Day 1 Walnut Creek to Las Vegas, NV 550 Miles

After not a super duper sleep in the double beds with the dog, we headed back to 1301 Walden to pick up our plug in cooler and load the hitch box up and a few misc items.  Took a few pictures and off we were running!

The last picture

To make room for Cali, we bought the Thule 665C adds 12.5 cubic feet for storage

Kids are in and off we go!

The rest of the day went fairly smooth.   Within 5 minutes of leaving, we needed coffee.  1 hour on the road, we needed a pee break.  The next stop was close to Bakersfield, CA for lunch and gas.    
As we head out of Bakersfield toward the Mojave Desert, this dense windmill farm popped up.

Up over the hills we dropped into the valley floor.  If you get a chance, which we did not.. the airplane boneyard.  Mostly commercial airliners come to die.  Somewhere just past there was the Hyundai Testing grounds.  We saw a stream of new Hyundais leaving the testing grounds.   Andrews airforce base is here as well, but could not see it from the hwy.  Although up in the hils, there were a ton of radar and satellites that was quite impressive.   The temperature increased to 110 degrees and my Tire Pressure Monitor went off saying I had a flat...  pulled over and false alarm.. whew.  

Of course, I snap a picture and it dropped to 109

As we climbed quickly, the rain started (in the desert) and temp dropped in about 20 minutes.

69 Degrees!

We rolled in Las Vegas and hit my favorite truck stops.  The Fly Js are all across America's interstates.  They all have something different and of course the staple loud speaker announcements, "Customer #45, shower six is ready for you".   The coolest looking van was there as well.  I didnt get a chance to talk to the guy because he was pulling out.   

We arrived at our friends Kay and Matt's home with boozes waiting for us. The kids played, the dogs introduced each other and the cocktails started.  We were not planning for a big night, but once the kids went to bed, the grown ups sat around the patio under the warm Vegas night air and laughed, sipped and stumbled our way to our beautiful room.  The kids were snuggled up with their buddies in bunkbeds.    We had a great first day and everyone survived.  Can we actually do this?  Well, stay tuned.  Albuquerque, New Mexico is the next stop on our journey across the states!