Next Stop: Nevada

We left Three Rivers around 7 am because we had over 350 miles to drive today.  The sun rising up over Lake Kaweah was beautiful particularly with the mountains in the background.

As we headed south on Hwy 65, I began to wonder if we were maybe in Kansas or Nebraska because of all the wheat fields everywhere.

And then I thought maybe we had crossed into Texas because of all the oil pumps everywhere.

When we reached Bakersfield, we began heading east up on Hwy 58 up the Tehachapi Pass.  The temps were still cool and neither of us had any trouble climbing up the pass.

Bonnie had been staying in touch with her sister and daughter all day because her dad had to be admitted into the hospital yesterday and was having surgery today.  After we got on I-15, we stopped in Baker, California, for a few minutes.  Originally, we had planned on going up Hwy 127 and staying in Pahrump, Nevada; but I knew the cell phone coverage would not be very good that way plus the temperatures were now in the upper 90s and we didn't really want to go up a two lane highway where we would not have cell phone coverage and not be able to get in touch with anyone if either of us had an engine problem.

So, after discussing the situation over ice cream at Dairy Queen, we decided to continue on I-15 and stay at Duck Creek RV Park in Las Vegas where Chuck and I had stayed 2 years ago that was a Passport America park (50% off).   After leaving Baker, California, we began a 17 mile climb towards the Nevada state line in 100 degree weather through the Mohave Desert.  Chuck kept an eye on our engine temperature and when it reached 223, the engine check light came on.  We pulled off and waited for about 10 minutes until it cooled down to 190 and then headed off again with no problems whatsoever...thankfully!

When we arrived at Duck Creek RV Park in Las Vegas, the temperatures were still hovering around 100.  We turned on the air conditioners as soon as we were plugged in around 4 pm and but 9 pm it finally has started to feel like it is cooling down.

Tomorrow, we are taking a day trip to the lowest (and probably hottest) place in the country:  Death Valley.  And the best news of all for the day is that Bonnie's dad came through his surgery well and should hopefully be out of ICU by tomorrow or Monday.