Finally some more desert heat

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Upon waking up we ate our day old donuts, and hurried to check out before 11. We laid out by the pool in the shade--which was a nice little bit of relaxation until the hot, hot desert sun found us. We quickly got up and made our way to the car. We headed out of Vegas—stopping by an Arco gas station. We’ve been avoiding BP stations the whole trip; little did we know that Arco is actually a part of BP. Darn. Zack got a burrito from Jack in the Box and we were off. The sun is amazingly hot out there! It was pretty sceneless, hot sun mirages, brown mountains, brown sand…for miles. Finally, we got on the stretch of I-15 that wraps itself around the edge of the Mojave Desert. It was pretty cool to see the miles of expanse of flat, wind-blown sand—no vegetation whatsoever. I got a few pictures of that, because it was a first for us to see it! After miles and miles of incredibly hot sun (the windows were burning hot), and rise and drops in elevation ranging from 2,000 feet to 5,000 feet above sea level, we finally made our way into the San Bernardino Valley. The cityscape was just like in 80’s L.A. crime movies—the fenced in pedestrian bridges, the aqueducts, Eddie Murphy…ok, just kidding about the Eddie Murphy part.

After San Bernardino, we drove through the largest wind farm that we’ve ever seen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gorgonio_Pass_Wind_Farm). All of the mountainsides were covered in wind mills, not to mention the entire valley floor. There had to have been 3,000 mills.

We got to our residence for the next week, and checked in. OH MY GREAT GOODNESS!!! This is the nicest place I’ve ever stayed in—and we have it for 7 days (Mom and Dad (Brad and Kim)—thank you SOOOOOOOOOOO incredibly much. This is a much needed time in luxury, away from the tent and sleeping bags!). We walked into our suite (Room 2851)—we essentially have a private villa. Full kitchen, furnished deck, 2 flat screens, Jacuzzi, king size bed, the works! Plus, several pools, and PING PONG! Needless to say, we settled in and started…watching CABLE! We don’t have it at home, so we’ve gotten sucked into the Harry Potter marathons that are going on on ABC Family and HBO. After watching “The Sorcerer’s Stone”, we went on the hunt for Ralph’s Grocery store. After getting a few supplies, we came home to make tacos, and catch the 2nd half of “Prisoners of Azkaban”. Then, it was bed time.

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Comments

[Jess]

Harry Potter & BP
Dude, I could have used this information yesterday--I needed a 4 letter BP subsidiary for one of my crossword puzzle clues :) It sounds like things have been amazing so far. And I really loved what that woman told you on the side of the road. Right on. Anyhow, I don't want to bother you on your honeYMOOOOOn, but I have loved reading your updates and can't wait to catch up soon--'cause I'm comin' to NashVegas around August 6th! Have a super time watching HP in the A/C! Love, Your sister

[kevin]

ahhhh ralphs. they are everywhere. you guys should look for in and out burger. real fresh and delicious!! (jimin loves it and me too) have fun!