That Was A LONG Drive

Morning came once again.  This time with clouds and beautiful colors.  Suddenly I spotted a dog running loose at the end of the road.  OH NO!!  Cooper and I made a beeline for him, hoping to snatch him up.  Suddenly Bill appeared from behind a palm tree.  It was GIBBS!!! (and he was on a leash).

It just got better as I began the takedown.  Time to pack up and hit the road.  I got all of maybe two feet before Cooper began going crazy.  One thing he doesn't want, is to be left behind.  So first things first ... he goes in the truck.  THEN I can begin putting stuff away.

There were too many pictures yesterday to post this beauties.  All day long the clouds floated over our RV park.  How can you not love this!

There seemed to be three different layers.  Mother Nature sure can put on a show.

It looked like you could just reach up and touch them.

Finally just before 8:00, we were all loaded up and ready to go.  I said sad goodbyes to Patsy, Bill and Gibbs and headed out.  This isn't Cooper's favorite part of traveling.  I think he gets rather car sick.  Some times he will sleep, but mostly he lays with his head up ... my poor baby boy!!

Under beautiful sunny no-rain skies, we headed off toward Needles.

It was a very long 4-1/2 hours of driving as we headed to Barstow.  Traffic wasn't bad, so we went along at a good clip.  If you've taken Highway 40 before, then you probably know what this is.  This crazy long train is stopped, I think waiting for another train to pass.  It's much longer than what you see here.

I wish you could see the colors of the hills.  Some are grey, some purple, some black ... the colors are just amazing.

At long last we hit Barstow where I stopped for fuel.  $5.39 was the price for today ... not the most expensive I've found here.  I was hungry and Cooper needed a walk.  He got to smell the smells and stretch his legs while I got another piece of this most fabulous wondrous pizza.  Mostly I wonder what's in it.  If they added more sauce, it would be much better.  $4.00 a slice I think.  No matter, the slices are 8 inches across and it filled the hole in my stomach.

Off we went again ... this time with more truck traffic.  I followed one trucker down Tehachapi Pass for a ways.  He was going really slow ... and every time he hit the brakes, huge clouds of smoke came out from under the truck.  YIKES!!  

Eventually we made it to our favorite Orange Grove RV Park.  I grabbed my envelope taped to the front window and headed to my site.  

Look what I found on the table!  Someone left a big pile of oranges along with a nice painted rock.  I appreciate the thought, even if the oranges aren't the least bit ripe.  I kept a few that I hope will ripen, and am leaving the rest on the table for the next person.  There actually are still some good oranges at the tops of the trees, but I'd rather pretend I'm a rock in my chair.

Oh LOOK!!  CUPCAKES!  I wonder where those came from!!  Just ONE made an excellent dinner!!

Which reminds me ... I have ice cream!!  And so ended the longest travel day.