Tuesday 4-10

B eing so close to home, we didn’t have to be in a hurry getting around on this morning. I walked over to the office to settle the bill for our stay at the campground. Near the office I saw a desert garden made up of several cactus plants. Several of the plants were covered with buds that were about to bloom. A few blossoms had opened giving a preview of what was soon to come of the buds.

Our campsite in Needles

Cactus blossoms ready to bloom

Another cluster of cactus

When we got out on the road on I-40 heading east, we were presented with what has become very familiar scenery. Most of the day the sky would be filled with clouds that would make the view more complete. It also made for better photography conditions. Looking out at the horizon at one point the clouds seemed to be hugging the tops of the mountains along the whole mountain range.

Clouds hugging the mountain tops

For a while, much of the landscape along the highway was covered with blooming cactus plants. This something we don’t see very often. Of course that might have something to do with the time of the year we normally drive through this area. It is unusual for us to come through this are in the month of April.

The desert was blooming at this time of year

There was one unusual sight for us. We saw a heard of elk out in the desert along the highway. I don’t recall ever seeing these kind of animals out in the desert before. The elk were in an area where cattle were grazing.

An unusual sight — a herd of Elk along I-40

Looks as if there are more aircraft in storage

As we approached the town of Mojave it looked as if there were more airplanes in storage than when we were headed toward Oklahoma. It didn’t take us long to get through Mojave and head up the incline toward Tehachapi. Along the way were the familiar wind-powered generators covering more and more of the mountainside.

More wind-powered generators have sprouted on the mountain tops

After a long downhill ride we were in Bakersfield where we would refuel the motorhome. I drove to our usual place, the Flying J north of town. It was time for a late lunch before getting back on the road.

We were now back in the central valley of California where the motorhome received another coating of bugs. Again I drove the motorhome through clouds of various flying insects. On the outbound trip we ran into bees, on the return trip I hit more bees. However, there seemed to be a lot of grasshoppers this time which left big yellow splats.

One of many new crops along I-5

Along I-5 the vineyards, fruit tree orchards, and a feed lot whizzed by our RV windows as we made our way to our turnoff. Because we commonly travel this way in the winter, it seemed strange to have the sun still high in the sky.

At this point on Highway 101 we are almost home

Traffic had been fairly light all day, but it was getting heavier as we got closer to the Bay Area. We experienced the heaviest traffic of the day when I drove out on U.S. 101 in Gilroy, California. Soon I was turning onto the Highway 85 exit and from there it was only a few minutes until I was pulling into our driveway.

Our motorhome needs a bath

The front of the motorhome was again peeking over the gate covered with a layer of bug splatters. It was the end of another RV Fun Trip.