We drove over to Walnut Canyon National Monument to see the cliff dwellings that date back to 1125-1250.  The people who lived there are known as Sinagua, which is Spanish for “without water.” 

Arriving at the Visitor Center, I could see from our truck window that this canyon trail would be too steep for me.  The sign below told me I was right about that.  Doug did walk a little bit, though, and got some good pix.

The next day, we stayed at the camper to get some chores done, which continued into the following day, when we had to leave.  We had a bit of a dilemma with our departure time because check-out is 11 a.m., and we didn’t want to head south to higher temperatures in the afternoon.   The staff at this KOA found a site for us where we could spend the afternoon, enabling us to stay there and get all of our laundry done.  We left at 4 pm, and it wasn’t long before the thermometer exceeded 100 degrees as we got into the lower altitudes.   We also saw many disabled vehicles on the side of the highway.  We stopped often, and Doug checked the tires each time.  Soon, the sun started to set.

We arrived at the KOA Palm Springs/Joshua Tree at 1 a.m.  We were amazed and grateful to be greeted at that hour and escorted to our campsite by a staff member.   Eight hours later, we were back on the road heading for San Diego. 

We have a busy week ahead with long-time friends we haven’t seen in many years who now live in San Diego, Coronado, and outside of Los Angeles.