Day Fourteen - return to Joshua Tree

I got up super early as I really just didn't like the Hotel St Michael in Prescott. Apparently it has a ghost that hangs out in the elevator or something. That makes sense, since the elevator seems to be about 100 years old - it's one of those where you have to open the door and then slide back one of those wire grills to get in. When I first pressed the button, I expected the door to open automatically and I stood there like an idiot for about 10 seconds before I realised it wasn't going to do it for me.

Anyway, I drove out of Prescott in the dark, which was a bit sad because it looked like the scenery was magnificent. The sun didn't get up until I dropped down onto the plains below Prescott.



As soon as I got onto I-10, I knew the driving would get annoying, and it did. Since I was ahead of schedule again, I decided to detour through Joshua Tree. I've already been through the park and camped there but I've never really looked around the southern part of the park which is part of the lower Colorado desert, as opposed to the higher Mohave desert in which the eponymous Joshua Tree is found. I was going to do a fairly long walk from the Cottonwood springs but when I started wandering around the springs/oasis area, it was so fascinating that I ended up just hanging out in the area for a couple of hours. In the usual US national park way, there were a couple of cars in the car park and a few people within 100 meters of their cars, but no one further afield.

As well as a whole host of birds (list coming, Suzi!), I saw a tarantula, lizards, antelope squirrels and a whole bunch of really weird cacti and other plants.




I drove north out of the park, passing the cholla garden



and stopping to let a couple of kit foxes cross the road. Once out of the park, I joined the LA rat race on the freeway. Luckily the traffic was pretty good going my way and I got in to Santa Monica in a decent time.

This is my last night in the US and my trip is pretty much over, apart from driving to the airport tomorrow. It's been an awesome experience and a real privilege to see the US from one side to the other. Two weeks ago I was shivering in Boston - now I'm walking round LA in my t-shirt and turning the a/c on in the car to avoid overheating.

It's been a fascinating time to be stuck in a car listening to satellite radio for two weeks. There is no doubt that this is a seriously troubled country. Take a random sample of the ads played on the radio to get a sense of what is going on: "turn your debt into wealth!", "re-finance your mortgage with us!", "start your new career working from home!", "buy my new book that explains the 10 secrets to not getting fired!". The shows telling you how to make a meal to feed your family of 4 for less than $10 are starting to convince me that the great depression really is coming back.

Of all the places I've been on this trip, it's been the south west (New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona) that have been by far the coolest. It's something to do with the lack of hideous over-development that plagues a lot of the rest of the country but also the incredible scenery and the amazing history that still seems very relevant (did you know that the Navajo nation has 250,000 inhabitants?).

Travel stats coming soon when I get my GPS out of the car.