Thanks for all the help so far. We'll probably invest ins some of those ACA maps.

We've decided to go through Joshua Tree NP if possible. So perhaps we'll come out of Santa Monica up past Pasadena into the Angeles National Forest thus into the San Bernardino National Forest and over to Joshua Tree.

How horrible would that terrain be?

It looks like we're pretty set from Blythe through Lubbock, getting out of LA is our big question.