| Finally it was time to
leave the coast and head for Phoenix where we are to spend Thanksgiving.
Another incentive was the deteriorating weather. |  |
 |
In practice it was dreadful weather which started during the night just
before we left. We had torrential rain over a 24hr period and
throughout the 300 miles we travelled to Indio. |
| I wasn't that keen on
passing through Los Angeles but this just reinforced my opinion. |  |
 |
California is very keen on renewable energy resources and there are many
wind turbines on the edge of the desert about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. |
| We stopped for a couple
of nights in Indio, one of the desert towns near Palm Springs. The site is
very clean and well laid out. Quite a lot of people spend the winter in
sites like this. |  |
 |
There are quite a lot of palm trees in the desert which is otherwise fairly
desolate. It is nice at this time of year but in the summer..... |
| There is quite a bit of
haze even this far from Los Angeles which suffers badly from smog. There is
some green because there is some agriculture but it is very dependant on
water being brought in. |  |
 |
The road across the desert is very straight. Almost for 100 miles across
eastern California and western Arizona. |
| The road runs along a
valley bottom. I suspect these are water pipes into the valley from the
mountains to the north. |  |
 |
Coal power stations are rare here but gas powered plants are quite common.
There is a lot of interest in solar energy but it is still very expensive. |
| A common crop is citrus.
This is part of a huge orange grove. They will probably be ripe in January
and will need many immigrant workers to pick them. They don't want illegal
immigrants but could have many problems without the migrants. |  |
 |
Another common crop is cotton which is also highly irrigated. |
| We crossed the border
into Arizona and immediately stopped for fuel along with many others (it is
much cheaper). We spotted this unusual fifth wheel rig. The freightliner tow
unit has a platform behind the cab on which there is a Smart car perched
sideways. |  |
 |
There was about a five mile queue going the other way. California stops
everyone at the border to check they have no citrus fruit on board which
might bring in unwanted pests. |
| And so to the skyline of
Phoenix. Arizona is an hour in front of California so our day was an hour
shorter. The sun is already low in the sky. |  |
 |
We will travel very little more this year although we still have almost
three weeks to go before we leave. |
|