1st Stop...Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

After a month of being home between our two families, getting the truck and trailer ready, stocking, cleaning, and saying good-bye to family and friends, we were finally on our way to our first stop! We decided to head down to Palm Springs and check out their Aerial Tramway and then head over to Joshua Tree on the way out of California.
We took the turn off for Tramway Rd. and had to drive a windy semi-steep road up to the parking lot and visitor center of the Tramway. We bought our tickets (even got a AAA discount!), took in some spectacular views, and then got on the Tram. The Tram is like a big bubble you get to stand in and the floor rotates 360 degrees so you constantly have an amazing view and are never standing in a bad spot. On the way up, I won't lie that I was pretty nervous, heights are not really my thing and even though the Tramway is Swiss made, I do not always have full faith in machines. It is about a 20 minute ride up the mountain, and about a mile long. Joseph and I could see the truck and trailer parked all by it's lonesome as we were heading up. Once you get to the top you are in Mt. San Jacinto State Park. It was beautiful, one of the best parts is that it is about 30 degrees cooler at the top of the mountain then down in the heart of Palm Springs.
We decided to take a 1.75 mile hike around the state park to catch some views and get in some much needed exercise! As we first head down the trail it looked like the wind was blowing a lot of pollen around but as we got further down the trail and we got hit by more of this "pollen" we realized it was ladybugs! Tons and tons of ladybugs were flying around right into you, it was pretty awesome. We ran into our lovable nature friend and my sister's favorite, squirrels! Joseph got some great pictures of this squirrel that had found something delicious to eat. We got some really cool shots of different rock formations and trees that had fallen down. When we got finished with the hike we went up to The Peaks restaurant and bar to check out the view and get our first drink of the trip! After that we caught the next tram back down the hill. Going down in the Tram was a lot cooler than going up, but there were still some parts that were kind of sketchy. Along the mile of cable there are towers that the Tram must pass over, where the tram levels out and then back on the cable again. The feeling is insane, your stomach goes up into your throat and then back down to the floor and everyone in the Tram goes "Wooooooaaaahhhhh".
We got back down and headed back to the trailer to make our way to Joshua Tree, but we ran into some trouble...
As we were heading down the hill, which was a two-lane semi-steep road with a 25mph limit, we ran into some brake trouble. We over-heated the brakes as we were going down which sent a red flag up about the trailer brakes and so on. We called Joe's brother who owns the truck and trailer and decided it would be best to go back to Hanford and get everything checked out before we got too far across America.
Got back, got everything checked, fixed, and all set to go. We are now planning a new route to head to Arizona and should be heading off tonight! Stay tuned for more of our adventure!!!!

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