Day 12

Today we drove from Tucson, AZ to Banning, CA. Along the way, we stopped at Saguaro (pronounced Sa - Wah - Ro) National Park, which is located just outside of Tucson.

The park is divided into two sections. One section is located to the East of Tucson while the other is located to the West of Tucson. We went to the Western section, which is known as the Tucson Mountain District. This area of the park is full of cactus "forests" and have lots and lots of the traditional cacti you see in most cartoons. (By the way, Josh was thrilled to find out today, that the plural for cactus can be: cactus, cacti and/or cactuses.)

We stopped in to the visitor's center to get some information and then headed out for a few very short hikes. The longest hike we did was 0.8 miles long, but that was long enough!!! The heat in the Sonoran Dessert was incredible. Even after just a short walk, you could sense dehydration setting in. It was really important to drink lots of water before, during & after each of our hikes, even though they were so short.

After our hikes, we left the park and headed for our destination for the night, Banning, CA. Banning is located a little West of Palm Springs, CA. This is our Western-most destination, and upon arriving at our campground, we have driven 3,888 miles since we left home.

Our arrival in California left a bit to be desired. First, California state law sets a speed limit of 55 MPH for all vehicles towing another vehicle. After traveling at 70 - 75 MPH for most of the trip, this was really a bummer. It added almost 30 minutes to our travel time for the day ... I wasn't very happy.

Then, when we arrived in Banning, we needed to get gas, as we were almost on empty ... boy were we in for a shock!!! I had filled up in Arizona, a little West of Phoenix and had paid $2.89 per gallon (this was after having paid $2.35 per gallon in Mississippi & Louisiana). Anyway, we found a couple of gas stations and discovered that the best we could do was $3.99 per gallon ... CASH ONLY!!!

The good news, is that tomorrow morning we'll be heading back to the East to visit Joshua Tree National Park and then we'll continue East back into Arizona. I won't be terribly sad to say goodbye to California!!!

That's it for today ... back tomorrow night with a report on Joshua Tree National Park. Also, tomorrow morning, Patty & Rachel will leave New York to fly out to Las Vegas. We'll be picking them up Tuesday morning. It should be really interesting having them with us!!!