire car and then starting a road trip to Riverside (about an hour’s drive) where we will stop for a bite to eat and hopefully source a SIM card for our phones. I am sure we will be tired but we plan to have a look around Riverside before we head to the Joshua Tree for a couple of nights. So if you want to be part of the adventure make sure you check out this Word Press website. There will be lots of photos (Wendy) and as an added bonus Hoff and Bernie will also be writing about the food we will be enjoying as we travel through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana
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