The start of the journey

Day 2 Saturday

We all woke early, and did different things. Before 10.00 Chris and I walked down to the Alamo car rental depot and after a comparatively short time we had to go out to choose our car. There was quite a selection of SUVs for us to choose from, Toyotas and Kias were ignored and we left with a 3.7 litre Jeep.

We returned to the hotel, loaded the luggage and set off, after following signs, we nearly went the wrong way on the interstate but we just spotted it in time.

On the outskirts of L A we stopped for a Dennys breakfast and continued our journey.

The decision was to try and find a motel in a place called Palm Springs, so we headed on along the I-10. After a while we encountered very slow traffic for about 10 miles, this we later found out, caused by quite an extensive fire on the central reservation and adjacent land. Clear of this, we turned off the I-10 towards Palm Springs, it was delightful. And the motel was terrific but full. There was a music festival on with special surprise guest artist, Prince, and the whole area was booked solid or else rooms were $200 or more. Plan B, back up the interstate and into a Super 8 just off the road, not picturesque, but reasonably close to a Mall with food and beer.

We ate in a Red Robin (Gourmet Burgers etc. ) we all had a fish dish except Sandy who had a chicken, rice, noodles and vegetables. The Guinness was good as well.

Weather facts, up north near the Great Lakes 19 inches of snow fell in a day, the record for a one day fall ever, and twelve foot drifts. Our maximum temperature on the car instruments 94 F, the weather man is forecasting temperatures in the 100s in the next few days.