With no ETA in sight for the car, I decided to do a little googling to find out if I can get a bottle of Brother’s Bond bourbon anywhere local. The label refers to the Salvatore Brothers from The Vampire Diaries and is owned by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder who starred as Stefan and Damon in the series.
Google assured me there were stocks at Walmart in Desert Hot Springs, which was only an hour and a half away via three buses. So I bought another daily bus pass ($3 such a bargain) and in the early heat made my way to Walmart.
The air conditioning on the buses is quite frosty, so getting on and off is something of a shock initially and the 1km walk from the bus stop to the store was largely unshaded. By the time I got to the shop, my shirt was plastered to my back, my hair looked like I’d poured a bottle of water over my head and I was glad that I hadn’t put on any makeup that day - although the tinted sunscreen was doing a number on my eyes!
Now if you haven’t been to Walmart, these places are huge, and this one is a Supercentre so it’s like a Walmart on steroids. Thanks to google I knew I had to be in aisle 27a and after walking up and down a few times, I finally found a bottle. Mission accomplished.
Walk back to the bus stop and was thankful I had thought to pack a fan to keep the air circulating when the sweating kicked in.
Took the bus back to where the car was, in the hopes that perhaps they might call, however with still no ETA I made my way back to the hotel for a bite to eat and a nap.
Finally get a message that my car is ready so another hour across two buses and Joanna and I have been reunited.
It’s 5pm. I have about 3 hours of daylight left. Should I? Or do I just write off that I won’t see Joshua Tree NP this trip. Hang it, we are off to Joshua Tree which has an entrance about 40 minutes away.
I’m glad I made the effort. While I only had an hour in the park before I needed to head home (I left my transition sunglasses in my bag at the hotel, so need daylight to use my regular prescription sunnies). That perfect golden hour light made for some beautiful photos to whet the appetite for a return visit - maybe in a cooler month next time. Funnily enough, the NP is at a higher elevation so it is cooler up there than it is in Palm Springs.
Couldn’t get the grin off my face the whole drive home - a small tick in the box with so much more to see and do.
Tomorrow, we are toff to LA to drop off the car and hop a plane back to Vegas.
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