I left Los Angeles around 7AM yesterday morning, with a full tank of gas and that feeling of expectation that road trips bring. Not early enough to miss all of the morning traffic, but before the worst of it. My car is loaded up with the new laptop, new camera, old camera, third camera, and what seems like every possible electronic accessory known to man - battery chargers, cables, etc. I even took my Palm Pilot, so it wouldn't feel left out. Minimal clothes, but a box full of AAA guide books. And a heavy jacket and two pair of gloves. Not that I've needed them yet.
I've stopped here before. It's an easy swing off I-10. But this was the first time I caught it without any crowds and was able to wander and take pictures easily. I've never known the full story on this funny little park area, but it's very cool. The brontosaurus holds a gift store inside, accessible through stairs inside his tail. This fascinated me as a child and still does today, though it was closed, so I couldn't go in to explore. It appears there's a "For Sale" sign toward the side of the lawn area, so perhaps these creatures, and accompanying land and business, are up for grabs. Anyone looking for unusual real estate? ;)
So we talked for awhile, which reminded me how cool it is to not be on a time schedule. Of course, this is one of the greatest things about being on the road, meeting different people and hearing their stories. From there I traveled on without stopping until I hit Arizona. Crossing out of California always seems to validate the beginning of these trips for me, makes me know the trip has really started. Almost immediately it seemed the landscape changed (I think I imagine this sometimes, but there are other state borders where this seems to happen - OK/TX on I-40, to mention one). Cactus and rock formations began to appear, then vanished during flat stretches of land. I passed through Quartzsite, which appears from the road to be one vast spread of desert brush, cactus and RVs. I continued straight on (with a stop for gas) into Phoenix, where I encountered enough traffic to remind me why I prefer to explore backroads and small towns. It was slow going for awhile there, in spite of being mid-afternoon. I had debated heading up to Tortilla Flat, but knew the traffic would eat up the time and I risked losing the light for photos. So I managed to crawl out the other side of Phoenix and headed down to Tucson, where I had a delicious meal that I'll probably have to write about later, since I'm on Morning Motel Time today :) 
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My first stop was just before Palm Springs, where I decided to take advantage of the off-season, non-tourist morning and visit some old friends. Really old. I remember visiting here as a child. I was five years old and we were headed to New York, where we'd live until I was ten. Maybe this is what put the notion in my head of yearning for cross-country travel...it was always fun to stop and check things out along the way. Anyway, these guys were still waiting to say hello again, forty-five years later.
I roamed around and took a gazillion pictures. I fell into a conversation with a man from Oregon, on the way to a truck he was driving, which was parked in the lot behind the park. There's something that must seem very approachable about me when I'm on the road, because this happens often. I know I seemed very intent upon capturing images of both Bronty and Rex and he couldn't resist telling me about the amimated dinosaurs in Balboa Park in San Diego. (It was a good suggestion - I'm long overdue for a San Diego visit.)