Trip plan reworked on the fly

 Well Needles wasn’t much of a town.  The most shocking thing about it was the $6 per gallon fill up.  I asked the woman at the Shell why do people live here.  She laughed and said they don’t!  We live 1/4 mile east in AZ but work here.  We can’t afford it here.  I should have filled up in AZ. 

With my trip to see my cousins cancelled it was off to Joshua Tree for the night.  It looked like a relatively easy route but I was wrong.  I was surprised by the sprawl of LA and the traffic.  It turned a 250 mile ride into an 8 hour day.  Every road was packed and that was at 1 pm.  Seems rush hour is all day.  The Mohave Desert had no cars and there was really nothing there to see.  I did have to stop for a second out in the flats and at 110 degrees, it was a quick stop.  I rolled into Joshua Tree, the town, at around 4 very tired, hungry and the glare of the sun on sand was killing my eyes.  Tomorrow I ride through Joshua Tree National Park and head to Spring Valley, CA.