Day 12: Hot and Dry Mojave Desert

We made it all the way to California, 2257 miles!!! And we are still married! After passing through the Arizona mountains we entered the barren Mojave Desert in California in the afternoon. It was 112 degrees!!!! Cliff barely got us to the campground in Barstow as our gas tank was almost empty. We are still not used to the extremely long distances between gas stations here.
Our plan was to visit Death Valley National Park tomorrow, but flash flooding damaged roads a few days ago and we are not quite sure which roads are open. The national park is an almost three hour drive from here and we will inquire about the roads in the morning before making the trip. I hope we will be able to go. I visited Death Valley 30 years ago and would like to go back and share this experience with Cliff and our boys. Our campground in Barstow is lovely, although we passed through some run-down areas on our way here, which was a bit unsettling, considering Barstow's high crime rate.
Of note: The campground has oleander bushes and there are signs everywhere not to eat these bushes as they are poisonous. I guess we need a plan B for dinner.