We had a nice stay in Twentynine Palms and seeing Joshua Tree National Park, but once again it was time to put the wheels in motion. After packing up the bus we drove separately out of the RV park to hook the car up. While hooking up I noticed the left tailpipe missing, so I walked all the way back through the campground to see if it had just fallen off – no such luck of course. Without any luck getting a 3″ exhaust pipe and tip in Twentynine Palms or Joshua Tree (read: small towns), we headed on our original route and planned for a stop at a muffler shop in Yucca Valley. Continue reading →

We had a beautiful rest of the day driving through the Mohave desert to Twentynine Palms, CA. After leaving I-40 we would drive at least half an hour before seeing another car on the road. Even with the drone of the old Detroit diesel engine running hard and pushing us down the road in the bus, it was very peaceful. Once again, we met up with another section of the now defunct Route 66 for more than a few miles before we made another turn. Continue reading →

In typical fashion, we debated over the timing of seeing Joshua Tree National Park, which route to take, whether or not we would dry camp on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land vs a campground, and so on. Thinking back to a chat I had with a friend of mine a week or so before, I decided that a little detour to Lake Havasu City would be a nice diversion, but not until after I made sure that spring break, which attracts 50,000 visitors to the city, was completely done! Continue reading →