We're leaving San Diego and it's perfect weather, heading East into the Desert towards the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Driving East, it doesn't take long for things to start looking more drier and desert alike. Our first stop is Palm Desert, a stone's throw from the better known Palm Springs, a retirement home area in the desert, for Golfers.
The Palm Desert / Springs terrains are not a very hospitable place, left natural. Huge sun damaged boulders with only very sparse, almost cactus alike scrubby growth. Very little natural water. The cites of palm Desert and Palm Springs are man made oasis's. Water piped in from Northern California creates lucious green belts and golf courses for these retirees. These cities are designed on a huge, easy-to-drive, cross grid. Long, wide, very straight roads make driving very, very simple; but with a cost of almost zero character or artistic appeal. Almost like the way a huge hospital is designed.
We stayed one night in a hotel that seemed to have occupants with an average age of 80+ years. The golf courses looked pristine as we slid carefully by, trying to remain unseen. Look!! Young People!! Grab them!!!
We then realized we had driven, three days ago, right through the areas that have since been fire ravaged in the Ventura area. $Billions of dollars of fire damaged homes. And yet, our superiorly educated government tell us it is too expensive to tax oil. Crazy. In a very real sense, we fear we are only being just the beginning of the effects of Anthropologic Climate Change: record fires, record drought, record hurricanes and record floods... as the seas continue to get hotter.
Our plan was to stage ourselves for a drive , the next day, through the Joshua Tree National Park. A park that's full of unique furry looking Trees!
This park is a truly amazing place. One of the United States's protected National Parks, over 1200 Square Miles of super Crazy Desert Trees, Cacti and Rocks that make you feel like you have been teleported to another planet. We spent the day driving through and stopping at the meticulously maintained trails and view points along the way. We hope the video we took give this wonderful place, a little of the credit it deserves.
Further to the East, we past through Kingman, Arizona. We were now at around 5000ft elevation and feeling the effects. Drinking LOTS of water is the key. At Flagstaff, AZ we were staged for a trip to the Grand Canyon.
We then took an 'electric' helicopter flight over the magnificent canyons. (No not yet!... not until we get those 3D Silicon Li+ Battery Anodes out, and into mass production!) We hadn't realized until now that the Grand Canyon is actually a hierarrchy of Canyons, within Canyons, within Canyons... disappearing down, way below into the Colorado River... absolutely incredible!
By far the most stunning spectical we had seen to date. Click on this video for a look see?
After getting back down to Flagstaff we visit Flagstaff's local Observatory, the Lowell Observatory. It was a perfect viewing night and the telescopes were pointed at both Uranus and the Andromeda Galaxy. Peter told the supervising physicist that the len's eyepiece was a bit dusty... and "could I give it a wipe, before staring at Uranus......?". Sometimes I think he's still 10 !!... other times, 8!
