Friday December 9, 2011

Howdy all…from Barstow California!!

Advance warning…it is No Foto Friday...leave blog now…or read on. 75 points of interest (mine…maybe not yours) on the voice recorder

I left Medford OR at 640am and at 6pm and 1071 km later, here I am

The cabin fan was noisy this morning…but stopped making noise shortly after it was used to defrost the windows. A chilly 23 degrees F (-5 C) at 7am.

I was only 480 km away from Sacramento…where I saw my first palm trees of this trip!!

But back to the drive…after Medford you climb some pass and then have 7 miles of 6% downgrade until you get to the California border…and their fruit and veggie inspector. I arrived at 7am and was given the a-ok.

Drove for hours with only cruise control…and saw tons of deer munching away in the forest.

At 745am it was a blue bird morning…nary a cloudy in the sky…but the sun beaming into my eyes as it came up.

It would have been a cool foto…the sun was causing a 30 foot long shadow of the truck.

And just into California…high on mi hermano’s sightseeing list…The Liquor Expo.

8am I drove past Weed California. And then a Sheriff’s van full of prisoners drove by. They were towing a trailer that had all their shovels, picks, out-house etc. Off for a days work.

Shasta Dam exit…Bex will laugh at this one.

Water level in Shasta lake very low as was evidence by the huge ring around the lake…maybe 25-30 feet wide. But the lake and surrounding area was very nice.

840am…blue and red lights. Going 79 in a 65 zone. But the ticket is sooo confusing. It says I have to show up for court? John E Law didn’t know the price of the ticket…a judge decides?

I found this webpage…hopefully it helps before the put out an arrest warrant. Ja ja ja


No excuses…but I know the bigger tires added to the 79mph!!!

So what to do to calm the nerves? Hello to two Sausage McMuffins with egg!! 945am…gas and for only $3.33, those two sandwichs!! If I had been there after 11am, I could have had a McRib!!

Friendly driver of the day? As I pulled out of McD, I am at a stop light and I see a guy run out of his car and up to the side of mine. I had forgotten the gas cap and he put it on for me!! I lowered the window and yelled thanks. That was a nice guy!!

By 1010 it was warm outside…almost needed some a/c in the camioneta!!

Drove past Chico California…and later Yolo California.

I am no expert…but it looks like smog.

Just past Stockton there was another 18 wheeler in the trees. This one had a dozen Mexican unloading it and putting the boxes into another rig.

At the Port of Stockton there is a sign for Rough and Ready Island?

Nice to see the Christmas tree yards in Stockton and just past that…a car with BC plates.

How was the truck? We had 2 good tanks of gas (350-375km) and one great one (425+).

Lots of fresh fruit stands…as well as pistachio and nut vendors.

2pm…gas and a time for a pb sandwich…using the trey crappy Subway knife to spread the pb.

Just saw 1000’s of cows getting ready for dinner…I smelled them long before I saw them!!

Lots of orange and/or nectarine trees

And in Wasco…one very large prison.

Click here to read more:

VERY dry here. Lots of signs stating peeps are upset with US congress. A very brown golf course…but the cemetery is green!! Compost? Ja ja ja

Merle Haggard Drive in Bakersfield…who knew?

345pm and I made it into Bakersfield…good call to drive onto Barstow…another 120 miles/190km

Had a chat with Bex. She spent the day helping the gas man!! New? While feeding, stop every 5 minutes to burp him. New? She took a walk and bought these pro-biotic…but the pharmacists do not know about dosage for niños? She will call some phone number mañana to find out. Dumb a**s!!

Leaving Bakersfield…rolling hills…beautiful. Bakersfield? Spent a week there one afternoon…no need for me to come back.

Drove by Tehachapi and saw 100’s of windwmills on the hills sides. How many? According to presscom.com:


“Of the 16,000 wind turbines in California, 5,000 are in the Tehachapi Pass. The wind turbines in the scenic Tehachapi Mountains rank among the world's major engineering achievements, rivaling in scale for example, France's famous La Rance tidal power plant”


To read more via Wikipedia, click here:

Full moon tonite?

On my way to Barstow, I drove by Mojave, the town, and the desert. As well, I saw a sign for Edwards Air Force Base AND Twenty Team Mule Road. Who knew?

Ok…I have been good with ensuring the truck has enough fuel and I knew I had to stop one more time before Barstow. But there are not that many towns on the way…and the fuel warning light came on. That gives me 20-30 km and Barstow was 50 km away.

Phew…with only 5 km used, I found fuel!!

But being California, they do not make it easy…for me or the guy from Switzerland who was trying to fuel up next to me.

The pay at the pumps do not take Canadian cards because they need a zip code entered before you pump. So I go inside and ask for $80 on the card. If I use less, I come in and get a receipt for the refund.

At $38 the pump shuts off. Huh? Inside to find out the lady had screwed up and shut down my pump while trying to help our amigo from Switzerland.

So I get a $42 credit but the tank is not full, so I have to buy another $40 and go out and pump the gas. I do and only get $28 in so back inside for the other $12 credit. What a dumb a** system!!

545pm and into Barstow…no signage for Motel 6 due to coming in on small highway. Lost…stopped at a gas station and was pointed in the right direction. Good thing I pulled off the highway when I did as I was already 5 minutes past it!!

Barstow is only 150 miles from Vegas!! Hmmmm?

Hello Subway…why $7.47 here and $5 in Medford for same sub?

Phone call with Bex…all is good…Max still has not had a nap though.

UPDATE

Bex and Max have had a nap and Max continues to snore and let out rippers on the couch!!

Ok all…I am pooped. Off to do some very quick web surfing and then it is time to hit the hay!! Mañana I am off to Nogales AZ…about 8.5 hours and 920 km away. I lose an hour on this leg of the drive, so leaving at 7am should get me there at 430-5pm.

Buen fin de semana!!

Marco, Bex y Max

No comments:

Post a Comment