Econo Lodge Barstow

We headed out about 630 in the morning. Jono, Michael, Steve and I met a the Chevron down the street from my house. We decided to go north through Pearblossom and the Mohave Deseret.

Headed north on the 15 toward Las Vegas and stopped here in Barstow for breakfest.

We'll see how exciting the freeway is and how far I get. Not my favorite kind of road but I am kinda looking forward to reaching AZ sooner rather than later. Not a California person I guess.
The freeway was the usual semis, motor homes and lots of gusty wind. Rte 99 is not a well-groomed highway but gutted it thru until Bakersfield to stop for rest and gas. Then it was out into the Mojave, love those joshua trees. A little further out into the desert ...

Believe it or not, we actually went back to Yermo. Although, not for the town itself, but for its neighboring ghost town, Calico, which is a California Historical Landmark (#782).

It was hotter than hades, but I talked the family into stopping anyway (and I probably have more issues with the heat than any of them). They grumbled, but complied.

You pay as you go through the little drive-by ...

... the Dam was built. It actually was really good especially as there are 29 Dams across the Colorado Basin managing water supply and energy needs. Then it was yes, you guessed it another Casino Special Buffet meal at a Casino!! !Meal was fab. All you could eat and drink for £20. Ribs were excellent. Tonight in Barstow, tomorrow LA.

The Kinseys

... pretty cool.

Since the temps of the Mojave Desert get quite high, we decided to split the trip up into two traveling days, giving Wesley a break.  This was a good idea as we encounter fairly long inclines causing our engine to get quite hot, requiring a couple breaks.

Our first stop was Bowen Ranch Hot Springs, located just outside of Apple Valley. The road to the springs was our first encounter to off-road driving ...

... to the 8 lane freeway linking LA and Las Vegas (10m out of Barstow). On the Calico ghost town road wiht nothing but other RVS and miles of desert and the montains in the distance we really felt we had hit the wild west. The sunset was spectacular and we loved the wide wide open space, hot desert winds and seeing lizards, huge insects and desert plants right outside our RV door. After ...

... of hearing dr frank target ball allied target of november 1942 charlie at freeones board ...

... our way. No problems finding our way out of Las Vegas and onto the freeway towards LA and a planned stop at Barstow the "Outlet Shopping Centre" on the way. The trip went well until we came across some road works that had the traffic slowed to move into one lane. This slowed the trip down quite considerably, but there was no rush so this just was a ...

... a lot of chili (of course). The Hispanic Community is huge, it was great to see everyone so relaxed and enjoying themselves in the local park on a lovely sunny day. A different change of pace from the fast lights of Vegas - we are in the country now! Next to the Idle Spurs restaurant, where we enjoyed an array of American cuisine, and met with our friendly host families....to go home for an early night and more adventures in Barstow Sunday. More to come soon! THE GSE TEAM (Rhonda)

... out the lyrics to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard, I, and how fitting it was, saw an IHOP in the distance. Quickly, without filling Pickles in on the exact reason why I chose this moment to almost run us off the road, I exited Route 15N into Victorville, CA. Mere miles from Calico, the craving could not be subdued. Unfortunately, I had no real clue as to where the IHOP was. We asked some pleasant men as to where it was and they pointed us in the right ...