Day 10, 9-10-10: Joshua Tree To Twentynine Palms

Hooray, final walking day until a rest. Although the night was not a good one, spirits were high because we knew better days are ahead. We packed up, and headed out. Alan pointed out that he thought he could see 29Palms in the distance (and he was right), but at the time that didn't seem possible. But this area is so flat, with no trees, it seems you can see forever. The thing in the distance continued to grow larger, and around lunch we had arrived....boy, that felt good. We both had blisters that needed attending, I had the bug, and we both had been worn down by the heat.

We stopped and ate a burger, and soon after were checked into a Holiday Inn Express, relaxing in a cool room on a soft bed. I decided to walk down to the pool for a while, Alan wanted to sleep a little.

While at the pool, I met an interesting guy named Tom. He's a retired marine, but contracted back to them to teach bridge building, or some other engineering stuff. I believe he now lives in NC,maybe near Jacksonville, and travels around to the different marine bases. He said the one here was the largest, and the only one with room for "live" fire training. He was interested in our trip, and has done survival training in the past. Since we're walking on roads, not so much of that is necessary.

Went back to the room and called Larry Bowden, a contact in 29Palms. I learned about Larry from Mike Killebrew (who else?). Seems the city attorney for Dana Point is also the city attorney for 29Palms, and Mike asked him if there was anyone in 29Palms who could help us if needed.......and Larry obliged. Larry asked if we had checked in already, which we had for a couple of nights. Then he offered us his guest house for the rest of our time in 29Palms. After thinking it over for maybe a second, told him we accept and would cancel all nights at Holiday Inn after tonight. He said call him tomorrow when ready to check out, he'd come pick us up, take us to his place.

My daughter Julie told me it's almost like we're "cheating." More like a vacation than a walk. What can I say? It's not always going to be like this, but we enjoy and appreciate every bit of help. Larry told me the email he received from Mike was titled, "Forrest Gump is headed your way!" (I've never even seen that movie.)