Day 24 - Las Vegas, NV to Chino Hills, CA - Yet another long transfer day

June 26, 2023

Ahhh, cool desert air and no winds that kept us awake overnight - that’s the way to start the day.

The day was destined to be another long day as we wree set to jump across the Mojave Desert jumping from the oasis that is Las Vegas to get over to Southern California. While Amy took care of some packing up and laundry, the boys and I went over to the pool and they jumped in to start their day. We pulled them out as part prunes around 10:00 and it was clear that the sun was going to turn Vegas into a hot place to be. Time for us to go.

Before we hit the highway, we had a few errands to run. We stopped by Goodwill to donate hte toaster oven that had come along for the trip but never been used. We also bought a second microwavable bowl which we needed way more than the toaster oven. We also had the bench break on us so we stopped at Harbor Freight (sensing a trend?) to get a drill and some screws to fix that. Nothing major, but another repair to be made - part of the territory.

We had one last stop to make before we left Vegas. I remembered the stop Amy and I had made at the SIlverton casino. It’s connected to the Bass Pro Shop and there’s a number of aquariums and fish displays that make this worth the stop. The boys complained, but as they wandered around, they were sold.

After that, it was on to I-15 heading West. It was about lunch time as we got to the border so we stopped. Amy and I had also stopped here and rode the roller coaster at the casino a few years ago. While the roller coaster is closed permanently, there’s still plenty of tourist trap left. We grabbed both lunch and some great looking donuts from Pinkbox donuts (first of the trip!) Robinson and Sebastian both said they were as good as they looked, but my maple old fashioned was pretty bland.

As for the rest of the drive, it was fairly uneventful. We went through the Mojave National Preserve and think we saw some Joshua trees (though we still haven’t found what we’re looking for - ha!

Arriving to Chino Hills State park, we had a friendly conversation with the ranger and then headed down the one lane road (not one lane each way, but one lane!). It was a slow winding road to camp, but worth it in the end. We lost cell phone coverage because, despite being just a few miles from the LA metro area, it felt like we were far away from anywhere. Best of all, only 2 of the other campsites were occupied making it feel even further remote (despite having showers, access to water, and flushing toilets). It was great.

To finish the night, we set up camp, had some dinner, and then did a hike up the hill for sunset. As we fell asleep the stars were continuing to come out and the coyotes howled us to bed. Why is nobody else here?!!!