Another Blow Hard

Got up, walked the dogs, paid our bill ($15 plus change) and we were on the road by 8:15.  A fairly easy travel day from Needles to Barstow…then it got very exciting, again.  I could not tell you which of our travel days had the hardest wind.  I do think that today we had the hardest wind gusts, that is for sure. 

  

Before the winds started to blow us all over the place, we were enjoying the view of the Mojave Desert…there were lots of yellow flowering plants, more green than we are use to, and the clouds made for a spectacular view.

Just east of Barstow we always stop at the Desert Oasis Westbound Rest Area.  Here Skruffy and Bubba look out again, and in their minds they are wondering “Why does dad always stop at this rest area with no lawn, no greenery, nothing by sand and rocks?”

And each year they search and search for green grass…anything that is green.

Bubba, LOOK, we found some!   Bubba?  Bubba, is that you actually raising your leg up to pee??? (A very rare thing with Bubba, and first time on camera too)

As we get ready to get back into the motorhome, Bubba faces to the Northwest, looking and smelling for that familiar sign…Arny’s house.  I figure his body is faced in the actual direction of where Uncle Arny and Aunt Sandy live.  Yes, getting very close now Bubba.  It was also here at the rest area that I noticed the first signs of wind.  Twenty minutes later as we get close to Barstow, I can start feeling it on the steering wheel.

At Barstow we picked up highway 58, which at times is a two lane road, but mostly a four lane, divided highway.  At the intersection of highway 58 and 395, there is a Pilot Gas Station which is very busy (busier than this google maps image above)…and I normally stop there since I last filled up in Arizona.  California gas is so much higher than what we have been paying…a dollar more than in Kingman Arizona.

As we travel along highway 58 there is a nice stretch where there are Joshua Trees. Some stand alone, while others are in small groups.

     

As we get close to the town of Mojave, one can see windmills which seem to go one forever.  Up over those hills, down near Bakersfield and we are done for the day.

    

The Orange Grove RV Park, just east of Bakersfield, is a popular stopping site for us, and for many of the snowbirds.  As we drove down our “street” after visiting the California Fruit Depot (that’s a secret, enough said), we noticed many RVs from British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and at least one full-timer out of South Dakota.  I went out again later, and another twenty RVs have arrives since us, but it should be quiet on our end…I think later arrivals will be put on the other side of the park…which has nearly 200 very large sites.  Most  of the pull through sites are 65 or 90 feet in length. And yes, it is in a Orange Grove, and you can pick Oranges (no ladders) and/or visit the California Fruit Depot around the corner.

Today, many of the trees still have oranges on them, and blossoms for the next crop.  I sure hope they don’t have any more freezing weather this spring.

Tomorrow we have a 300 mile drive up to Sacramento and into Citrus Heights.  Then we will be with family for a good month or so.  I think that will make someone very, very happy.