More Catch Up

Spring Trip

Started May 3, 2013

We departed from Caldwell around 10:00 am heading West on I-84 to Ontario, Or. Our first stop was at the grocery outlet in Ontario to load up on any junk-food we might require for the trip. Our intent was to go south on US 395 and end up in Kernville, Ca. to help Don and Judi’s daughter, Debbie; move from her rental into a house she bought. With that in mind, we headed west on route 20 to pick up 395 in Burns, OR. Some of route 20 between Ontario and Burns runs along the Malheur River, which is like a small creek a lot of the time. At any rate you twist and turn through the arid, rolling hills and scenery is just repetitive and pretty boring.

We made a fuel stop in Burns then stopped for lunch at a rest area a few miles south of there. It was a nice rest area but the wind blew so hard we had to anchor our plates to keep them on the table. The lettuce for the sandwiches threatened to blow off the plate it was on, and everyone got a chuckle watching Terry chase his napkin around the picnic area.

Between Burns and Lakeview the road goes along the edge of Alkali Lake, which is mostly dry and Lake Abert. Dust devils were visible all over Alkali lake and around the edges of Lake Abert. The dust cones are very visible at their base but become less distinct and the tops disappear into the dust haze above the lake. There are lots of birds in the area since it is on the Pacific Flyway migration route.

We fueled up in Lakeview, OR and started looking for a place to spend the night. We wanted to check out the Goose Lake State Recreation Area Camp Ground but we missed the sign on the first pass and went into California. We had to turn around and just got back into Oregon when we saw the sign. It was a very nice campground, and not crowded so we stayed there Friday night.

Goose Lake is on the Oregon/California border, with the larger part of it in California. It is a pretty large lake and is in a very pleasant setting.

Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast, drove down to the lakefront to look around and were headed south on 395 at about 11:00 am. We stopped at a rest area just south of Susanville and ate an early supper then headed on to Reno. We looked for a campground in the Reno- Carson City area but they all seemed to be packed so we spent the night in the Carson City Wal-Mart parking lot.

Sunday morning we fueled up in Carson City and again headed south on 395. We drove along the West Walker River and made a quick stop at one of the pull outs to get a little closer look at the river, which flows into Walker Lake near Hawthorne, Nevada. We made another stop at an overlook just north of Mono Lake to look at the valley. The guard rail at the overlook was just covered with stickers of every type. Sharon and Judi rummaged around in the campers and were able to come up with a couple of stickers. They had to look closely to find someplace to apply the stickers without placing them squarely on top of an existing sticker. We went on down the hill to the Mono Lake Visitors Center and got stamps for the passport books, then drove around to the south side of the lake, had lunch and took a few pictures of the formations in the lake. Back on 395 we stopped at the Mammoth Lakes Ranger Station for another stamp or two then continued south. We had been bucking a head wind all day and were pretty tired from being tossed around by it all day. We found a campground in Big Pine called Glacier View and pulled in just to get off the road. It had power, water and showers. The camp hostess, “Betty”, was not there and we found the bathrooms and showers had locks that required a code, which could be obtained from “Betty”. In addition to the lock codes, the showers required tokens to operate. You guessed it; the tokens were available from “Betty”. Don was able to come up with the code to get into the bathrooms. We paid at the “self-pay station” where there was only one envelope and if you had questions contact “Betty”. We connected power and water and settled in for the night. We called the telephone number posted for “Betty”, but she never called or came by; maybe she doesn’t really exist and maybe she never did. Who knows?

Monday we continued on down 395 and near Lone Pine we went west up into the hills to a place called the Alabama Hills. This is a location where a number of movies have been filmed. Lots of old westerns and some newer films, like the Pakistan sequence of Ironman. We ate breakfast here and poked around a little. Then back down 395 we took route 14 toward Mojave and on to route 58 toward Bakersfield. We made a stop near Tehachapi at a place called Keene where the new Cesar E. Chavez National Memorial, La Paz, is located. We got a stamp for our passport books and looked around the memorial grounds then headed on in to Bakersfield. We made a stop at the California Fruit Depot just east of Bakersfield. The place is in the middle of orange groves and packs and ships citrus all over the world. They have lots of stuff to sample in their sales area, including chocolate and yogurt covered everything. We purchased some healthy junk food and continued on to route 178 where we turned east toward Wofford Heights and Debbie’s place.

Lake Isabella is a reservoir on the Kern River. The town of Lake Isabella is near the dam on the southwest side of the lake. The town of Wofford Heights is on the north side of the lake. The Kern River runs into the north side of the lake just east of Wofford Heights. Kernville is upstream of where the river runs into the lake a mile or so. Debbie’s rental house was in Wofford Heights about ½ mile from the Southern California Edison office where she works. Her new house is off of route 178 east of Lake Isabella, but not past the lake, in an area called Mesa Mountain, aka Coyote Canyon.

The closing date on Debbie’s house was pushed back a couple of days because the title company got the paperwork at 5:01 pm so did not officially receive it till the next business day. Then there was a language change in the paperwork which caused some more delays. As a result we were not able to do anything to start the moving in process except clean the detached garage and take down lighting, traverse rods and ceiling fans. We couldn’t do anything that couldn’t be undone in case the sale didn’t go through. Because of the delays Sharon and Terry decided to head out for Mesa, AZ to visit my brother Lee for a few days.

Sharon and Terry left Wofford Heights on Friday, May 10 going east on route178 then north on route 14 to 395 then south to Kramer Junction (four corners) where we made a fuel stop. We then took route 598 east to Barstow and route 247 south toward Joshua Tree National Park. We didn’t stop at the park but got a sandwich at Subway in Joshua Tree. From there we drove west on route 62 to I-10 and headed east toward Phoenix. We got fuel at a wide spot in the road called Vicksburg, AZ since we didn’t want to have to stop close to Phoenix. We went on through Phoenix and got on highway 60 to Mesa and arrived at Lee’s house at about 7:00 pm.

It is always pleasant to visit Lee. We take the opportunity to just relax and take it easy. He had redone his kitchen counters and cupboards. They really look nice. This was the first time since we left home that we had really been warm. We were even able to wear short sleeved pants for a couple of days. Loree, Lee’s daughter, her husband Dan and all of the grandkids stopped by to visit us for a while on Saturday and Sunday. Kalani and Steph live with their father, Pete, near Apache Junction. Loree, Dan, Katy and Danny live in Mesa.

Kalani is working at ASU and getting ready to start some post-graduate work there. She seems to enjoy what she is doing very much. Steph has been working in an art gallery in Scottsdale. She enjoys the work but her boss is about to drive her up the walls so she has taken a job in a bakery and will leave the gallery when she starts at the bakery. She has worked in a bakery before and likes the work.

On Tuesday, May 14 we left Lee’s and continued east on route 60 through the Salt River Canyon to Show Low then took route 77 to Holbrook where we turned east on I-40 headed for Missouri. One of our fuel stops was in Milan, NM where we tried to call Terry’s aunt Alva. There was no answer so we continued east on I-40. We stopped for the night at a roadside picnic area west of Amarillo, TX that was starting to fill up with 18 wheelers and got off the blacktop so we were out of the truckers way. The next morning we found we were blocked in so we backed up a little and four-wheeled between a couple of trucks and were back on the road. Our last fuel stop was in Joplin, MO and we arrived at Connie’s on Wednesday, May 15 and are settled in for a couple of weeks.