Wednesday 3-28

W e were on the road by 8:30; here we were starting another trip on a very familiar route. Leaving during the middle of the week could mean we would have to deal with heavy traffic. We were fortunate to be leaving after the big morning crush of vehicles and we were traveling against the normal rush hour traffic.

Shortly after getting underway, Kay saw a big tom turkey with its tail feathers spread out like a feathered fan. The weather was mostly sunny with high clouds and a temperature of 63 degrees. It didn’t take very long for us to reach the turn-off for Highway 152. When we reached Casa de Fruta, I pulled into their parking lot long enough to drop a birthday card into a mailbox.

The drive through the Pacheco Pass area was enjoyable due to the light traffic and scenery. The hills were green with new grass and the oak trees were covered with leaves. Many of the grass covered hillsides had cows grazing peacefully. As we approached a rock formation I noticed birds circling on the thermals high overhead. Then the road began to rise toward the San Luis Reservoir.

When the lake came into view it was filled just a couple of feet below its maximum capacity. A few fishermen were trying their luck within a short distance from the highway. I didn’t see any boats out on the water, which isn’t unusual, I’ve seldom seen boats on this lake. We arrived at Highway I-5 only about one and half hours after we left home.

The trip down I-5 was uneventful and routine. We had been this way only a couple of months earlier as we headed for Quartzsite, Arizona. In that short period of time a lot of changes had taken place. Some fields have been plowed and prepared for the planting of a new crop. In other fields half-grown orchard trees are now cover with leaves. New vines have appeared as far as I could see in two directions in a new vineyard. Vineyards, that had been planted a few years ago, had plants growing new vines and leaves.

There is one thing about driving through an agricultural area that I can do without. The windshield and the front of our motorhome became the last stop for a lot of bugs. One field we passed had more bee hives than I’ve seen in one place. Shortly after I made a comment about all the bee hives, the motorhome plowed through a cloud of honey bees, what a mess. There must be a field somewhere that didn’t get its crop pollinated as well as it should.

We had a small air show when Kay spotted a crop duster ahead of us. The small airplane flew up over I-5 flying east, then it went into a tight U-turn to return back the way it came. Once over the highway it swooped down over the field on our right.

Crop dusting has changed over the years. In years gone by we would have seen a big cloud of insecticide coming from the plane. On this flight there was only a very thin mist emitted from the aircraft. Occasionally the mist was so light that it couldn’t be seen from a distance.

At the other end of the field the plane did another climbing U-turn and dived back down over the filed coming toward us we drove south. Again the crop duster climbed up over I-5, but this time it was behind us bringing our air show to an end.

A crop duster air show among the bug splats

The roadway on this section of I-5 had been repaired and resurfaced a few years ago. Unfortunately the old faults are coming through the new pavement in some places. It isn’t nearly as bad as it has been, but the surface is beginning to degrade much sooner than it should. It didn’t seem to take very long until we found that we had arrived at the junction of Highway 46 where we would turn toward Bakersfield.

Before getting to Bakersfield we would stop at the Flying J a few miles north of town on US-99. We decided to have lunch before refueling, we pulled into the Burger King across the street from the Flying J. Once we had our fill it was time to fill the motorhome. Even though Flying J seems to have competitive prices, they were still high. We were hoping that the price for fuel would decrease once we were out of California.

The route through Bakersfield was a bit busy, but nothing like what we have become accustomed to in the Bay Area. It wasn’t very long until the motorhome was working a little harder as it climbed toward the Tehachapi Pass. As we approached the Tehachapi Loop we came upon the first of many trains we would see on our trip. The train was a long freight train heading east. We left the slow train behind as we were passed the Tehachapi Loop.

When we reached the town of Tehachapi another train was heading toward the Mojave Desert. The train was rolling along next the highway as we passed the area where wind-powered generators spouted all along the mountains. Each time we come this way it seems as if there are more wind-powered generators marching farther down the mountainside.

A train heading for Mojave

Is wasn’t very long until I was negotiating my way through the traffic in the town of Mojave. Even though this town is small it has some big traffic. There always seems to be a lot of eighteen-wheelers on the streets of Mojave. Fortunately, for us, most of the big rigs were on their way to Los Angeles as we turned toward Barstow, California.

Downtown Mojave, California

We followed the signs for Highway 58 which took us by the airfield where excess aircraft inventories are stored by several airlines and air express companies. The airfield is also famous as the home of the aircraft that successfully flew all the way around the world in 1987 without refueling.

Along this stretch of roadway are the ever present Joshua trees accented by the occasional splash of wildflower colors. We would find that there were many wildflowers blooming in the desert this time of year. The most common colors were yellow, blue, and purple with a few patches of bright orange.

Joshua trees near the town of Mojave

As we drove out into the Mojave Desert the air temperature was 84 degrees. This was much warmer than when we left home. Along with the solar gain we experienced inside the motorhome, it became a bit uncomfortable. The cab air conditioner brought a welcome coolness that offset the solar gain and separated us from the heat outside.

On the way to Barstow we passed through the town of Boron. Looking out in a desert valley near this town I saw a huge solar powered generator. The mirrors were not focused on the boiler unit at the time we drove by. Next to the large solar electric power plant was a large area covered by acres and acres of solar panels tilted toward the sun. It didn’t take very long for us to leave the solar plants behind us as we drove toward a rendezvous.

We were on our way to Laughlin, Nevada to find Tina and Kevin who had left two days before us. Traffic was still very light as we drove east on I-40. The minimal traffic allowed us to make very good time. The sun was getting very low in the sky when we were only a few miles from Needles, California.

The sun actually dropped below the horizon just as we arrived in Needles. Here I would take the back roads to the campground where we would meet our friends and spend the night. A small amount of light in the west colored the sky with a beautiful sunset as we entered Laughlin. I drove around the edge of town to avoid traffic.

Sunset over California viewed from Nevada

We reached the Riverside RV Park at 7:30PM. This was more than an hour ahead of my best estimate and two hours before I thought we really would arrive. I found Tina and Kevin’s motorhome where we had a campsite reserved for us next to their RV. They were not at home.

We had been in our site for only about 15 minutes when Kevin and Tina drove up in their car. They were surprised to find us in the campground so soon. We all greeted each other with hugs and handshakes. When it was determined that none of us had eaten yet, we all climbed into Kevin and Tina’s car to find a restaurant.

it took a long time for out food to arrive. Every minute waiting for our food was time taken away from getting into a casino. It probably was a good thing though. After dinner we entered the first of two casinos we would visit. All the machines were cold, all they would do is take our money. We moved on to another casino with the same results. It didn’t take long for us to pay our Nevada taxes. We returned to our motorhomes around midnight. It had been a very long day for Kay and me, so it was good to finally retire for the night.