heading home

Thursday we were heading back to Utah, back to Grandma's house, where we are grateful to be welcomed. But heading home is something we haven't found yet. We took the freeway through Los Angeles on our way to Santa Barbara. On the way back, we took the Santa Paula exit and headed through the orange tree orchards. Sam was excited to pass Magic Mountain...too bad we had to keep on driving.

Is it Palmdale where you get on to Pearblossom highway? I'm always intrigued by  the signs for dogs for sale, and signs in Korean, way out there in the middle of nowhere. And what is it about being along some all but forsaken highway that makes people claim they have the world's best this or that? I couldn't resist this claim on the world's best beef jerky, just because Ben had been begging me to buy some the whole trip. Apparently, it is his quintessential road trip food. Road trips bring out the desire to peruse Native American headdresses, arrowheads, and toy tomahawks.

The owner of the shop was friendly and talkative and welcomed me to take a picture. He told me he hadn't been expecting anyone to come by until after three o'clock. No wonder he was eager to chat.

See our van?  Just like the one in China.

 Ben and the world's best beef jerky.

Courtney bought us lunch in Victorville. We played at the McDonald's indoor playground, avoided unsavory types asking for cheeseburgers in the parking lot, and headed on to Las Vegas.

How to temper Sam's fascination with this place? It's the roller coasters in the middle of the city that make it difficult. We decided not to stop for the night here. I wasn't in the mood for Vegas. We drove down the strip to get gas and encountered another road trip must meet...the local guy who's car "just broke down on the freeway and can I borrow six bucks man?" guy along with other somewhat unpleasant individuals who made us anxious to get down the road. We decided on Mesquite as a destination. More on that tomorrow.