Good ol dependable Barstow KOA
The trip home went from a three day jump to two, so that we could avoid as much weather as possible. When you’re talking about covering 500+ miles, you have to look at weather reports for multiple places if you are trying to game things. What we were seeing across the board was a break from the storms on Friday. I knew I wanted to position us so that we could get over the Tehachapi pass on that day. So Barstow, here we come on Thursday.
“Is the lake higher, do you think?”
We woke to heavy rain and it wasn’t looking like it was going to let up for a while. Since the trek to Barstow would only take 3-4 hours, we could wait out the deluge for a while. As long as the roads didn’t close on us, it would be best to let the strongest part of the system move through. So we hung out until around 11, watching old episodes of “thirtysomething” on the iPad to pass the time. By the way, that was a really good show. We used to watch it in our twenties, but I can appreciate it more now. Very well written stuff.
Somewhere on 247, showing signs of water, water everywhere
We emerged from Dory to hitch up when it was only a light drizzle, as did all the other campers in the campground. I wanted to take surface streets rather than the interstate, for as long as possible because I really hate driving highways in weather. Except for a five mile stint on 10, I mostly got my wish. There was a period of dense fog and low visibility up through Morongo Valley on highway 62, but it paled in comparison to the fog on 247 all the way to Lucerne Valley. The only thing that kept me from panicking was that everyone collectively agreed to go super slow. I was very grateful for that. I just kept tail lights of the RV ahead of me in sight, and the person following me kept their headlights just in view. I don’t know what the visibility distance was there, but it was dangerous.
Not easy to get a shot with no OHVs in the frame
Thankfully, the fog finally lifted and we made it all the way to Barstow before sunset. We definitely ruled out the idea of staying in Sawtooth Canyon. It is all unpaved out there and would have been muddy at best. No, for times like these, KOAs are great. There are hookups and the sites are level enough usually that you don’t need to unhitch. This would offer us an easy morning departure. I didn’t want to commit to driving the whole 400 miles back home the next day, but that would mean I could take advantage of the Friday break in weather and be free from rain or wind driving the whole way. Appealing.
Fiery sunset
There’s not much to do in the way of exercise around the KOA, so Richard just walked to the ghost town and back. That got him a good six miles and he also got to witness a very nice sunset on the way. We walked together to Penny’s Diner for dinner, and that was great.
And good ol dependable Penny’s
We were rolling around 8am the next morning, and would have left earlier except it was foggy. It burned off more or less by 8 and wasn’t too bad leaving Barstow. By the time we hit the pass, there were blue skies overhead. Challenge #1 accomplished. The more I drove, the more I wanted to push through because it was so much nicer not driving in weather. We passed by Harris Ranch and kept going. Then we passed San Luis Reservoir. At that point, we were committed to getting home.
It was around seven and a half hours and over 400 miles in the car that day. That’s not my favorite way to travel, but we earned two weekend days to relax at home before going back to work, and we got to bask in being inside and not towing while the rain came down all weekend. We were happy to see the cat too.
Home with cat is nice too
Great winter break. We got to do some familiar stuff, try some new stuff, and catch up with a very dear friend. We learned things along the way which should serve us well in the future. Meanwhile, the west coast got a good dousing. That is good news for the reservoirs and bodes well for a super bloom in the spring. It was not so great for all the people who got flooded, or impacted by mudslides. Extreme weather is the new normal, but we’re thankful for all we got to do and see.
Total miles from Lake Cahuilla: 144.7, 3 hours 58 min, 15.9 mpg. Site 66 hookups. Good cell. Walking distance to Penny’s. Level enough to not unhitch.
