This is just a short post to log the fact that we are again home after a safe arrival this afternoon. It was a good trip with light traffic and plenty of blue skies and sunshine along a scenic and desolate desert drive. We can hardly wait for the next excursion, but we have pressing issues at home.
Drake, the neighbor’s dog came to welcome Damsel home. Click on the image to enlarge.
After the second leg (of three) on our return home, we find ourselves in Twentynine Palms in the Mojave, CA high desert. Today was an interesting drive which, in part, took us both to areas of the high desert where we had yet to see, to wit: Lucerne and Johnson Valleys. It is quite the scenic drive with desolate areas, giant rock formations and the usual desert flora and fauna.
The campground here is at elevation 1730 MSL according to the GPS. We are experiencing warmer weather than that we had in Northern California, where fall has definitely become quite brisk. Here, the temperatures are forecast for between lows of high fifties and highs of low eighties. We expect much of the same when we arrive home tomorrow.
Our drive tomorrow will be through the rest of the California Outback, across the Colorado river at Earp, CA/Parker, AZ and continuing through the Arizona Outback the rest of the way home. Weather and traffic are not expected to be factors during the last leg home.
Tonight we’re camped in Bakersfield, California at the Orange Grove RV Park. The park is, literally, in an orange grove with spaces for RVs to park. Now that December is imminent, the warm weather parks fill up pretty fast. We were fortunate to get a space here and the park looks to be nearly full.
We had a great time over the last two weeks, camping and meeting with family. It’s a bittersweet thing to be heading home, but we’re already planning our next excursion to be with family again.
We’re going to be in the California High Desert tomorrow, stopping in Twentynine Palms overnight and then home on Saturday. In spite of having a lot of fun on the road and with family, we are looking forward to being home again and back into our retirement routine.
Our trip today was a fairly short one but a complication due to an overturned truck at our destination exit ramp extended our time by a half hour. Traffic was being allowed to move, but at a very slow pace. When we got in the queue in the right lane a half mile before the exit, traffic came to an almost dead stop. A traffic signal at the bottom of the ramp was metering cars onto the roadway at a very slow pace. We spent the last half hour of our trip within a quarter mile of our destination. </grumble>
We’re camping at a residence which is equipped with two out of three hookups for the RV: water and electric. If we stay long enough to fill the black tank, we can unhook and take a short drive to a Truck and RV stop that has a dump station. Most of the time, we will be showering and using the sanitary facilities in the house.
In spite of the aggravation on the road today, we’re in the motorhome at this time enjoying an adult beverage. When we arrived here, we had dinner and a nice visit with our hosts. In the long run, life is good.
Tonight, we are camped at the Visalia KOA near CA SR 99 but we are actually closer to Goshen, CA. We camped here last April on our way to visit family in Northern CA.
As was the case last April, we will continue up the road to Damsel’s sister’s place where we will remain over the Thanksgiving Holiday. At some point in time during that stay, we will take a day trip up to Wine Country where our latest great grandson is waiting for us to meet him.
We’re still planning what route to take home after the holiday. Today, our route took us through some very high traffic areas through the Los Angeles area. One of those is quite enough exposure to that traffic level for the excursion. We will consider a lighter traffic route for the return.
We are camping at East Shore RV Park in San Dimas, CA. This is a very large campground right in the middle of the Inland Empire area of Los Angeles County. The campground is located near the Pomona Fairplex and Bonelli Regional Park and although surrounded by freeways and in close proximity to Brackett Field airport, you would never know it is there just passing through the area.
We’re camped here because it is in close proximity to our grandson (and his folks) and we’re taking the opportunity to visit with them on our way to the Northern California area where we will celebrate Thanksgiving with another branch of the family.
The image is a cove along the shoreline of Puddingstone Lake, immediately adjacent to the campground. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have embarked on our latest excursion heading to see family in California. But tonight, we opted to camp in Arizona still, just east of Blythe, CA on the Colorado in Ehrenberg, AZ. Damsel and I decided that we did not want to make the six-hour trip all the way out to San Dimas in just one leg, so we’re camped here after only a little over two hours on the road.
We stopped at the half way point at a familiar place to us on the Arizona Outback (Salome, to be exact) to pick up a couple of souvenirs and gifts for the California folks. We have a lot of family and friends out there, so we get stuff for the kids and other family members.
The image is of Damsel and Beethoven down on the river’s edge taken this afternoon after we arrived. We will be underway again tomorrow after breaking camp.