Warren, my wife Joy and I arrive at a roadside camping spot, in Death Valley National Park, where we hope to spend tonight and tomorrow night. This spot is about 14 miles south of the Park's northern boundary. We deliberately arrive late to avoid having to sit around in a shadeless environment. Luckily, we are able to sit in the shadows cast by our cars. Each of us has driven a car here, but my Acura Legend has already one strike against it. It does not cast as big a shadow as Joy's Ford Explorer or Warren's Kia Sportage. Our camping spot is at an elevation of 3,200 feet. and thus about 10°F cooler compared to most of below-sea-level Death Valley. It is about 86°F at 8 PM and quite pleasant.

Our bed is a chaise lounge covered with a pad or an old Boy Scout sleeping bag. It works pretty good except that it is somewhat narrow and we can't thrash around too much. It is a day or so before the full moon and now we are positioning our beds in the shadows of the cars to avoid the moon. We say our prayers to the automobile gods and say good night to each other. All of us don't sleep that well as the constant breeze coupled with the dropping temperatures makes us, believe it or not, a little cold. The thermometer reads 59°F at 6 am.

Dinesh's caption:
This is how Warren (and everybody else) slept every night.

Car Talk's caption:
"Sleep, my foot! By morning, I'll be passing through the digestive system of wolves!" (To quote Dave Barry.)