Mountains, Desert, Fuel, and A Great CG

Barstow, CA. El. 2178'
44 deg. partly cloudy, SW winds @ 16 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 72 deg. clear, winds turning to the North and dropping to 5 to 10 mph.

Wow!! Are we ever having a beautiful sunrise!! I don't think Jim can get any good photos though, we're in town with a big building on the East side of the park that is blocking the view.

The trip here to Barstow yesterday was pretty neat. We left Bakersfield about 9:50, and continued in a Southeasterly direction on Rt. 58. It wasn't too far until we started climbing up into the Tehachapi Mountains. The grades weren't too bad, but some of the climbs were pretty long. The biggest problem I had was when I had to slow down because of slow trucks. Then, it was hard to pick up speed again. The road was good though, and soon we were going over the 3793' pass. Along the way, there were some beautiful mountain and valley views. After going over the pass, and dropping down a little, the terrain leveled out as we began to cross the Mojave Desert. There's not much out here, only a few small towns, and lots of sagebrush and creosote bush.

When we got to I-15 we turned South for about a mile, and pulled into a T/A Truck stop where Jim bought me a nice big drink of good old #2 diesel fuel. I was pretty thirsty because I hadn't had a drink since way back in Oregon, and I had traveled over 700 miles since then. I'm sure glad the price of diesel has come down. When we started this trip, the price was up near $5, but yesterday we got it for $3.03 per gallon. Much better, but still too high.

After fueling me up, we got back on I-15 and headed North for about 5 miles where we turned off and pulled into the Shady Lane RV Camp. It was 12:50 when we pulled into the park, so it took us almost exactly 3 hours to travel 186 miles, and get me fueled up.

This park is nothing special, but the people are great. When we got here, Jim went into the office where the man told him how much the sites were, and all about the park. Then, before Jim paid him anything, the man led me to my site, told Jim to get me all set up, and then, at Jim's convenience, come back to the office to pay for the site. After getting me hooked up to the utilities, Jim went back to the office where the man asked him if everything was satisfactory, and only after Jim told him that it was, did he start to register me. When Jim asked him about grocery stores and the Post Office, the man got out a map, told Jim about the different stores, the Post Office, and showed Jim the best routes to get there, and then gave Jim the map.

Like I said, this park is nothing special. There are quite a few permanent RVs here, and the sites are kind of narrow, but the park is clean, there is no junk setting around any of the permanent RVs, the sites are nice an level, and the owners can't do enough for you.

If we ever get back to this area, we'll be sure to stop here again.

Did you know that the highest and lowest points in the continental Unite States are within 100 miles of one another? Mt. Whitney measures 14,495 feet, and Bad Water, in Death Valley is at 282 feet below sea level.