Orange Grove in Bakersfield...again

 

We have probably stayed at the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield more times over the years than any other park.  Some we have stayed at for weeks, even months...but we stay at Orange Grove at least once, and many times twice per year as we travel back and forth from Florida to California.  The above shot is from 2019...tonight's spot looks much like this one, but we are on the far south side of the park.

Took Indy to their little Dog Park twice, and she met other dogs each time.  Right now, she is out like a light.

Hope to be at Sandy and Arny's by 2 pm, perhaps by 1 tomorrow.  Had planned on getting the motorhome washed again at the Blue Beacon, but they are closed for Easter.  Hoped to have dinner from Jimboy's too...but again they are closed for Easter.  

Last night we enjoyed a Good Friday service via the Internet, and then watched The Passion of Christ from Amazon...truly made it feel like Good Friday.  Hope to catch church as we drive tomorrow...Marcia can watch it while I listen.  Hope you all have a nice Easter Day.

Head em' up, Move 'em out! (after a family day on Saturday)

 

I guess we were not the only ones heading out on Sunday.  This view above is on I-5, headed south around Los Banos, about due west of Fresno.  The cars heading the other way are coming out of the LA area...it was never ending.

We had our own traffic jam...this was taken near Santa Nella, home of Anderson's Split Pea Soup Restaurant.  Highway 33 and then highway 152 each flood the Interstate with people coming from the Sierras or from the Monterey/Santa Cruz area.  Add a couple of fender benders, and we crawled along for 20-25 minutes traveling just 5 or 6 miles.  Other than that, our south-bound lanes went along smooth, yet a bit crowded at times.  Always nice to see some guy try and fit between a truck and another car, just to reach out and pound on the car yelling at them to let him in, all the while we have backed off to where he could EASILY pull in right behind the car and go along his merry way.  (ps: his wife did not look too happy about it all)

We got off from Sandy and Arny's right at 8:00 am, and we headed down I-5 because they have a Beacon Truck Wash near west Lodi, to clean nearly 4 months of tree cra#...I mean 'stuff' off the motorhome.  Getting there around 9 am we did not have to wait except for the truck in the bay getting cleaned.  Had I pulled over to the middle or right bay we would have been done even faster...but once committed I was where I was because you just can't backup pulling a car with all four wheels down on the ground.  $49, which included a wash and Rain-X, and we were on our way to the Flying J next door to spend a mint and a half on 20 gallons of gas.  Well, one more fill up tomorrow and we will be in Arizona where the price will drop $1.20 per gallon or more.

Had we not got the RV washed, we might have missed much of the traffic...at least our side was not as busy as the northbound side.

It took Indy a good couple of hours to calm down and get back into the groove of travel.  She sure snapped out of it when I stopped at the truck wash, gas station and the two rest areas that I took her out for a walk and sniff.  Above she is at the RV Park trying to figure out where other dogs are barking from, and trying to catch sight of all dog walkers...mostly very large dogs.  If you look behind her you can see oranges on the tree/bush.  We are just a bit early to pick oranges to take with us, but I found a couple that were ripe and Marcia enjoyed one of them immensely. 

And at 4:35 I snapped this picture of the sun going down...wow, it sure gets dark early now days.

Family Day

Saturday turned out to be a family day, besides a packing up day getting ready to "Head em' up, Move 'em out".

Back Row L-R: Roger, Charlene, Bob, Mom, Me, Indy with Patti and Sandy down front

My brothers Bob and Roger both dropped by around the same time for quick (too quick) visit.  Arny took this picture, Marcia was still in the motorhome.  Bob brought along his 'friend' Charlene, which gave us all a chance to meet her, except mom who met her a few months ago.  Roger's wife was driving up from the LA area and did not make it.  My older brother Jim and his wife Carol were in Texas where they live.

Sure was a good day for mom based on that smile!

Meteor Crater to 'HOT' Needles to Bakersfield

Ok, I will include the pictures to Needles (yesterday) and then to Bakersfield (today's trip).  Above is a look at the San Francisco Mountains, or San Francisco Peaks (depends upon who you talk to) which sit just north of Flagstaff.  I think our highest elevation was around 7,300 feet, and on the other side of Flagstaff it drops considerably.

For some reason (talking with Marcia about who can remember what) I did not take pictures of the Williams area.  This drive along I-40 is one we have driven many times, so you could just use our search box in the far right column and search for Williams.

As we get closer to Kingman, the trees get very short, more like bushes, but there are some nice mountains to see through the drive to Kingman.  A few years ago a 'con-man' tried to tell us that we had a major oil leak under our motorhome.  (See Scam Alert, Kingman Az)  I joked with Marcia telling her I was going to pull off and try and find him and let him know our motorhome has been fine with the "leak".

One thing I did not know about Kingman is that the airport is a mini-graveyard for some older planes, especially DHL freight and Delta Airlines.  After WW2 it was one of many scrap locations for airplanes, but they all hit the scrap iron heap ages ago.

In some of the above pictures you can see how nice the roads were...unfortunately as we got closer and closer to California the roads were real bumpy bad.  Nice way to remember a state that you just drove 350 miles through.

The Colorado River, yes, the same river that runs through the Grand Canyon, is the border between Arizona and California in this area.  Here is a shot out my window, and the river is just visible above the guard rail.

Here is the bridge crossing over the river on I-40.

And we would give you a better look of the river except this bridge out Marcia's window obstructs the view...and out my window is no better.

We got through California Customs, I mean Fresh Vegetable Check Point and they allowed us to carry in our 1/3 head of lettuce and a few Cherry Tomatoes that we promised was our dinner for the night.  Here is a picture of our camp at Fender's RV Resort in Needles.

If ONLY a picture can show you how hot it was.  At this point we were the only ones in the front area...and it was about 106 degrees.  Later a 5th Wheel came to our left, it took them a good 20 minutes to pull in, 30 minutes to set up which included them turning off our 30 amp breaker because "They thought it would make their 50 amp go stronger".  I wish I could say they were new at this...but they were not.  As Marcia says, "You Can't Fix Stupid"  It hit 111 degrees right about the time they turned our breaker off.  I will stop talking about it or mom will wash my mouth out with soap when she sees me tomorrow...

Our motorhome is parked just out of the picture to the right.  Past that community building, there are some camping sites for those who are staying longer than just a night or two...they overlook the Colorado River.  Needles is only around 500 feet in elevation, a big change from the 6,000 plus just the night before.  Along with it, you get LOT MORE HEAT!

We got up at 4:30, and hit the road by 5 am.  That is NOT our norm, but HOT TIMES require abnormal behavior.  A few miles down the road, and about 1,000 feet higher, the temps are down to low 70's from the 80's we woke up to in Needles. 

I take this picture out my window of the my mirror just to show Marcia the sunrise, and ...

...she HANGS out her window, gets this picture.  Unfortunately, I hit a very large bump, and she fell out...but I just left here there along the side of the road.  WELL, she really wasn't hanging out, but she did take a good enough picture that all I had to do was rotate the image just a bit...it really turned out better than I expected.

Just like with a sunset, if you turn the opposite of where the sun is setting you sometimes get a nice picture of the last rays of sun hitting a mountain, clouds, whatever.  Here, we are headed opposite of where the sun is rising, so it is a great view which lasts for nearly 30 minutes.

To some the Mojave Desert in California is just plain ugly.  To me, it depends.  Depends upon the time of day, where you are at, and if you are in the mood to see the amazing beauty that lies right in front (or in this case, off to my left) of you.

Here is another example off to my right that Marcia took.

And sometimes it just seems to go on and on and on, seems to last for ever.

In April 2012 we stayed in this rest area, 60 miles east of Barstow, for the night. 

Got this picture of Bubba (left) and Skruffy (right) looking out at the vast wasteland, wondering if they will ever see grass again.

Today I pulled up right where we had stayed eight years ago...

Here is Skruffy just last year, looking out at the vast wasteland for her last time...

"Hey Dad," she says, "I found some GRASS!"  I am sure she has lots and lots of grass where she is now...oh, how the memories still hurt so very deep, and yet bring joy at the same time.

We got to the Orange Grove RV Park in east Bakersfiled by 11:30.  It is HOT, but only 101, although it was suppose to be 103...I never saw it make it that high.  It is 6:15 and it is still 101, but I am confident that it will start to fall real soon.  It is suppose to drop to 76 this evening, cool enough, with this low humidity, to open windows and vents and circulate outside air...but that will come when I get up in the middle of the night.  Tomorrow, we will be under that big tree in Sandy and Arny's backyard!

Well...We Made it to Bakersfield, then SNOW

Just like a week ago, we were up by 6:30 (awake even earlier), and were on the road by 7:15...not needing gas, we hit the highway and very little traffic despite it being morning rush hour.  Things were going great, and in no time we were coming into Modesto...and then....

OH NO!  That is our route!!!!  Marcia gets on Google Maps and it says that it is closed until 12/27...tomorrow.  OH NO!!!!

And to top it off...I-5 is closed going into L.A., so going directly to I-10 through San Bernardino is out too!  OH NO!!!!!!!!

Quickly we come to a nice Turlock rest area, and it is time for a Bubba Walk, breakfast for all three of us (steak and eggs for two of us), and then a google search as to what is up...SNOW SNOW and MORE SNOW!!!!!  

I call the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield which is just off highway 58, they are open, have some spots, and take my name and number.  4-5 hours later we pull into Orange Grove, and they just stopped taking any more reservations...they are FULL as long as all those having reservations actually come in.  They had a whole lot of calls today.

As of 6 pm, highway 58 is open with CHP escort.  Down south, I-5 and highway 138 are still closed due to snow.  Maybe, just MAYBE we will get over the pass tomorrow.  If we do so early enough, we will try to go to Kingman AZ.  We hope we can at least make Needles.  If it is real late, we will at least make Barstow...which WAS today's destination.

You know what they say....

Orangless Bakersfield

At Orange Grove RV Park, Bakersfield, Ca

After leaving Phoenix on Monday morning, we stopped in Needles at the Fender's River Road Resort & Motel where we have stayed a few times before.  At $19 for full hookup, it is a pretty good park…but I did not take pictures this time...tired or lazy or both I guess.  We had a detour along the way…we drove to Prescott where I met my long time friend and co-worker at the Pine Bluff Library, Roger.  We started on the same day at the Library in Pine Bluff…I think it was Monday, January 7th, 1991.  We have stopped to visit Roger a number times during or travels, but sometimes he is out of town as we come by, or we are quickly going through Phoenix and can’t make it up to Prescott.  Roger is the Director of the Prescott Public Library now.  Today we drove from Needles to Bakersfield, visiting another RV Park we have stopped at many times, the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield (pic above, more down below).  Unfortunately, no oranges this time of year…they are winter oranges, and they are all gone.  Late November through January is the prime time, but we have found some in March before.  You can pick as many oranges as you wish…free.  Well, nothing is free because this RV park cost $45 per night with Good Sams, AAA or AARP cards, more if you are a bigger rig and need 50 amp. 

This picture above is similar to other I have shown before from the last rest area on I-40 before Barstow California. 

Every time we drive west on I-40 we stop here…and every time the dogs look for grass to do their business on.  For sure this is one of the most desolate rest areas for dogs that there is!

Bubba found some grass first and started in with his routine of SMELL, SNIFF, SMELL some more, then business time.  Without grass, it sometimes is near impossible for Bubba to do his business.  From here it is a good 2 hours to Bakersfield, so it is there last stop of the trip.

  

We have been to Orange Grove RV Park many times before, sometimes with the park nearly full to capacity…that’s nearly 200 spaces spread out on 40 acres!  Today we have so much space between our neighbors…it is just WONDERFUL!  Not as wonderful as our next camping spot…in the backyard at Sandy (sister) and Arny’s (brother-in-law) house.  Dogs won’t have trouble finding grass there, that is for sure!

Note: We had planned to stay at Red Rock Canyon State Park tonight, about 80 miles to the east of Bakersfield…but a little more research found no Internet, no Cell Service (or very, very poor service) so we decided to skip it for now.

Bakersfield for a Charge and a Wash

Orange Grove RV Park, Bakersfield, Ca

We got up at 6:45, started the coffee (percolator), fed the dogs (both are fed at 7 am and 7 pm each day, Skruffy gets her insulin shot with her meal), and started getting things ready to go.  By 8 am, I was hooking up the HHR, and we were on our way.  Plan was to stop at a Rest Area between Visalia and Bakersfield to take a shower before we got gas and dumped our tanks at the Pilot/Flying J in north Bakersfield….but it was closed for maintenance.  The Pilot had parking back in the truck area, but no “RV Parking” like many do…so we decided to just fill up with gas, and drive on into Bakersfield where we needed to get Bubba’s nails clipped at Petco, some food at Walmart and at Sam’s Club.  Our luck, all three were within one plaza between Pacheco Road to the north, Harris Road to the south, and Gosford Road to the east.  I was able to park and do Petco and then Walmart, before a short drive to be closer to Sam’s Club.  Arrived at the Pilot at 11:15, pulled out of Sam’s at 1:45.  Our destination was Lake Isabella, a little over an hour away.  The route our GPS led us was over to Highway 99, north to highway 58, and then east to a side road which would take us to right by the Orange Grove RV Park where we have stayed many times on our way to, or from the Sacramento area.  Well, that was too much of a temptation….for $25 more dollars that we planned to spend at Lake Isabella for one night and use of the dump station, we get electricity, water, and sewer which means we can take as long of a shower as we want!  So that is what we did…and I am so glad we did…

Orange Grove RV Park–California We Have Arrived

At Orange Grove RV Park, Bakersfield, CA

Our first RV park on our entire trip.  Full hookups (good for long showers and empting tanks), electricity so that we can turn on lights at our leisure, watch tv (cable is not good, but over-the-air has ME-TV and Grit, two of our favorites), and here, at this park….

…Oranges from December through March…but in March, you need something to get them high up in the tree, as you can see some up in this tree.  This park is FULL of orange trees, and you can take as many as you want to take as long as you don’t climb trees or hurt branches.  Also, there is the California Fruit Depot right around the corner where you can buy oranges, dates, nuts…all sorts of things.  They open at 9, we plan to leave by 8.  It is 5 1/2 hours to Citrus Heights, and we want to be there by 2…and we need gas.

Asked this guy in the new truck with older 5th wheel where he was from…

“Sacramento” he said.

“We are headed there…” I said.  “Left Florida Wednesday night.”  Got that look….

“Wow, that is some traveling!”

“Yep…headed for my sister’s backyard in Citrus Heights…”

“Well, that is really where I am from…where at in Citrus Heights?”

“Off Antelope…” as I described the area.

“Heck, that is just down the street from me…I live right next to the church by the old Van Marin homestead….”

We talked some more…but what a small small world this is.  He ate at the restaurants I worked at, he knew of Arny’s Corvette Body Shop on Auburn, etc. etc.  But he did not know Arny, although they both have lived within 1/2 mile of each other for years and years.

This is the route that I prefer to get from Phoenix to Bakersfield.  It is 20 miles shorter to that I-10 through San Bernardino…but the traffic…yuck!  The only hitch going this route is that along highway 58 there is this place called Kramer Junction.  There is a stop light because highway 395 and 58 cross each other.  There is ALWAYS a backup at this light…especially in the middle of the day.  Took us 20 minutes to get through that intersection, otherwise it was all just fine despite the high wind warning near Needles along I-40.  The good news, much of highway 58 is now two lanes each way, and when they complete the highway going around Kramer Junction, and over highway 395, that is going to be very, very nice.