Fifth Gear Is My Friend

Well surprise surprise!!  Everything went swimmingly well yesterday.  No excitement at all, no honking horns and no open bay doors.  Thank goodness!!

I left Hesperia's wonderful quiet parking lot and headed out, with my first obstacle being the dip in the road at the stop light.  It's a big one.  I got honked at again, but only because I was taking up two lanes, trying to cut across at an angle.  I think I scared the guy in the pickup truck I had to go around.

After going through stop light after stop light, I finally made it to Hwy 395, where I went through stop light after stop light.  I think they have even added a few more.  It's important to note that the highway construction on 395 near Kramer Junction looks exactly as it did three months ago.

From there, it was all downhill to Mohave where windmills have become the name of the game.  There are even more than the last time I was here.  Thankfully the traffic thinned out as I cruised through the valley.

Fifth Gear was my best friend as I climbed up and drove down hills without using the brakes at all, keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge.  It's a game I've played for many years with mountain driving.  The goal is to see just how long you can drive without using your brakes.  Course I cheated a little with the exhaust brakes.

When it came time to head down Tehachapi Pass I think I only used them three times.  Look Ma ... no brakes and NO traffic.  But what I DID see was lots of smog as I topped out.  Good grief!  It just gets worse and worse every year.  

I actually hung out in Hesperia until 10:00 before taking off.  I figured it would take me three hours to get to Bakersfield.  It's really hard to just sit there when you're ready to hit the road.  I made it in two and a half hours, hitting the Orange Grove RV Park at exactly the wrong time.

They were closed for lunch.  Another couple came in from Sacramento and stopped right behind me.  Luckily I noticed all these envelopes taped to the wall.  How cool is that?  They put our site number on the outside and a map inside showing you where to park.

It was fairly quiet except for that yappy little dog someone left outside their rig all night long.  I glanced out the window once to see this ..... MORE smog!  When we first moved to this valley in the dark ages, you could actually see the mountains every day.  Just look at it now!!  I'm already craving the clear skies of Arizona.  

My drive today to the big town of Hanford should only take two hours, maybe less because it's Sunday morning and traffic will be light.  There I will be involved in the WMHA RV Rally planning as little as possible.  It's always a problem when 40 Indian Chiefs get together to lead us 10 little Indians.

Of course there is the obligatory potluck dinner, so the first course of business will be to find a grocery store.  Instead of making a salad, I'm opting for frozen garlic bread sticks.  Pop them in the oven and I'm done.  I've no need to show off my cooking skills!!