Runnin' hot

Blazing trails for a different landscape, we set off toward Nevada through the desert. The Warrior had been running hot the whole trip, and today was no exception. The smarter choice would have been to navigate this part of our trip at night. But after being stuck (literally) in Utah, we were anxious to get to Cali. It was a sweltering day

and the Warrior was working overtime. We decided to stop at a truck stop to cool down, as we had been close to red lining all day. 

This truck stop had it all- a casino, restaurant, fireworks store, showers, laundry and general store.

We decided to stay a while and do some laundry until the mercury dipped on the thermometer a bit. My only regret is that I didn't capture pictures of the staff, especially the security guards- big, chunky, strapping Moapa men with even bigger smiles. 

 It looked like another mechanic stop was in order, but we decided some night driving to push through the rest of the desert would be wise. We took a detour through the Las Vegas Strip in the early evening... 

... and reached the blessed state of California just before the kids went to bed. 

Researching mechanics as we rolled along, we decided to stop for the night near Bakersfield. We found a mountaintop campground,

navigated some winds and bends, and called it a night.