I presume the plan was to return to the van as shelter if necessary, as the China Lake[1] military base was "only" 8 miles from the van. Having driven a far dow

I presume the plan was to return to the van as shelter if necessary, as the China Lake[1] military base was "only" 8 miles from the van. Having driven a far down the road as they had, they knew full well they were not going to encounter anyone or anything walking back the way they came. It's worth noting that China Lake, as original article suggests the DVG may have expected to be fully staffed, is only slightly smaller in size than Turkey. (19,500sqmi vs 23,000sqmi). I don't know much of anything about it, but I'm guessing it makes Death Valley look like a metropolis. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Weapons_Station_China_Lake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Weapons_Station_Chin...