Mar 8 - 10 Quartzite, Az to Orange Grove RV Park, Bakersfield, Ca

Mar 8
As soon as we got on the highway we knew it was going to be a tough, windy pull to Bakersfield, California. We're taking a path that will angle us up through Tehachapi Pass and into Bakersfield. We could have gone closer to L.A. on I-10 and then into Bakersfield but I prefer to get off the major interstates when I can. It's a really busy road with multiple lanes which is great sometimes but we can cut up through San Bernardino and hook on to highway 58 straight into Bakersfield. Turned out to be a little slower than hoped but we made it safe and sound.
It doesn't take long from Q to reach the California border and a time change to Pacific Time from Mountain Time. Tomorrow night is daylight savings time so we'll change back to our old time again. We're retired. Who cares what time it is? lol

Only about 12 miles from Quartzsite.

We think these pipes are carrying water?? No signs so we're guessing.

The scenery changes as soon as you cross the state line; from mountains and desert to more farm land and fields with irrigation. We passed by the edge of Joshua Tree State Park and saw many Joshua Trees of course. The wind is pretty much going west to east right in our face so my milage is around 8 mpg average!!
We still get excited on travel days when we haven't seen the area we are traveling. It's hard to explain but you get a feeling of anticipation for what's over that hill or around the next big turn. I guess if that ever wears off then that will be a good sign to end our life on the road and find a place to settle in. Not there yet though. We stopped for fuel outside of Palm Desert at a Chevron that was easy in/out and back on the freeway. The wind has to be gusting close to 40 mph or 60 km/h around here and we spotted a huge dust storm far ahead of us to the west.

Looks like cloud but it's dust.

We've never been in a dust storm but we remember all the signs from back by Tucson about what to do in a dust storm so we kept going until it gets hard to see. It never really got bad enough to worry about but was really cool to see. I regretted my choice of highways when we turned on to a 2 lane highway heading northwest. It was really rough and lots of chunks out of it and of course farther ahead was road construction that stopped us for a bit. What I thought would be about a 6 hour trip is going to be longer.

Still on I 10, cool mountain pic.

Obviously wind is not unusual here. Lots of turbines.

Wind turbines and the start of the California flower bloom.

Some of the Joshua trees.

We had to stop for fuel again at a small town called Mojave just off of highway 58. We're close to Bakersfield but with a mountain pass and the wind it's better if I fill up. We got onto highway 58 and the clouds were really dark ahead of us heading into Tehachapi Pass. There was a big hill covered in fresh snow to our left and it's raining on us as we start climbing the pass. Leslie is watching the outside temperature drop as we climb higher and close to the top the rain was more like sleet and coming sideways with the wind.

Not a great sign at the bottom of a mountain pass!

Getting a little worse as we climb.

For our Canadian friends that's the freezing point or 0C

Definitely not our favourite moment for sure but like I said earlier, the cool part of travel day is what's over that hill. We started the descent and it was like the harps started playing and celestial voices singing. On the other side the sun was shining and no rain. It was still windy mind you but man it was nice! The hills in front of us are as green as you can imagine and we are less than 20 miles from our destination, Orange Grove RV Park.

Insert angels singing lol.

How awesome is that view!! What a change.

We had been messaging Randy & Shelley (who had been travelling from Loughlin/Bullhead City, Nevada) and they are at orange Grove already. Wayne & Karen are there too. Perfect. What we thought would be around 6 hours turned out to be 7 1/2 hours on the road with 2 fuel stops. May not sound like a killer but it was plenty enough for us. Bring on happy hour!

Really nice park in Bakersfield Ca.

Never did go in the pool?

The door to the office. Now that's some good pruning!

We pulled into Orange Grove and got our site number and as we pulled onto our row there's Wayne with a big smile waving us into our site right beside them. Randy & Shelley were on the other side of the park unfortunately because this section was already booked when they got there. It's not far though so we can easily get together. We got set up and promptly put together a happy hour for the 6 of us. Wayne and Karen had already prepared some awesome snacks for everyone as they got in around 1 pm this afternoon. Thanks guys. That was really appreciated. The other really nice thing about this park is the free to pick oranges on the trees. I grabbed a couple easy ones for breakfast the next day and we are going to pick a bag full before we leave in a couple days. We sat and enjoyed a couple drinks together but as the sun went down it quickly got pretty cool so we all went back to our rigs for supper and relaxing. We made plans for dinner together tomorrow night for all of us plus Mike and Dawne as they will be here tomorrow afternoon. Should be a fantastic meal with great people.
Mar 9
Wayne & Karen get up way before we do and we heard them leave while we are still doing coffee and breakfast. They are on a Costco run in Bakersfield while we are planning some shopping and sight seeing with Randy & Shelley. They joined after breakfast and coffee and we went downtown in our truck. We saw a farmers market on TV this morning so we thought that would be a good place to start. Well we didn't find the one they talked about on TV but we found a smaller one and pulled in to have a look. We watched as one vendor built breakfast burritos that looked soooo good. There was a long line at his booth or we would tell you how good they were. Man they smelled delicious and they were huge! We bought some bread and sourdough cinnamon buns that were really good. Leslie also grabbed some fresh vegetables and some bok choy for a stir fry later on. Lots of good food and natural products at this market.

Group selfie at the market.

Just for fun we made our next stop at a combined Yamaha/ Can-Am motorcycle dealer. They had some wicked looking side by sides that Randy was drooling on and then we sat in some more affordable options. Really, who wouldn't drool on a 1000cc turbo very cool looking ATV with a $25,000 price tag? I also stared at some dual sport bikes they had but sadly just kept walking. Next up we found a park by the river and got out for a short walk around. It's a nice day and being out is perfect but we're getting hungry. We googled a brewery for lunch and settled on Lengthwise Brewing Company after our first choice didn't serve food and gave us a recommendation. It was good advice absolutely. Good food and a good beer plus we beat the lunch rush by just enough to not have to stand in a line. Perfect.

They have a big patio with some games out front.

A lunch selfie. Probably should have asked the server for this one lol.

The brewery behind locked glass doors, so shiny!

A cool old pic they had on the wall.

Now that our stomachs are happy we have to go to Walmart for some groceries....ugh. Not my happy place but must be done. We split up and grabbed what we needed and then back in the truck and back to Orange Grove. Mike and Dawne got a spot right behind us and they arrived before we got back. We popped over to their site to say hi and Dawne is bringing some more of that block party bean salad that she had at the burger night. I'm excited! I really liked the beans, so good.
Right around 4 pm we all gathered at Wayne & Karen's site for happy hour and introductions for Mike and Dawne to everyone. Randy and Mike had similar careers but in different towns in Washington state. We thought they might have met at some sort of work thing but it turned out they hadn't. We all got a good chance to chat and get to know each other before supper. Randy and Shelley had marinated some boneless pork rib meat and made enough for everyone. Randy even brought his own barbecue to cook them on. Thanks guys! It was off the hook good! Karen made some devilled eggs and potato salad which is another fave of mine and we added a caesar salad for a great meal together. 

Wayne, Tux, Karen and me.

Dawne (shy) Shelley, Randy, Mike & Brody (125 lb choc lab)

We had a great night but of course as the sun went down it cooled off lots and chased us all inside. With hugs and handshakes we said so long to Wayne & Karen as well as Mike & Dawne because they are leaving tomorrow to head further north. The four of us are staying another day here in Bakersfield before we do the same. Randy and Shelley stayed for a night cap and then we all called it a day. A great day I will say.

Mar 10

After a leisurely morning routine (Randy & Shelley are same as us) we walked down to Randy & Shelley's to hatch a plan for the day. We will do a little drive around sight seeing and then grab lunch.

Iconic sign.

On our little tour we came across a restaurant called Buck Owens Crystal Palace!

Yayy !!

Me and Cowboy in front of the Palace.

Beautiful landscaping and the grounds were spotless.

She didn't slap my hand lol.

Classic Hee-Haw pun.

Of course a selfie out front. Too bad it's closed.

The younger crowd won't remember Buck Owens but he was a country singer from our youth that was really good. He also starred on a show called Hee Haw that we used to watch. Anyway, we thought having brunch at this restaurant would be great... not so great. It closed at 1pm on Sunday and we got there at 1:08pm. Dang it! Okay, so what's close? Hey Hooters is real close and we know they have great food right ? ;) 

A good second choice right?

As it turns out the food was just okay but the service was great! We took the long way back to the RV park and relaxed for a bit in the sun. They have poles at the office to use for picking the higher oranges off the trees so Leslie walked up and grabbed 2. Shelley wants some oranges too so we all took turns picking and putting them in grocery bags. These fresh oranges are so good and juicy that we want enough to last until the border for us and enough for Randy & Shelley to share with folks in Washington.

Grabbing the tall fruit.

It's a basket on a pole with "fingers" on the top edge

to hook the orange and drop it in the basket.

We have steaks planned for supper tonight and Randy still has his grill at our place so he will be the grill guy again. He enjoys grilling which is good because he makes some great stuff on that mini Weber grill. Leslie and I are contributing some steamed veggies and rice for a nice healthy supper. Of course there is happy hour before and wine with supper but the meal itself is very healthy right? Of course it turned out great and then we relaxed a little afterwards and talked about our travel day the next day. Orange Grove is on the higher end for pricing but it's a really nice place to stay just outside of Bakersfield if you are in that area. We liked it.

We said good night to Randy & Shelley and soon called it a day. We'll be up fairly early and on the road between 9:30 & 10am for not a long travel day but far enough. Looking forward to our first drive up I-5 from this far south. Cheers everybody!