Mojave Desert

We packed up, checked out and Super Shuttled to LAX Hertz to pick up our "ride". We had initially wanted a muscle to drive through California and Nebraska, however due to the number in our party and our luggage, we thought it best to get the most fearsome looking gas guzzler in all the land... The Lincoln Navigator.

And then it was onwards, out of the big smoke, through the snow-capped mountains of California, towards the big ol' desert.

After a couple of hours we pulled off the highway and headed to Victorville for lunch in a diner which claimed to have been used in Kill Bill 2. However when I asked the staff if they were aware they said they were not... Thus leading me to conclude someone on the trusted internetskis was pulling our leggins.

Three of us ordered the local and yelp recommended Brian Burger, while Flood sensibly chose a burger with some salad on it. The Brian Burger did not have its components provided on menu... But it was essentially cheese, meat patty, cheese, bread bun and cheese, served with a side of cheesy cheese. And fries. No one finished their sweaty Brian Burger. It's not the burger was bad, it was the ridiculous amount of cheese on it. Apparently that's what the locals are into...

 After narrowly avoiding heart disease, and purchasing some girl guide cookies in case we got hungry (HA!) it was back on the road again.

We returned to Route 15 and carried on for about another hour before we saw signs indicating a ghost town up ahead, so we one more detoured from our original route, to Calico Ghost Town (Calico Ghost Town).

Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and today has been converted into a county park. 

View over Calico

We reboarded our monster truck and drove the remaining two hours into the belly of the Mojave National Preserve, before crossing the Nebraska boarder, and reaching our destination by sunset.