Spring Training 2019 - Day 75

We had another uneventful drive west today.  We bypassed Phoenix to the south, heading west on I-8, then north from Gila Bend joining I-10 again about 30 miles west of Phoenix.

We filled up with gas just before leaving AZ. The  cost of gas then went up a $1.00+ a gallon to over $4.00 a gallon as we crossed the Colorado River at Blythe, CA.  We are now back in CA where the only thing we found anywhere else on this trip that was cheaper in CA was wine.

We are staying at the Emerald Desert RV Park in Palm Desert.  We stayed here on the way east and several times on previous trips.  It is an upscale park that has mostly thinned out as the snow birds have headed north.  There is a big music festival, Coachella, going on this weekend just down the road in Indio, but it doesn't appear very many people staying here are festival goers.  It looks like, based on the festival line-up, many attendees are younger/hipsters who probably don't stay at high end RV parks.

We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby. We had a great meal then returned to the RV, passing up the opportunity to attend the music festival.  Maybe next year.

We go on to Lone Pine, CA tomorrow for a 2-night stay.  Lone Pine is on US 395 in the Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierra near Mt. Whitney.  It is also near Manzanar, the site of a WWII internment camp for Japanese Americans. It has been partially restored and is now a National Historic Monument.  We visited the site several years ago and it is worth a return trip.

We will then continue up US 395 on Monday, cut over to Tahoe near Carson City, and head over Donner Pass to home late Monday afternoon.