Migflanker, thanks for those tips. I am tempted to route to a few areas in the preserve enroute to Vegas but it all looks fine and dandy on a map, but some of those areas of the Mojave National Preserve are up there in elevation. You could literally spend all day long in the park. If there is something not too far off the beaten path, that would be all right. Only reason for my wanting to go by there would be that it seems to be the shortest route to Vegas from the stumps. But not really the only reason. The idea of going through a preserve out in the desert does interest me. I notice that in the map, the people on forums travel type mention going to Amboy, up to Cima and then on up to Vegas. So much to want to do but really not the time. Gotta get the Vegas at the end of the trip, that's the icing on the cake.