What's Stopping You? Change Your Life!
Day 2 We're Out of Here!
A long day on the road that could have been much longer, until we decided to change our route
Mary
6/6/20252 min read
Knowing our day’s drive is long, we thought about taking a more quiet route, through Lucerne Valley. It would be nice to see how the town has grown since the last time we were there was 25 years ago, right before my grandparents had passed away. Well, as we drove through, ....nope, hadn't changed the 25 years Same store, same small shops, and same dusty desert roads, but never-the-less, it brought back memories of yester-year. We didn’t drive by their house, too far out of the way, we just continued through.
The plan was to go through Yucca Valley and then through Joshua Tree, a calmer pace than the highway, so we thought. The road was reminiscent of the older routes of “ups and downs”. Traversing every blind hump we were reminded of stories of head on collisions, one of which involved my former brother in law. Fortunately, yes he had injuries, but he survived, unlike countless others. That is why roads and bridges are redesigned for better visibility and safety. This road, still the same 1960’s design, just smoother asphalt. We decided to change our route after we went through a VERY large drainage/run off landscape that clearly should have a bridge spanning the crevasse. Driving through and being “in the gully” gave way to a wild imagination of water washing out the road. As we continued, we went through a second, then a third basin, we decided to reroute to a more friendlier, and less stressful road, for us and the animals. Once we got into Yucca Valley, we turned toward Hwy 10. Who would have thought that going through traffic, stop lights and steep grades getting to the highway would be less stressful. Well, at least we knew there was a straight interstate coming up as we spotted Desert Hot Springs to the east.
Once we turned East on the I-10, we settled in, quickly drove past small desert towns and the off ramps of more famous towns. Outside of Indio, we reached the bottom of a mountain of what would be a long climb to 1700 feet elevation to Chiriaco Summit. Still pleased with our decision to change routes, we encouraged each that this road was still a better choice than the original path. Once at the top we filled up with gas next to the General Patton Museum. Easy to spot off the highway due to the tanks and other military equipment displayed. Oh how we wanted to stop and investigate the treasures. But unfortunately, during a “move trip” with a long road ahead, and animals tolerating your mission, attractions must wait until relocation is finished. We put that on our “to dos” at a later date.
After several more elevation lifts that we didn’t anticipate we stopped at a Buc-ees Travelers Center, outside of Phoenix. Filled up with gas and a treat, stretching our legs and walking the dog. By now we had to make reservations for our anticipated town and settled on a hotel in the town of Wilcox. We took the 202 loop highway, south around Phoenix to avoid traffic, and drove through Tucson too . Maneuvering the trailer and attending to the animals, we do our best to find stops outside of major towns, Phoenix and Tucson are no exception. Reaching our destination, in Wilcox, the Days Inn by Wyndham offered a large parking for the truck and trailer, a good breakfast and a quiet atmosphere. A restful night.