Palm Springs Roadtrip a SMASHING SUCCESS!

Regarding the Club and other Announcements from the Webmaster

Moderators: 89ARIES, Webmaster

Palm Springs Roadtrip a SMASHING SUCCESS!

Postby 89ARIES » Sun Feb 17, 2013 4:07 am

https://plus.google.com/photos/11140853 ... 0604458033

For those that attended,

Thank you for making this Palm Springs Roadtrip one of the best in our club's history. It couldn't have been more perfect. We had some new members
with us. I wish to welcome Lola Thompson, Esteban, and Bruce, and Jane. Thank you Ed for taking pictures. Thank you Esteban for being our videographer.
Thank you Jay for a superb dinner, of which I also had for lunch the next day stored in my chilled trunk. We had butterscotch, raisin, and some other type of cookie,
ribs, chicken, sausage, artichoke-beet salad, cheese pasta, salad, rolls, wine, beer, soda, and water. We parked all our seven K-cars at Jay's house.

I drove 488 miles, and the car was fine. We just barely missed the rain and snowstorm Friday night, as we drove from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, the snow level
was down near 2000 feet. Esteban did a superb job videotaping us with the top down on the convertible, but 70 miles east, they finally put the top up as he and Lola
were superchilled.

At the museum, we climbed into a B-17, met a Tuskegee airman, did the flight simulator, and checked out the WWII Library.

Afterwards, we went to Jay's house for dinner. It was chilly, windy, and lots of stars. David also blew a tire early in the morning on the freeway, but he was able
to get a spare put on. We left from Burbank together after having breakfast at Bobs, and picked up Gary in North Palm Springs at the Dennys before heading to the museum.

I was stuffed, food was good. That night, I drove 65 miles to Twentynine Palms to my Motel 6. I drove straight up hill and climbed to 3,500 feet in the Joshua Tree high desert with wind
and slow semis. I managed to keep my speed up to 45 mph on the steep incline. In the long run, I saved gas because half my desert exploration the next day consisted of keeping
my foot off the petals and letting the K-car coast downhill through Joshua trees among crabby rocky hills. I had the unique surprise of parking next to a 1965 Pontiac Catalina 4dr Sedan
at the Motel 6 in Twentynine Palms that was near mint and the interior was a perfect blue plaid & leather interior from 1965. The next morning, I hit the road about 9:30 AM, and bought some
water from Rite Aid. I made a wrong turn and almost ended up back in Yucca Valley, further towards the west, before I realized the park entrance was east of the motel. I turned around and listened
to the Word of God on the radio as I was going west. Went to the Joshua Tree Park visitors center where I stumbled upon a quaint Sacred Heart Catholic Church for 10:30 AM Mass, so I went to mass there.

Afterwards, ate most of the rest of the food Jay gave me at a picnic table in bright sunshine, and a little cold. Paid the $15 dollar toll fee to be allowed to enter the park, and drove through the park to go
to Indio. I ended up getting lost again, but I stumbled upon the same rocky exhibit I had seen 3 years before with a high adventure team. Turned around, and the roads were nice until I got further south. Got
a little eroded at that point. The rest of the 35 miles was downhill the whole way. Stopped at a gigantic Chola Cactus Garden and took a mile walk through the spiky thicket. The air was cool and refreshing.

Finally, ended up at Chiraco Summit off I-10 at the George S. Patton Museum. Spent two hours there, watched the video, looked at the displays, read a bit, and walked around the tanks and vehicles outside.
Ate the rest of Jay's food and proceeded t drive through Indio-Rancho Mirage-La Quinta-Cathedral City area via side streets, but not before going downhill trying not to get killed by semis.
As I was going downhill westward towards Indio, a semi-truck stopped in the middle of the freeway, and as I tried to lane change around the semi next to me be prevented from getting boxed in, I nearly
rear-ended the stopped fourteen wheeler truck, and would have taken out myself in the process. Fortunately, I swerved back into my lane in time. I then floored it up to 85mph to get by these obstacles.

Had a nice drive through the metro area of Palm Springs, and did see a badly faded Dodge Aries 4dr Sedan make a left near me in Rancho Mirage. Took me an hour to get through the area, but it was worth it.
A lot to see. I saw a lot of old and new Palm Springs. Motored on to Beaumont for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in a run down part of town. Continued on home after that and slept for 14 hours.

It was a great trip.
User avatar
89ARIES
Chysler K Car Club Founder
 
Posts: 1851
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:04 am
Location: Sylmar, California
Car Information: 1989 Dodge Aries

Return to General Announcements/Upcoming Events

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests

cron