The Mojave Desert Drive

Hard to believe, but this is a pretty typical view in the north part of the Mojave National Preserve

There was an article somewhere today about the Mojave Desert. Basically the Mojave is middle of three deserts. North of it is the Great Basin Deseret - a larger, cold and dryer desert. South is the Sonoran Desert that is a lot hotter.

The map above includes the blue line that (pretty much) traces the driving route from Palm Springs to Las Vegas, the nice way. I have made that drive with my mom, Ed, Lynn, and Jane among others.

The first landmark on the way is the town of Joshua Tree. This area used to be pretty sparsely settled, mainly with retired military (you can tell from the map there are a lot of military bases in the area). Now it is very much cool, off the grid, and very hip second homes.

The black triangle is where the route to Joshua Tree merges onto the old Route 66. That is the place of Perth / Amboy. One hesitates to call 1 gas stations and a motel (and abandoned Post Office) a city or town or even wide spot in the road.

Then the road goes under Interstate 10 and into the Mojave National Preserve created by Senator Feinstein over 3 decades ago (thank you but retire already).

Wild flowers at Kelso Station

It goes through the back roads of Joshua Trees, wildflowers (for a few weeks every couple of years after desert rains) and the old Kelso Depot. 

Kelso Depot is an old train station on the route to Los Angeles. The tracks are still there and trains run by, but no passengers. After falling into real disrepair by the 90's, it was restored to be the Visitor Center.

I love that and decided to post some pictures.