I stayed 2 nights in a hotel in 29 Palms. I’ve camped for 4 months and have only stayed in a hotel 3 nights and 10 nights in hostels. It’s Thanksgiving and the traffic is horrible. 99% of California drivers are super polite, but it only takes one to make me feel unsafe.
The road is wearing me down. How do some people spend 2,3 or 4 years biking around the world? I guess go for it, if you got it in you. I drink a Roy’s route 66 Root Beer for breakfast. I had to buy 10 little bottles of water so I had some. I was on the road by 7:30 but within a few hours the Thanksgiving traffic was back. It’s another uphill day, holy shit.
I hitchhiked into Mojave, had lunch, then rode towards Baker and Tecopa Hot Springs. It’s 10-12 degrees above normal, 85 degrees to be exact. Riding up hill for 4 miles in a full body sweat. I decide enough is enough and hitchhike. It’s Thanksgiving and I’m giving thanks, he took me 75 miles to the Tecopa Hot Springs turnoff-only 5 miles to Tecopa. Hitchhiking was the best solution for the way I was feeling. I get into Tecopa and a women drives up on a golf cart and tells me there’s a free Thanksgiving Dinner tonight. There is a god.
Tecopa doesn’t really know what they have. This is one of the coolest places I’ve visited. There are several hot springs both indoor and out. They claim to have the best mix of minerals without any of the sulfur smell. More than 1/2 of the visitors were Asian. One came in, I said hello and he bowed his head. So of course I bowed back, we laughed then he starting making fun of how American’s wave their hands to say hello, it was a good laugh for both of us.
The China Ranch Date Farm is a must visit. Date: ice cream, shakes, cookies, bread and of course many varieties dates, all grown and homemade at the ranch. There’s a water spring in the middle of nowhere that feeds the date trees and life for that matter.
No visit is complete without a local Brewery. The owner didn’t know I was from Portland and began to tell me Tecopa had more breweries per-capita than Portland. Tecopa has 2 breweries, Portland 58, he’s right on the per-capita. Death Valley Brewery was so cool I bought the T-shirt.
There was live music both Friday and Saturday night. I saw Shawn Williams, she was great. I joked with her at the hot springs and asked if she was going to the show? She said yes, when I got there she was on stage, funny.
