Off we go into the wild blue yonder
AUS-LAX-Santa Ana-Chino-Palm Springs-Indio
The first
of our merry band leaves behind home, work, and pay, on board a 7:30 flight
from Austin to LAX. It is just like a short drive down I-10 but at 35,000’.
There is nothing like covering 1400 miles in 1 hour (Modern math: leave Austin
after 7:30, get to LAX at 8:30…).
As the
Colorado River is left behind in Austin, the flight heads over cities like
Fredericksbug, Fort Stockton, El Paso. El Paso is half way there, and still
Texas. Than it’s up to Las Cruces, over to Tucson, passing south of Phoenix,
and across the Colorado River near Parker, Ca.
The last
leg of the flight over the area where Day 1 takes place…
Places I
visited in the past…
(Andreas
Canyon, Murray Canyon, Palm Canyon),
Agua Caliente Indian
Reservation,
Cabezon Mission Indian Reservation
(three
reservations each with a Casino…),
The Aerial Tramway to Mt San Jacinto (no, not
the San Jacinto River of Texas for the history impaired Texans…),
The Salton Sea (irrigations ditches from
the Colorado River have sprung leaks and are flooding the 200’ below sea level
valley),
The National Date Festival (for those looking
for a cheap date, that is extremely sweet, and shouldn’t cause much jealousy).
But I’ve
been there, done that, wouldn’t do it again, unless I happen to be driving by,
need a place to sleep, and have the itch to work on loosing the rest of my
wages…
Back to the
day’s events…
AA-LAX-Avis-Mickey Drive By Sighting-Santa
Ana
Strap the luggage
on the back and over the shoulder and trot over to the fast track at Avis
Preferred. It’s great to just grab a car and go. Ok, I had to stop at the guard
and show my ID.
Out the
maze and follow the sight to The 105.
Take The
105 to Downey and wave to the my uncles empty house.
Up onto The
5, go by the not so empty house that the mouse built. Wave to Mickey… No wave
from Mickey L
today. The roads have changed!!! It looks more like Disneyworld now that there
is a second park, more mono-rail lines, big red signs telling you where to go,
California Adventure, and even a Downtown Disney. More on Disney later near the
end of the trip…
Santa Ana-Chino- Palm Springs-Indio
Why Santa
Ana? To visit a shop was there and closed at high noon.
Why Chino?
Same as Santa Ana, except closes at 3.
Back on the
real road and down to Palm Springs
General Store.
Next stop
is Indio and a few hours with Bill and Flo.
Ok, the real
reason for Palm Springs and Indio: Indian Reservations. And if you read above,
you know what is found on Indian Reservations. There is even a new one in town
since my last trip down here.
Remember,
this trip is about lost wages and loosing the wages I still have…