Day 10 - Joshua Tree & General Pattton

Early driving went deeper into the desert. 

The first refueling stop had an unusual attendant!

The General Patton Museum was the next stop.  The desert area near Chidriaco Summit CA was used as training grounds for Patton's tank divisions and infantry groups.  They trained in the desert under conditions that would be similar to the North Africa campaign.  The museum has some Patton materials along with other military artifacts. 

This tank was one you could climb into and sit in.  They had the turret off.  You can see the turret in the background.

They  had some other vehicles as well including and original jeep and a cadillac ready for a general.

For my Philco friends, there was only one radio on display...a Zenith Trans Oceanic.

Outside, where many of the tanks were displayed, they had this friendly warning....

Just down the road was the entrance to the Joshua Tree National Park.  I drove around the park for about 3 hours reading the various displays and looking at the scenery.  This is Elmer checking out one of the Joshua Trees.

At one place in the park about 1:30PM it hit 110 degrees!  Most of the  time it was around 96 to 98.

These were some unique looking cactus plants.

It was a bit hot for a picnic but during the cooler months it might be nice.

Heading north tomorrow with a swing through Sequoia National Park then into Fresno CA.