The Escape From 29 Palms

**Update**
You might have arived at this page lookin' for Rides and ways too/from 29 palms. Since this is mostly about our own escape, I've updated a page here. 
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I needed to see him, and he needed to get away. Between my work, his work (Working Party?), and being quite a bit distant, I needed to figure out how to make this work. Factoring in a bit of a budget, also.

You see, he’s in 29 Palms right now. I’m about a 3 hour plane ride away. Something in the semi-middle was Las Vegas. He’s never been, I thought of it as an adventure. I rented a car for the first time because I was having problems with transportation.  I’ve spent weeks researching the best way out of 29 Palms and came up with a ton of different answers.  In case you somehow stumbled upon this, let me share with you what I’ve found.

Bus/Shuttle

Greyhound is the only option I was able to find. They offer discounted military tickets if you buy round trip, or 10% off one way for walk up. Greyhound also offers Military (Active and Retired) a maximum fare of $209 round trip to anywhere in the United States. Not bad at all for traveling quite a distance. I would just prepare for a long travel. 

Another escape from 29 Palms (the easiest way I’ve discovered) is the MBTA. Morongo Basin Transit Authority. Every weekend they have a special #15 but that runs from MCGACC straight to Palm Springs starting Friday and ending Sunday. One of the stops is Palm Springs Airport. MBTA has a Bus to the main city of Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, and Palm Springs during the week and weekends. Round trip is pretty cheap and a good temporary getaway.

Other shuttles are available for an additional fee such as Super Shuttle (Cheap in LA, expensive everywhere else), AM/PM, and  a few out of LAX.

Vehicle

After a bit of back and forth, this was what we finally decided on. Renting a car from the McCarran Rent-a-Car Center runs about $20-$30 for a day. This was bumped up to $100+ for me being A) Under 25 and B) Having my normal Insurance not cover Rentals. It still wasn’t bad. Unlimited miles from Budget and was good on gas (38-40mpg).

The Route I decided on taking went straight though the Mojave National Preserve (170mi). It was actually my first drive all alone of that of length. They have signs through there that stated “Watch for Tortoise.” It scared me at first but was later explained there’s probably only 5 in existence as they’re very endangered, and the chances of seeing one* are very slim. The drive in itself was pretty relaxing with a few fun dips and a really beautiful sky. I left late at night around 2030 so the only lights were from my car and the sky remained unclouded.

*If one is spotted in the middle of the road, you should stop the car and exit the vehicle. Get down into the tortoise’s face, pick it up with both hands by the shell, and walk backwards to help it continue its destination across the road.

An Alt Route is to stay on the main/bigger roads of the 95, until coasting on I-40 instead of coasting under it. It takes a bit longer, but you would have to worry less about wild life.

I read warnings on Travel Adviser of it not being the best choice. Driving alone on Amboy road. Female alone, dead of night, lack of cell service, etc. I got a bit scared at first, but it wasn't too bad of a drive at all. I did have Cell service 98% of the time (Sprint w/ Roaming), only cutting completely for a minute or so.  What I do recommend though is bring a CD. Radio stations cut in and out and some stations are iffy all together depending on your taste in music.

Airplane

With this trip in particular, he decided not to mess with a bus on the way home and found a last minute plane ticket into ONT (Ontario) for $149. Still not content, he searched further and with US Airways, found one for $214 to PSP (Palm Springs). Although I wasn’t fond of the cost, it put him at ease and made getting back to 29 palms quite a bit easier. There are quite a few Airlines that frequently go to ONT, but only a select few for PSP (American, Alaska, Delta, United, US Airways are the major ones with select non-major).

Personally, I found the mini-road trip a lot less time consuming, despite being a 3 hour turn around drive. There were those additional costs, but driving a new car was kinda awesome. In addition, it's 3 more hours we got to spend together (Even though 1/2 of it he took a nap) so when all I get is the occasional weekend with him, I was glad for those 3 hours.

Traveling in and out of 29 Palms will become part of a regular schedule for us. Mostly myself flying in. I might update this single page if I find any other useful information. Last weekend was my first technical time there, this weekend will be Round 2. This time, actually staying in California haha.