After breakfast in our cabin at Delight’s Hot Springs Resort and a last hot soak we drove to China Ranch Date Farm. It’s down a one way windy dirt road past old mines in mudstone cliffs. At the bottom is the wonderful date oasis with acres of date palms, a running stream, hiking trails, gift shop, date tasting, and the world’s best date shakes.
We didn’t have time to hike to the Amargosa River today so we walked through the date groves instead. We tasted many kinds of dates, bought some, and had date shakes.
Next it was back to 127 South and Baker, California. My father worked in a gold mine near Baker during the depression. We used to vacation in the Baker/Tecopa/Shoshone area and at that time Baker consisted mostly of an old motel, a gas station, and a country store. Today it boasts The Mad Greek Cafe, so of course, we had to stop and eat there. Someday we will try their Las Vegas location too.
We planned to drive on through the Mojave National Preserve to Joshua Tree National Park, but the freeway overpass on I15 was closed and there was no local detour! We ended up going southwest to Barstow, then took 247 to 62 and Joshua Tree. It was a long way around.
We had planned to camp in Joshua Tree NP but we were sure the few campsites would be taken by the time we arrived so we stopped at the Safari Motor Inn. The owner was very friendly and had a great cactus collection.
I have gotten quite good at motel cooking with a hotpot and microwave so we had dinner in our room.