The South Dakota weather wasn't cooperating, so we extended our trip and drove to the Salton Sea. We stopped at Baker, CA for gas and saw the world's tallest thermometer. The unit was built in 1991 at a cost of $700,000. It is 134' high to commemorate the world record temperature set in Death Valley in 1913. The thermometer was snapped in half by strong winds two years after construction and had to be reinforced. It was shut down briefly in 2012 because the power bill was $8,000 per month. The original owner repurchased the thermometer and it was relighted in 2014.
We passed the Kelso Dune field which is the largest field of sand in the Mojave Desert and it covers 45 square miles with dunes up to 650 feet.
Gasoline stations were few and far between in the Mojave National Preserve. Roy's was located on the historic route 66 and set a new high cost for the trip.
The desert was in bloom with beautiful cactus at our RV park in Desert Center, CA
We stopped for gas at Chiriaco Summit east of Indio, CA and got into a real mess. The only gas station had 16 pumps with cars lined up waiting. We waited on the outside lane only to find the front pump car empty and the rear pump occupied. The front pump driver came out 20 minutes later and said he had to use the bathroom and do some shopping. The two ladies in the rear pump visited for 15 minutes, then the lady drove off with the nozzle still in her car and pulled the hose apart. It was a "breakaway connection, but too tall for me and to tough to connect. About 15 Hell's Angels on motorcycles drove up and I got one of them to try and put the hose together, but he couldn't do it either. I notified the station who said they would have to get a mechanic out. We then found the card reader was inoperative on the front pump and Donna had to prepay. What a zoo!! We had intended to visit the museum, but there was too much traffic. The picture is of the General Patton museum built on the site of Camp Young where WW II tank drivers trained in local sand dunes prior to the invasion of Africa.