the first long stretch

5/12 Joshua Tree to Williams, AZ Sorry that this post is a bit redundant and rehashes stuff that mrs. a-go-go already posted about.

So I’ve done my best to plan our trip to avoid driving more than four hours in a day, but getting from Joshua Tree National Park to the Grand Canyon called for a six and a half hour stretch. We’ve done much more than that in a day on other trips but after four hours at the wheel I get cranky. With a full bellies from a fine breakfast at Crossroads Café in the town of Joshua Tree we headed through Twenty-Nine Palms for the first lonely road of the day. Well, not totally lonely, Amboy Road is part of the route frequented by the denizens of the Palm Springs area when they make the journey to Las Vegas. So most of our company on the road were in a big hurry to get through the open sky territory and back into buffet heaven. Few of them have patience for people who noodle along looking at the stunningly blue chloride pools.Amboy Road took us past Roy’s Café, a favorite stop for the Las Vegas commuters, the now dead and tipped over shoe tree of Amboy, and delivered us to a stretch of old Route 66. The flood control dikes along 66 are a favorite place for people to spell out their crushes and undying loves in pink and white spray-painted rocks. We joined Interstate 40 East, crossed the Arizona border, the azure Colorado River, and began a long series of uphill climbs to the 6,000+ foot altitude Kaibab Plateau, the source of the Grand Canyon’s sedimentary layer cake of geology. We took a quick free wi-fi break under the Golden Arches in Williams, AZ south of the Grand Canyon. There we found the latest forecast called for subfreezing overnight temps. We had planned to camp out but not wanting to be popsicles in the morning, we blew $70 for a motel in Williams, and that was the day. More than six hours on the road, a hot shower, and a plan to get up early to see the Grand Canyon in morning light. Bonus, mrs. a-go-go got to have her Lost fix for the week.