Road Trip Blog -- Day 1

What an adventure we've had thus far. We left Los Angeles Friday afternoon at around 1:30 and our timing was perfect. Even though it was a long weekend we seemed to skim right along. Starting over the Cajon pass on our way into the high desert on I15 we started to see some awesome lightning strikes, while awed by their beauty we thought nothing of it until we ran into probably one of the biggest thunderstorms I've ever driven through. We were driving uphill and there was probably 1" to 3" of water on the road instantly. Dena kept watch to the sides of the road as we were passing the "Wash Road Exit", an omen to be sure while I kept my eyes glued to what I could see of the road. We weathered that and several other rain squalls and passed thru Barstow in record time.

We stopped in the little shithole of a town near the Arizona border called Needles at 6:30p and it was a balmy 113 degrees. Can you imagine what the damn temperature was in the heat of the afternoon? We gassed up and were on our way. We found out later from friends that Needles is the highest priced gas in the nation. Thank you very much. As we drove across the Colorado River into Arizona we started to see lightning strikes that made the ones over Cajon pass pale in comparison. That constant lightning show went on for an hour making us cry out over in over in awe and surprise. We drove into Kingman, AZ and visited some old work friends of mine. They showed us a good time, made Margaritas with a killer mix that involves 1/2 bottle of beer and shared there star filled backyard with us.

For Saturday September 1st, who knows what adventures we'll have. Perhaps we'll touch on the famous Route 66.