Moving on from Utah, we rewarded ourselves with a one-night stopover at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas before heading through the Mojave Desert back to California.  It was 105 degrees when we passed the world's largest thermometer in Baker... and it was still getting hotter.  When we hit Santa Monica, we unpacked the car and immediately walked down to the beach to stick our toes in the Pacific Ocean, take a deep breath, and let it sink in ...

So we're packed up and all ready to go! We're staying in Pasadena for the weekend for a friend's wedding then finishing off some last minute work and it's Arctic Circle or Bust time! A three month journey from Southern California to Northern Alaska and back. Our plan is to drive up the coast (more or less) until the road ends in British Columbia, Canada, then ferry our way up to Alaska. Aili has a conference in Anchorage in late July, after that, it's a return tr...