Day 01 - Destination ~ Needles, California

Due to technical difficulties and, I'll admit, Mac operator error, this will be short tonight.  The good news is, I think I have it figured out!

One thing I like about road trips is the amount of stuff I can bring along.  Over the years, Scott has become an expert at arranging everything by a sort of "need to get to" system.  Had we decided to fly, we each would have brought one suitcase and one carry-on, so why we need all this stuff is a bit comical to me when I really think about it.  Then there is the added chore of getting all the valuable stuff into the motel room.  After tonight, I think Scott might be considering some kind of pack animal over a dog.

Speaking of dog...  Bella is an excellent traveler.  She either sleeps or sits quietly watching the World go speeding by.  Every time we stop, she gets out too and she's quickly learned the routine.  Last time we traveled like this with her, she was only six months old.  Two years has made a huge difference in how often we have to stop for her and, although she preferes it, she no longer requires only grassy areas as her relief station.

We arrived at our destination, Needles California, just a bit later than we had thought since we spent some time in Ludlow so we could stretch and take some pictures.  We decided to drive along Route 66 for a bit, and were surprised when we went 70 miles on it since there was no way back onto the highway before that.  There is not much to see along that route except for Joshua trees, trains, and a few cars.    We made a bet on how many trains we would see before we got back on the main road.  I said three, and Scott said seven.  I thought he was nuts but, sure enough, there were seven, which ended up being four more than cars we saw.

Reservations for this trip have not been made in advance.  We are winging it since we have a tendency to wake up in the morning and say, hey, instead of going there, lets head over that way.  So far it's worked, but this is only the first night.  I really thought there would be plenty of open motel rooms in Needles, because who would want to spend Memorial Day weekend here?  Well, of course people will spend warm holidays in Needles!  The Colorado River meanders around it!!  The parking lots are filled with cars towing boats and jet skis.  Thanks to BringFido.com, we were able to get a pet friendly room at the Motel 6 (yeah, the light was on), which is the same place we stayed last time we were traveling East.  Not the best room I've seen, but certainly not the worst either.

The photo collage is an overall statement of the day.  The only thing missing is a picture of Juicy's Famous River Cafe where we ate dinner.  I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture first.

So, by now you are probably thinking, if this is short what will an ordinary entry look like?  Ok, so I got carried away!  

More tomorrow.....