1948 March 13 12 miles west of Gridley, Butte Co., Calif. At noon we were on the edge of a desert. The heat was intense. We had to stop every few hours to let the engines cool down. The sand dunes stretched endlessly before us, shifting with the wind. Our supplies were running low, and morale was beginning to sag. Despite these challenges, we pressed on, driven by the promise of reaching our destination. [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible]