Ridgecrest, CA
The day dawned, for once, bright and shiny. For the first time in, well, YEARS, we had bacon and eggs done WITHOUT the use of a microwave. Something wonderful about that, and being able to do it curbside!

I also appreciated the fact that I was able to take some pics of the surroundings of where we stayed the night before:





A little later, we just kind of smacked our heads in dismay in seeing, nearby, along 395, all these services, such as RV parks and truck stops, available, if we had only bothered to keep going!

We also saw the Southern California Logistics Airport, the storage area the airlines use to store their airplanes, OOPS, I mean AIRCRAFT, a few miles off of 395. Mike couldn't believe we were just a mile or so from it last night. Definitely will be a stop the next time we come back here.

U.S. Route 395 is a major route for truckers and RVers either going skiing or heading south for the winter. Today, it was unusually light, with only the occasional truck or two (thankfully) slowing us down. The morning saw us going into hillier country and through towns such as Red Mountain, which looked almsot empty except for the funky museums which I'm sure brought in the easily bored trucker or two, and Johannesburg, which actually had a post office amid all the shrubery, cactus and joshua trees. But about noon, we had reached the exit to Ridgecrest, which was about a couple of miles off the freeway. It was in a pass surrounded by beautiful mountains, and, while we were resting in the Walmart parking lot, I took some pics:



The beginnings of the southern Sierra Nevadas



The beginning of the Inyo Mountains

We had to do some grocery shopping at the nearby Albertson's, and, wouldn't you know it, THEY'RE on strike too!! It was also Halloween. I could tell because all the help had cat faces drawn on, both there and at Walmart.

It's also incredibly windy here, and it was just enough for us to dodge the stray shopping carts doing their dances in the parking lot.

Tonight, we'll be heading up to Lone Pine for another possible boondocking night, and then on to Bishop for a couple of days. The scenery is starting too look pretty good, so hopefully, there'll be more pine and less sagebrush. Stay tuned!
- posted by Bigstarlet @ 2:15 PM

 
Adelanto, CA
Well, this is a hell of a location to start the actual blog, but given the flux of our plans, it's as good a time to start as any.

Our exit from San Diego County was rather eventful, to say the least.

Mike and I decided to leave one day early. The smoke from the Cedar Fire, the ash, and the overall depression setting in (especially since we had friends who had to evacuate their dream house as a result of the fire) was really getting to us.



That we had to replace our water heater in the middle of the ash and smoke did not help matters. Fortunately, we were able to arrange with the managers of the RV park we were staying in to just pay our electricity bill, and not have to pay extra for not staying till the end of the month.

Today was actually the first visibly clear day in El Cajon. Air was still unhealthy, but there was blue skies and sunshine, tho' quite a bit colder than earlier in the week. There were reports of drizzle in the forecast, which was also a relief. We had spent much of the rest of the week packing up and clearing things for storage, so breaking of camp (i.e. removing of stabilizing jacks, disconnecting the sewer hose, unplugging the phone lines) was a breeze. After all items were packed, and the cats placed into the bathroom for their protection, it was time to hitch the trailer to the truck. Mike backed in, carefully as he could. We then let the hitch down using the crank jack on the trailer. We then cranked the jack counterclockwise, waiting for the hitch to catch. The crank kept turning, and turning, and turning, and the horror hit us: THE CRANK IS BUSTED!!!

Meanwhile, a small little traffic jam has formed on the other side of Mike's truck. Several of the guys came out to assist. One of them opened up the crank jack and discovered the cause: A broken pin. Another guy brought up a hydrolic jack that allow us to jack the trailer hitch back up, so as Mike could put the weight distribution bars on. A let down of the hydro jack showed that the hitch was in place, and we were good to go.

After thank yous and well wishes from and to all involved, the park managers and I guided our trailer out of the site (it was already taken; the new owners came to check it out and asked us a few questions about it). A stop at a local parts store, a fork over of 75 cents for a replacement pin, and we were on the road for good!

We had concerns about going through the San Bernadino Mountains, because of all the fires going on in THAT area. However, despite the marginal slowdown outside of Ontario, by 5:30 in the evening, we were hightailing it through Cajon Pass, with (almost) not a cloud in the sky.



We stopped in Murietta for lunch and some shopping at the local Walmart there. Among other things, we had a homeless guy try to sell us his bicycle for 10 dollars, and we saw a group of 10 or so Goth kids skip out on lunch at the Denny's where we were also dining. And as we left, we some the border patrol throw some persons in the back of their van. All this was rather unsettling, and, aside from the fires, made me glad to get out of Southern CA at this point in time once and for all!

It was 6:00 by the time we got to Hesperia, the high desert, on I-15. Our initial plan of attack was to take I-15 to 395 and explore the Eastern Sierras all the way up to Reno. But it was dark, and Mike wanted to stop somewhere for the night. After driving some ways on 395, we made a right on Adelanto Rd. Lots of sage brush and industrial buildings. After driving a few miles in the quickly waning twilight, Mike did a uTurn and we headed back toward 395, finally deciding on a wide pull out infront of what looked like a Cement factory.

Ah...our first night boondocking. And, while the path from the truck to the door was covered with painful sagebrush, the door entrance was thankfully free. It is also frighteningly cold (about 50ish - serves me right for not hauling out my sweats immediately). Lots of trucks roaring by and even a local bus or two. I got a couple of calls on the cell from friends asking how I am doing. One of them actually lives in Phelan, which was about 10 miles from where we were parked. But he's taking his kids to Magic Mountain early the next morning, and frankly, we are dog tired.

I'll have some more pics tomorrow. The next few entries shouldn't be so wordy and with more views.

- posted by Bigstarlet @ 9:54 PM

 
Taking off...
Well...the day is here!!

Actually, D-day was supposed to be tomorrow, but, we were able to work out an agreement with the park owners r.e. payment of electricity and other issues.

If you've been following my personal blog, or the news, at all, you'll note that we've had the worst wildfire in state history down here in So Cal, and especially here in San Diego county.

This picture should give you an idea of what's been going on here:

.

Fortunately, for us, THAT fire was far away and retreated before it came within a couple of miles of the RV park.

Not so lucky for the folks in Crest, tho'.

We had been hoping, in our last week here, to take in sites such as Tecate, on the Mexican border, as well as do some diving. Current events changed all that, but well, some deviation from the plans in wake of what's been going on is not such a bad thing...

Today, after we leave, we'll be taking I-15 to 395, and heading up 395 to Reno, NV. I'll try to talk Mike into taking a different route, since this one goes through the San Bernadino Mts and over Cajon Pass. God knows what kind of smoke, fire and brimstone we'll see there, but God willing, karma and common sense will pull us through.

I'll try to upload some more pics of the fire later, as well as what we may possibly see on I-15. We'll be heading out in a few hours. God willing, we'll be in Apple Valley by night fall.

Wish us luck!


- posted by Bigstarlet @ 9:04 AM