Slipping through Kingman in the afternoon, we headed west through the Mojave Dessert across the width of Arizona into California. The green America full of life and tenderness that we witness in the east was gone completely. As we travelled through the Californian end of I-40 we found stark mountains covered in sage brush and scrub, empty and abandoned, and its contents were scattered over the desert, rotting and rusting in the sun. Joshua trees were the showcase of a stange rugged and harsh environment of the Southwest desert. We drove along the dry and barren stretch of battered highway, where the desert is littered with fleeing dust.

As if I was travelling like our ancestors did through some Arab dessert, except the endless sand dunes. Instead of riding in camel, we were driving along the barren stretch of highway for hundreds of miles, with only the occasional small town to break of up the monotony. We made a brief stop in Needles, a throwback railroad town along the Colorado River that featured a historic depot along multiple abandoned railroad tracks. We drove west past Needles, a throwback railroad town with historic depot down by the Colorado River. 

After running a gauntlet of the Mojave Desert, we drove through couple other railroad stops, Barstow and Victorville, then crossed the Cajon Summit and wound down into the L.A. Basin. Finally we stopped where crashing ocean waves wait at the end of Long Beach Pier.

We reached the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center for the conference, called, “Reviving the Islamic Spirit.” After checking out the location we searched for a hotel to stay the night. Most of them were sold out, but somehow we managed to find one a little distance out. We rested for an hour then set out for Islamic Center of L.A. for our Magrib and Isha—and the halfway point of our journey.
We prayed at the Granada Hills Mosque in Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.