In my previous post I mentioned that my laptop had died four days into my trip. But wait, there's more! This is a journey that almost ended before it started. Edward Aloysius Murphy, Jr. was an American aerospace engineer. He is widely credited with "Murphy's Law" which states that "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Sometimes the following is added, "And at the worst possible time". And so it was that on September 29 I was finalizing plans for my trip. All the reservations had been made. All the bills were paid, mail and newspaper put on hold. I had even installed a DVR to record my favorite TV shows while I was away. The unit I had received was defective so I had to go down to the local cable office and exchange it. Into the car, turn the key and...nothing. The vehicle was dead. Call a tow truck, follow it to the mechanic on my motorcycle and then to the cable office to exchange the DVR. The problem with the car turned out to be something minor. Pick up the car on September 30 for the start of my trip the next day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 1 and I am on the road again heading across the great California desert. The whole world is brown. Brown earth, brown mountains, brown scrub brush. And, when the wind kicks up dust clouds, even the sky turns brown. I am driving through an empty landscape punctuated by the occasional billboard advertising "Peggy Sue's diner", "Coldcock Whiskey" which presumably refers to its effect on the user. I pull into Barstow for gasoline and witness an odd sight. Have you ever wondered where all those SUVs and pickup trucks come from? Well, now you know. I have been informed that this is how big rig trucks are transported but I like my story better so I'm sticking to it.