Tuesday 11 June
Yep, we really broke him. Ross had shortness of breath and chest pain last night, which he attributed to muscle cramping. He aches from shoulder to shoulder and up through his neck. Oops! I think the itinerary has been a little too exhausting for him!
Ross had added the Joshua Tree National Park to the list of parks he wanted to visit, but today on approaching it decided to drive straight past it. Today for him was all about just getting close to LA. Now that we have returned to the Californian desert area, the heat is stifling, so even if he was feeling great it would have been perhaps a difficult stop in the heat. Today’s weather reminded me of that day in Sydney last January that broke records. So the Joshua Tree now gets added to our “next time” list.
We did tour the desert oasis of Palm Springs at lunchtime, and stopped 22 miles from there at a little town called Banning for the night. Our earliest stop yet! Ross managed to catch up on some sleep while the kids enjoyed the pool and playground. After dinner we turned on the tv in the RV for the first time, which kept the kids busy while I repacked all the bags for our flight to New York tomorrow. One moment of panic (isn’t there usually?): I lost Ross’ passport!! It was separated from the others as he needed it when we picked up the RV, and I couldn’t remember where I had put it after that. It was found in a suitcase in between a pile of Disneyland brochures kept for the kids to use in their diaries!
Crisis averted, we are all in bed by 10.30. We have to have the RV back by 8am tomorrow, to Santa Fe Springs which is 78 miles from here. And then on to NYC, with the top priority now being to find Ross a physiotherapist. Ironically, I organised a long list of medicines to bring with an accompanying letter from our GP – Panadol, panadeine forte, something for jet lag, sleeplessness, Redipred for croup, Amoxil for minor kids ailments such as ear infections etc etc. The last 24 hours have proven I did not foresee every possibility or provide for everything!