Camping 2011

Brothers... Kent and Nolan

I enjoy driving the RV!

Guess Where?

Bakersfield again

We left before sunrise to avoid the heat. The journey was pleasant, driving over the Tehachipi's. The route we take is Highway 138 / Pearblossom highway west to Highway 14 north, then Highway 58 west to 99 north. We saw this hot-air balloon over Tehachapi. This prompted a conversation about parachuting and other extreme activities. I mentioned the new sip-line tour that recently opened in Wrightwood. I would like to do that, maybe for my birthday?

Marie and Edd

We continued on, over and down the mountain, passing the exit for the famous Tehachapi Loop, where the trains make a circle on the mountain while going over the pass. Mark's nephew Justin now works for BNSF and so whenever we see a train we wonder if he's on that one. Eventually, we dropped down into East Bakersfield, passed Weedpatch Highway, and Stockdale Highway, and the cutoff for Buttonwillow. These are all landmarks I remember from my childhood, when visiting my brother. He received a scholarship to attend Cal Statue University Bakersfield. During the two years he was there, my mom or my sister drove me to Bakersfield many times. I often stayed at Denio's, where somehow I got tagged with the name "Egghead." I remember combing hair, and pillow fights, and laughter and fun, and food!
     Highway 99 north emerges soon after Bakersfield, and we head toward Fresno. The drive between Bakersfield and Fresno sped by! We changed drivers in Tulare and got gas, then up the road a ways we discovered a gas station with a Subway sandwich shop, just past Pixley. We should stop there next time.
     We left Fresno and arrived at Oakhurst where we did some last-minute grocery shopping. We bought some sourdough bread and hard-rolls for sandwiches, and I found a giant drawing tablet for the colored pencils I brought along. Change of drivers again, and I got us into camp by 12:30pm.

Mark and Bev at Willow Creek, Soquel, Sierra National Forest, not too far from the Exact Geographical Center of California.

 

 

     Nolan was in the creek within five minutes! I soon followed, even though it was very cold. John got in, Troy stuck his big toe in, and Travis put on his trunks, too. Fern was adventurous and went out into the creek to help John build a small dam. We hoped to create a small pool where the sun would warm the water for us. The first couple of days the sun shone bright, and it was even hot, with no clouds. Just a little chilly at night ~ the first night we slept with the camper door open. The rest of the week it was cloudy all day, big white fluffy clouds, but sometimes the sun would peek out and warm us up, but it was "sweater- weather." John and Kent caught some fish ~ a few natives (German Browns) and some Rainbow trout. We roasted them in foil over the coals with Italian dressing ~ delicious! We (Again) packed too much food, and didn't even make beans and cornbread! But we had steak, and chili, and hamburgers, and spaghetti and meatballs, and meatball sandwiches, and s'mores (but no chocoloate) and roasted weenies. And then Fern's breakfasts ~ Fried potatoes and sausage, biscuits and gravy, Mark made pancakes, oh! and the peppered bacon! And let's not forget Flipz, the best snack food!!
     The trip home was quite an adventure! We made it all the way to Mojave, after crossing back over the Tehachapi's, and stopped for gas, and the RV stopped altogether. Conked out, smoke and a broken belt. Frozen compressor, the whole nine yards. We finally found a tow truck available, he came from Lancaster, and towed us to Javi's RV repair in Palmdale. We grabbed our essentials from the RV and climbed in with John and Fern for the trip home. We survived!! And it was a good week in the mountains!