Trip Home to California
The day finally came for me to get back on the road to go back home to California. I took my time getting up and getting around because my destination for the day would be Lake Havasu City which was only a few hours away from Tucson. I would be taking a route that Martie told me about that bypasses the heavier traffic through Phoenix.

My trek would begin by me finding my way to I-10 where I drove toward Phoenix until I reached the junction with I-8. On the way I saw the saguaro I had seen on the trips taken to find my old buddies. One thing that was apparent was that there were a lot of saguaros that seemed to be having a problem with some sort of disease or parasite. The bottom trunks of many of the cacti were blacken with some being propped up with boards. I would learn that this was cause by some sort of beetle that was damaging the plants.

It didn't take long to reach the the place where I turned off onto I-8 which turned out to be good advice I received from Martie. While driving along in wide open desert I was passed by three big-rigs hauling what appeared to be Stryker Light Armored Vehicles. Maybe somebody reading this could tell me if my description is correct. Check out the picture below.

Three 18-wheeler heavy-metal haulers passed my motorhome

As I progressed west on I-8 the wide open spaces with no development impressed me with a feeling of being out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't very long before it came time for me to leave I-8 and turn north to go back to I-10. The turn-off was at the town of Gila Bend where I would get on highway 85. Because I had not been this way before, I wasn't sure where the fueling stations might be located. As a result, I was on the lookout for a place to refuel.

Close to the turn-off from I-8 to 85 I stopped to top-off the fuel tank of my motorhome. At the corner there was an accident that appeared to be between a motorcycle and an SUV. Guess which vehicle driver was in the worse condition.

An ambulance is on the way

"#2 Diesel Auto" works fine in a motorhome

The place I refueled turned out to be one only a few stations where the price of diesel fuel was less than regular unleaded gasoline. I was very happy to filler up at this location. I just hoped that the brand — which I hadn't heard of — was a quality brand of fuel. While I was topping off the fuel tank an ambulance arrived to pick up the injured motorcycle driver.

After refueling I was back on the road heading for I-10 where I planned to go to Quartzite where I would turn north on highway 95 to go to Lake Havasu City. While driving on I-10 my GPS receiver said that I should turn right way before I expected a turn should happen. However, my GPS had done a great job when I found my two buddies, so I turned right and continued to follow the GPS directions. It was very nice when I connected up with a road I remembered from a past trip in January of 2001.

I had been directed to turn north at Vicksburg Road which took me to highway 72. I was on 72 for a short time when I saw a sign for Bouse, Arizona. A few minutes later I entered the little town of Bouse. This was the road that we had come out on after a desert trek to the ghost-town Swansea. Highway 72 connected with highway 95 in Parker. After turning right on 95 I recognized a shopping center and casino from that trip in January 2001. Now I was headed for Parker Dam and Lake Havasu.

Welcome to beautiful downtown Bouse

Both sides of the lake were lined with RV and vacation homes

Looks like fun places to stay while on vacation

While cruising along next to the Colorado River, I saw a lot of water activity and RV campgrounds along the river banks on both sides of the river. I also passed an area where I had a fun time when I visited in November 2008. I was on my way to a place where Harry said that he and Shirley would be spending the night. My GPS receiver directed me right to the front gate of the RV campground. Unfortunately there was a gate across the entrance to the RV park.

Now I had no way to get past the gate so I pulled off to the side of the road to see if I could walk into the campground or at least find someone who could tell me what I needed to do to get in. Before I could get out of my motorhome the gate opened. Then a man and a woman drove out in a golf cart and came up to the side of my rig. I told them I had friends inside whereupon they directed me to a particular campsite and told me to the office was closed so I should check-in first thing in the morning. As luck would have it, Harry and Shirley were parked across the intersection form me.

It was good to see my friends, so I went over to say, "Hi." Harry pulled out a "guest" chair for me. We sat and visited for a while as the sun went down. This was a very nice way to end my day.

The end of another day on the road

When I got up and got around I went to the office to check-in just before checking-out. It didn't take long to get back out on highway 95 and head for I-40 twenty miles away. I had driven this way only a few months before. The sight of the bridge between states looked very familiar as I approached it from the south. Once on I-40 my ride home was just as it had been many times over many years of traveling this way on the way back to California from our hometown in Kansas.

The road to California is just ahead

It looks as if this trip is close to coming to an end — only 550 miles to go

After crossing into California I saw one of the longest freight trains I've ever seen. The train had four power units (engines) in the front and three more in the middle of the train. Then it all was followed up by two pusher power-units. My route crossed that of the train where it went out into the desert valley ahead where I took a photo that was unable to get all of the train in the frame.

The beginning of a very long train

Click on image below to view larger version That very long train out in the desert

Out in the desert it is common to see the old Route 66 pavement running parallel with the I-40 highway. As I've said before, sometimes — in places where the old highway is still in use — the road surface is maintained in good condition. While in many places the old road may have weeds growing through the surface or the pavement has eroded completely away to gravel. I still like to spot old orphaned bridges out in open fields where the old route used to go.

All over the country, old U.S. highway road surfaces can be seen near the Interstate routes that took the place of the highway that was part of the old U.S. highway system. Sometimes the old highway route is beneath the newer road surface.

A section of the historic route 66

It wasn't very long until I was passing what was an ancient volcanic lava flow. The black rock, made of hardened lava, is the unmistakable evidence that molten rock once flowed like a river across the landscape. I've seen these old solidified-lave flows all over the West during my travels in my motorhomes.

The location of an old lava flow — another can be seen in the distance

About mid-day I was getting hungry, so I pulled into a desert rest area. The inside of my motorhome was cooler than outside, so I stayed inside and made me a sandwich. The view was nice where I chose to park near a tree that provided shade over the windows on the sunny side of my rig. This turned out to be a good stop because I not only was feeling hungry, but I was getting a little tired. The time it took to have lunch was a restful, but even so, I decoded to lie down after my meal for about 30 minutes. When I got back on the road I felt refreshed and ready to take on a bunch more miles.

The view from my motorhome while at a rest stop in the Mojave Desert

While driving after lunch a familiar sight began to appear on the horizon to the right of my route through the desert. It was the big solar power plant that seems to get bigger every time I come this way. There is a big field of heliostats (mirrors), the position of which, are each computer controlled to reflect the light from the sun onto a single point at the top of a tower. With all the mirrors reflecting sunlight at one single location, that area get very hot; hot enough to produce super heated steam to run electric generators. There also is a field of individual solar collectors that combine the energy collected from all the individual devises to produce enough power to run more generators.

Click on image below to view larger version It looks as if there are more solar power operations out in the desert valley

Once I was beyond the solar collector area it didn't take long to reach Barstow and the Flying J where I topped off the fuel tank of my motorhome. This would supply me with more than enough fuel to reach my next stop in Bakersfield. Because I had a late lunch it seemed a bit too early for dinner I decided to have a snack while I rested in the Flying J parking lot.

Taking a break in the Flying J parking lot near Barstow, CA

Back on the road I was trying to get as far as I could before nightfall. As usual the sights along the way were very familiar. There is one sight that is now seen differently from several years ago; that is the aircraft storage area near Mojave, California.

Before the new highway 58 bypass was routed north of the town of Mojave, I looked at the aircraft storage are to see how many commercial airliners were in storage. It was a non-scientific method of seeing how healthy the airlines were at the time. If there were a lot of planes in storage the airline business was not doing well. However, if there were few planes out there, the airline business was usually in good shape. Now with the highway 58 bypass in place, it is difficult to see how many aircraft are in storage because the new route is farther away from the storage area.

Click on image below to view a larger version It is difficult to see how many planes are in storage

As I've said on previous trips, it appears as if the cattle grazing fields are all being converted to orchards and cotton fields. Then vineyards began sprouting here and there in the San Joaquin Valley. Now I noticed that a cotton field that has been converted to a vineyard. Part of the field had been changed to an orchard a few years before. The fields keep changing with each trip I take this way.

A new vineyard where a cotton field once was

From Mojave the trip up over the Tehachepi Mountains was routine. I've really been impressed at just how well my motorhome has performed. It was easy to tell that I had entered an agricultural area because the number of airborne bugs really increased. Sometimes it sounded as if a machine-gun shooting B-Bs was aimed at the windshield. In between the volleys of machine-gun fire there would be a loud splat as a large flying insect decided to end it all on the windshield. Occasionally the sun would hit the windshield at an angle causing the the bug splotches to light up It was a mess.

The windshield becomes a bug graveyard

This sign lets me know that I'm not very far from home

My plan was to get as far as Casa de Fruta RV Park where I would spend the night. Even though it would be close to home, I wanted to get off the road after a long drive. Also, I don't like to try to travel in heavy traffic at night, especially while towing. When I arrived at the RV campground the sun had just set and the office was closed. Looking out in the campground I something I had never seen at the location before. The campground was nearly empty; I counted only three RVs in sites. I also wanted to refuel my motorhome on this night so I wouldn't have to do it during the busy time of day in the morning.

With the office closed I decided to go to the fuel area and top off the tank. While there I made a last minute decision to continue on to my home with the idea that I would park my motorhome in front of my house for the night. Then, the next morning, when traffic was light, I would put my motorhome in its normal parking spot next to the garage.

So away I drove toward the heart of Silicon Valley. It was well after nightfall when I reached home, so I pulled up in front of my house where I could unhook my car and leave the motorhome for the night. I did have to do one thing before calling it a day. Because the motorhome was parked on a slant I took everything out of the refrigerator and took into the house and I shut down the propane. With that I was finished for the night.

I did go to my garage to collect my mail where I found that my mailbox with a 4 week capacity had over flowed during the almost 7 weeks I had been away from home. I carried the very large arm-load of mail into the house and dumped it on a chair where the pile slipped onto the floor.

Seven weeks of mail — mostly junk mail

It felt good to be home after another one of RV Fun Trips.

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