Mojave National Preserve to Yucca Valley

We ended up spending two nights at the foot of the Kelso Dunes. My friends from Los Angeles left late morning heading for Utah and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. I felt crummy from the head cold I’d come down with so took it easy staying in the shade and reading. Another cool night with a stunning display of stars.

The next morning we headed out towards Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree National Park. Along the way we managed to drive a bit on old Route 66. Near Amboy, CA the map showed a little town called Bagdad. I wondered if it might be home of the Bagdad Café made famous by the German movie from 1987. I went in search of Bagdad and its café but the town no longer exists. It gradually disappeared after the Interstate Highway by-passed this section of Route 66. The movie was filmed up the road in Newberry Springs, CA (about 50 miles west of the original).

This is the café and gas station in Amboy, CA today. The old Route 66 surely never saw gas prices this high ($4.99/gallon).

Not far from Amboy is the Amboy Crater. Ten thousand years ago a volcanic eruption created this crater and left a lot of lava lying around.

Another hour or so of driving got us to the town of 29 Palms which is one of several places where you can head into Joshua Tree National Park. We ended up spending the next two nights at a campground above the town of Yucca Valley. The campground was at 4,000 so the night’s were cool and comfortable.

There are Joshua Trees everywhere and these were the ones assigned to our campsite.