Daily Narrative    Not all that exciting a tourist day but one of the best we have had yet, simply because of reaching the west coast.  We rose, for the last time, ridiculously early to beat the heat getting out of the desert.  We had to cross the Mohave this morning and feel it is not to be trifled with.  We were rolling by 6:00am and actually through Barstow and on the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains by 10:30am.  Unfortunately, we took one exit before we intended to and, rather than diving into the temperature sanctuary of the "mountains", we skirted along the desert edge of them for another half hour or so.  Not really a big deal, but beginning to feel a little predictable.  We finally rose up off of the desert floor and enjoyed a radical temperature drop into the low 90's.  We had toyed with the idea of heading into Los Angeles and doing some touristing, but the forecast was for 95 degrees there today and, frankly, we are tired of the irrational weather.  We headed through a valley full of orange groves and palm trees  (if I had the road atlas next to me, I'd tell you which one), where we hit a roadside stand for a huge bag of fresh fruit for pocket change.  We began making eye contact with the Pacific Ocean around Ventura and stayed in pretty close contact with it on through Santa Barbara and up West Coast Highway 1 to Oceana.  Here we found a crowded little town (due to the heat in "the valley" we were told), and a campsite with the best internet connectivity we have seen all trip.  We napped and caught up with web pages and internet news for what was left of the day, and were both irrationally thrilled to have to put on fleece in the evening hours.

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Daily Pictures

Morning on the Las Vegas strip	A steamboat in the desert, go figure...
That sign says "Welcome to California- where it will be 115 degrees right here today"	This is what would happen if you let Brian start naming roads
In the city of Barstow, the world's largest thermometer.  It's telling you that it is 95 degrees at 8:00am	We eventually reached the San Gabriel Mountains, and due to a premature exit, failed to enter them and skirted along them on this small road for another half hour
This is a Joshua Tree, pretty funky huh?	A Joshua Tree forest
Yucca bushes in the foreground, a heavy vegetated hillside in the background	On the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Mormon Rocks area
The California aqueduct allows southern Californians to drink water from places that actually have water naturally	One more Joshua Tree, we are big fans
The beginning of farm land in an improbable landscape	Theresa was very happy to find another type of palm tree to categorize
Orange trees...	...lead to lots of road side fruit stands
We left with a big bag full of fresh fruit for $3.60	Grapes, no doubt for juice

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