Madera, CA - On the Road Again 2

Sitting in a Walmart parking lot now, writing up the day’s activities: not much, we were on the road and went only 235 miles north. We are heading up to see my Aunt Betty 310 miles north and instead of pulling in right about dinner and tired, we thought it would be more mannerly to show up right after lunch about 1:00 and ready to talk. So we drove part way today and will arrive tomorrow. Our first stop today was at the Panera, 10 miles down the road. Obviously we didn’t get too far - but then we really had to be no special place at no special time. We were there about an hour before we decided that we’d better mosey along.

We found a spot to park in the Lowe’s parking lot. No one will notice us here - we’re pretty small and obscure. Who’s gonna see us here?

Our GPS told us one way to go, south to Santa Clarita and then north to Hughson, CA on Interstate 5 and Hwy 99, 242 miles altogether. We looked at the map and decided to head north, over the Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield and then take 99 north to Hughson, about the same distance. However, we were talking with a local about our route and he suggested taking 14 up to Lancaster, turning west on 138, to Interstate 5 and north to Hughson from there. Avoids all the grades that occur in the other two routes. Here’s a picture that I took of the map of the area. Note the mountains on the north and the mountains on the south, we are taking that narrow yellow line (rte 138) right through the middle. Actually, it looks like a funnel of mountains down to where we meet I5.

It was truly a level route with farms, huge solar fields on either side and lots of wind turbines lining the hills on the north. Note to self: think twice about buying a house where there are lots of wind turbines unless you like to fly kites. Here you can see the solar field, the wind turbines and the mountains on the north and how the clouds get ‘stuck’ on them. OH, yeah, that’s snow up there. Still hasn’t melted all the way.

Second note to self: check the Blue Angels schedule. We saw a bus on the road that had a huge poster on its side: Blue Angels in Los Angeles tomorrow. Shucks. I would have stayed an extra day or two to see them.

When we hit I5, we turned north and careened through the notorious ‘Grapevine’ through Tejon Pass. We’ve been hearing about this stretch of road on the evening weather reports: the pass is not only windy and foggy, it is a 6% down grade for 6 miles, rain here turns to snow and ice and you need chains. Well, there is no rain or snow or ice today but you can see that there are low hanging clouds and fog. But, if you like careening through a canyon with cars going 70 mph, heading downhill at a 6% grade, with fog and clouds somewhat obscuring your view, you’ll love this drive. And - truly, it was quite lovely. Lots of flowers in bloom, surrounded by steep mountains and craggy cliffs and, yes I rather like these slot canyons. However, we were glad that we had talked with our neighbor and found out about this cool route.

At the end of the pass, we could see the lowlands below us. Check out that runaway truck ramp on the right hand side of the highway - it goes almost straight up and is all sand. Trucks that need to use this not only have their speed halted by the deep sand but by the steep uphill.

We traveled along route 99 in Central CA several years ago in an RV with crappy suspension. Every time we hit a bridge, whether 99 went under it or over it, we noticed that they highway department repaired the whole highway EXCEPT the part under the bridge. And, there were always bumps. In the picture below, note how the new asphalt is darker that the old cement. Huge bumps where the changeover takes place. Big enough to shake your fillings out.

And, man, were the bumps jarring. I had to hang on for dear life every time we came to a bridge. We kept a close eye on the road ahead of us and the cars traveling on it When they bounced, I held on. Our current RV, a Winnebago Journey, smooths those bumps out and the ride was much easier. The first few times I saw the bumps, I grabbed the seat and held on but soon realized that I didn’t need to.
I know you all consider me a fashion maven. All my life, it’s a cross I’ve had to bear but I’ve borne it with aplomb. Today I’ve hit a high though. Check out these natty shoes and then the striped socks. Could anyone be any more fashionable? Yep, here’s a fashion maven. Luckily, we’re only heading to a Walmart parking lot today. No one will see me. Whew.

We arrived in Madera and, after a bit of circling around since there are lots of islands in the main roads here and you can’t turn left in most places, we finally arrived in the Walmart lot and parked for the night. We were joined later by 4 other RV’s.

Funny, one of the reviews I read about this place is that it was pretty quiet. We’re hearing lots of engines revving up. We thought it might just be cars on the roads around here: You know, the usual Saturday night testosterone. But, why wouldn’t the police stop it since there are lots of neighborhoods around here? Then we saw this online:

It was the first race night of the season and the boys were out to play. And, it’s only 2 blocks away. Give me the earplugs, Gar, it’s gonna be loud tonight.

Now we know. At least we know that it’s not cars racing on the local streets. But, no, it’s not quiet right now. On the other hand, it got really quiet about 11:00 when the final race ended. Whew.
Hey, is that a train I hear?