Temecula to Bakersfield

Friday Feb  9

COLD COLD COLD!  Damn! We can see our breath inside of the trailer!  50 degrees, but more likely high 40’s as the thermometer was buried!

A nice easy morning included a couple of walks, some breakfast and getting on the road by 8:20.

We seem to be getting into a better rhythm and check lists.  There will have to be some rearranging of lots of items, but all in good time.

Today’s plan was to get north as much as possible to avoid the LA area and the

Grapevine hill. 

I directed us up 15 north to 215 then the 14 to Mojave and 58 to Bakersfield.  (I’m sure I’m forgetting something there, but you get the picture.)  Mostly good highways and avoiding traffic as the goal.  We did still have some hills/mountains to get over, but no problems along the way.

We are tucked into an RV park in Bakersfield.  We’re using the water, the electrical and the hot tub to get our money’s worth.  Normally, we’d be looking for the free spot to camp.  With the issues we’ve been having, and the need to get to Seattle in a timely manner, we’ve taken to experiencing the RV culture! 

We will now be traveling on scenic I-5, for ease of larger, open fuel stops, and a more direct route.  One or two more nights in California before we cross into Oregon.

When we started this we were gauging 6 hours or 300 miles as a day’s travel – time or distance.  We have done the hours, but not the distance, mostly due to the roads we’ve been on.  We’re hoping that will change in the next couple of days. 

We have found that after 5 or so hours, we’re both getting tired: me from reading the maps, GPS and watching the road ahead, and Tom from doing a great job of driving.  We’ve been ready for bed at 7 on several nights.  But considering the distance traveled so far, I think 1357 miles, and the conditions of the road, we’re not feeling guilty about 10 hours of sleep!