We were excited for today as we planned to drive the part of Route 66 that traverses the Mojave Desert. Art travelled through this area as a teenager, but didn’t recall much of it, and it was novel for me!
As we started our day’s travels from Needles, California, we passed this bouquet of palm trees.
It was interesting to me that there were always plants, there were very few and far between stretches of only bare earth.
We again saw numerous freight trains traveling in both directions. I have to believe they have air conditioning in those engines. The temperature reached 97 degrees at the height of the day.
We passed several old Route 66 buildings and signs, some now given over to street art, some maintained in their original.
We took a walk out to an observation deck to see the Amboy Crater and lava fields. its one of the youngest volcanos and the latest eruptions are believed to have occurred just 500 years ago.
While the sun was pretty hot, it was a dry breeze blowing, and in the shade it was actually pleasant.
We enjoyed watching the landscape change in elevation and vegetation.
Soon, the traffic began to swell, and we left the relative solitude of the desert drive. Arriving in Barstow, our desert drive complete, it was nice to have some Roses in the desert, even for a short time.
Shorewoods Photography 
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