Tucson to Blythe

Tucson to Blythe

A nice breakfast downstairs. A final walk for the dogs and we were on the road by 8am headed for Blythe just the other side of the California border. Pretty much a routine drive, stop for gas, drive, pass trucks, get passed by crazy drivers, just motoring down the highway.

A beautiful day for a drive, but as Alice (Through the Looking Glass) would say, "Too Much of a Muchness!"

Originally, we had planned to go to LA by following I-8 towards San Diego then cutting north past the Salton Sea to Indio for the night but there really wasn't anyplace to stay so we decided to stay on I-10 and break the mileage down to two manageable days.

Mesquite Trees in Bloom

We had one stop at a rest stop to take a break and let the kids stretch their legs and make a nature call. Amazing how much of the dessert is in bloom. I took this shot a a Mesquite Tree in bloom, it's hard to get a good photo from the car. Being able to drive at 75mph ate up the miles pretty quickly and we reached our Blythe just before 1pm making it a comfortable day of driving. We checked in to the America's Best Value Inn and parked outside our room so we could unload the car.

Ooops - a little too much food!

After taking the kids for a walk we walked to the corner and had lunch at an old Denny's. Tina couldn't resist and ordered Liver and Onions with Mashed Potato's and Gravy, one of her favorites. While I had a Patty Melt. Both were excellent even though Tina could only eat a little bit!

After lunch we walked around town. Much like Van Horn, Blythe is struggling to survive as a town. There's lots to do in the area from fishing and boating to bicycle rides along the Colorado, but everything of interest to see is fifteen to twenty miles away. There are no attractions in town.

Interestingly, within a two block square there were three sit down restaurants, five fast food joints, four Inns and kitty corner from our lodging, a brand new Starbucks. The main intersection where we were was a complete traffic jam with three or four cars stopped at any one time, and this was a four lane in either direction stop light intersection.

Once back at our Inn we took our books out and sat at a picnic table next to the pool on a huge grassy area where the dogs could run about and play for a while. Later we walked around the corner to the local 'four star' BBQ joint for St Louis Ribs. They were very good but we've had better in Naples. Oh well, as my Dad always used to say, "it's only one meal".

After dinner we enjoyed sitting outside some more and watch the sun set. By 8:30 Tina was ready to call it a day so I wrapped things up on the computer, turned off the TV and read until 10 when I called it quits also.