Sunday departure - Monday RV Resort

Almost ready to roll out of the Sands RV and Golf Resort - Desert Hot Springs, CA.

Early Sunday morning saw us loaded, slides closed, jacks up and slowly pulling out of our 2.5 week long space at the RV resort. It is a very tight squeeze to roll our long rig out of this park, but it is doable....with some jack knifing of the truck.  The problem is due to the palm trees that dot every site, at the very exit edge.

All tied down and ready.

Rolling out.

We attached the swivel wheel and loaded the motorcycle.  We were rolling out of the the RV park by 10:00 am. We chose to head north from Desert Hot Springs - towards Yucca Valley - then north on Highway 247 to Barstow, CA. 

Heading north on 247 from Yucca Valley, CA.

Interesting!

The winds had been gusting when we left and it worked in our favour for the first two hours of our drive.

High mountain country - Elevation 3500 feet.

Moonscapes.

Heading west out of Barstow, the winds abated and we cruised easily toward Bakersfield.

Snow on the ground.

Rare sighting of snow in this area.

Grazing country near Bakersfield.

A must stay for RV'ers....and one of our favourite spots too.  We did not stay because it was too early in the day when we drove by here.

Nut trees in full bloom.

Edwards Air force Base, CA.  The space shuttle is known to land here when weather prevents it from landing in Florida.

It was a beautiful and sunny day but the outdoor temp gauge in our truck never showed higher than 55 degrees.

Really nice farmer's market along the way.

Sunday traffic was light through Bakersfield so we rolled right through and headed north on I-99 to highway 46 westbound.

Our overnight spot - boon docked on a paved lot in a large truck stop near I-5

 We pulled out the Bar-B-Q for some well earned burgers, ran the generator for power/heat/etc., and called it an early night when darkness fell.

Ran the generator in the early morning to heat up the inside of the rig.  It was the only way to get Jeanette out of the bed.

We were on the road by 7 am. - North bound on I-5

Beautiful morning but quite cool @ temperatures hovering near 40 degrees.

Typical of I-5, the highway is in a sorry state of repair.  There are holes to dodge, very rough pavement intermixed with concrete, and every overpass forces one to brace for incredible bumps and slams.  Incredible to think in this day and age, a major transportation link is in such a sorry state.

California irrigation canals dot the landscape.

When we reached Stockton, just south of the Capital City of Sacramento, we faced a horrible number of miles of bump and grind.  The interstate is horrible.  Even our teeth - original at that - were rocked loose from this stretch of road.

However, when we reached Schwarzeneggerville (Sacramento, the state Capital where Arnold spent several years raising the state debt to staggering proportions), there was brand new pavement and we rolled smoothly through the city.  We briefly wondered if something was wrong with our rig?  There was little noise, jostling, grinding and bumping! 

Brief stop at a 'rest stop' for lunch....just north of Sacramento, CA.

The motorcycle swivelwheel always attracts attention and questions. This fella from Grants Pass, Oregon told me he nearly lost control of his truck and 5th wheel going under one of the overpasses on I-5 south of Sacramento.  He also lamented the sad state of these highways.

It was smooth driving from there to our overnight stop in Red Bluff, CA.

Dark skies!!!  Oh., Oh!!!!

Almost at our overnight RV spot.

Nice small city 30 miles or so south from Redding, CA.

Following 7 hours at the helm (I mean the wheel) we thought it best to get off the road for another night.  We really liked Durango RV Resort when driving southward so we chose to stay here again on the way home.

 

 

 

Very modern and reasonably priced too.

Very  long and level pull through sites.

Beautiful surroundings bordering the Sacramento River.

This is likely a return spot for our journeys south and north.  It's nice not to have to unhook.  Makes for a quick getaway the next day.

Warming her weary bones.

With nobody near the pool and spa, we were treated to some quiet time. Just the right touch after a long day.

Beautifully appointed clubhouse....and grounds.

We are parked only 100 feet from the Sacramento River.

Well, that pretty much ends our story of the last two days.  Tomorrow we'll check the WEB site and WEB cams for the road conditions as we approach and hope to cross the Siskiyou Pass from northern California into Oregon.

It has been a good couple of days on the road since our departure from Palm Springs/Desert Hot Springs area.

Thanks for dropping by.