Mileage: 60,476 Mayflower Regional Park Blythe, California

We are starting to head east. First, we wanted to see the rest of the scenic route around Joshua Tree National Park. We passed through Indian Canyon.

There were miles of windmills.

We passed through Palm Springs. Several people had told us how beautiful the city was. There were curved paved walking paths, landscaped with brightly colored flowers. The lawns were lush and green. This was a very upscale kind of place! Some of the houses were boxy and modern. There were villas built into the mountainside with large expanses of windows. There were large adobe houses with terracotta roofs. In the next town were the car dealers…Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, Austin Martin. I think that I read that there were 100 golf courses in the Palm Springs area! No place here for us and our little RV!

We passed through the desert with mountains flanking the roadside. We stopped at a gas station and on the way out, we passed over the lip onto the roadway. As we made our way onto the road, we hit an unanticipated dip in the road, looking at it later, we couldn’t even see that it was there. It caused the RV to rock from side to side sending dishes through the cabinet door and shattering Pyrex bowls. The glass shot forward into the cab and onto the counter-tops, into the sink and onto the furniture. The refrigerator door lock broke and groceries tumbled to the floor. The jar of sweet pickles broke as well, leaking sticky vinegar onto the tile and carpet. We pulled over onto the shoulder and worked together to clean up as much as we could.

We got to Blythe and we took everything apart to clean. It was 98 degrees inside. It was warm but because there is no humidity it really wasn’t uncomfortable!

When the RV was sparkling and fresh, I drove to the grocery store to shop.

After dinner, I went and walked around the park. Mayflower Regional park is right on the Colorado River.

There is a nest of owlets high in an old tree. The mama was initially sitting in the nest. Only the snowy head of one baby was visible.

She’s blurry but this is the mama owl in the nest.

The father sat in a nearby tree watching the nest while the female took a break.

As I walked back to the river, I saw her sitting in a tree.

I stayed at a table listening to the birds settling for the night. I could hear peepers from the lagoon. The mother owl began to hoot gently. The moon was a sliver and it glowed in the early evening sky. Stars had just started to pop. What a peaceful way to end the day.