Yesterday was a travel day as we try to work our way back over to the California coast. We were able to leave Las Vegas by noon and by some miracle had no problem getting on Rte. 15w. We DID, however, run into some fierce weather! Maggie captured the storm clouds moving in, but we had to sit out the major thunder and lightning storm for over an hour on a little construction road off the highway. Of course we were travelling over a narrow mountain pass at the time the heavens opened up! When the storm subsided, we travelled through Barstow (the only major population center in about 100 miles and 'major' is using the term loosely) and determined we'd attempt to make it to Bakersfield for the night. We hadn't planned on the fact that rte. 58 (which we picked up in Barstow) was completely flat for many miles and the wind was a lot for our dear Angie (and me!) to handle! Keeping her on the road with the big trucks that utilize that road was a major feat! Maggie is a trooper even though I'm sure she saw her life flash before her several times! We did make it safely to Bakersfield, but encountered our first mishap with the campground we thought we'd stay in--it wasn't there! (I'm sure it's still somewhere, but it certainly isn't where our guide said it was!) So we had to book our first unplanned hotel stay which with the temps reaching111 degrees was probably not the worst choice. Today we'll make it to the coast and try to book one of the first-come, first-served campsites (again)--wish us luck! Ps. The storm did make way for this gorgeous, end-of-our-day sunset...