From Arizona to Sacramento

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to leave Thursday morning for Sacramento. The pain I've been experiencing made me want to get back and get medical help sooner rather than later. Lady and I took our last walk out in the desert that morning, and hit the road shortly after.


The drive on AZ95 from Parker to Lake Havasu City was a beautiful one. That's the Colorado River in one of the photos. But the beauty of the terrain getting to Lake Havasu City was not matched by the city itself - it might as well have been Birmingham, Alabama from the looks of the malls on top of malls, same stores, same restaurants, and same fast food joints in between. I did get a glimpse of the sign to London Bridge, and although I didn't see the bridge itself it looks like they have recreated the looks of London row houses. If I hadn't been alone I might have enjoyed stopping to see it, but the traffic was heavy by the time I got there and I drove on.





I may have mentioned that I wanted to drive a portion of old Route 66, but it, too, was a disappointment. Miles of flat land, road straight ahead, and nothing to break the monotony. There were a couple of derelict buildings from the past but I didn't really see them until it was too late to stop. I still would like to travel portions of old Rte 66 in the future, maybe in eastern AZ and NM.

When I got to Amboy I didn't know if these were the original buildings and just kept up in a better condition - it seems that they are still being used, i.e., cafe, motel, etc.



I traveled on to the little town of Daggett, just before Barstow. Following the signs to Peggy Sue's Diner and RV Park, I came to the Desert Springs Camping and RV Park first, and didn't need to go any further. I remember from last year when I was pulling the 5th wheel, stopping at a KOA off I-15 that was down the road from Peggy Sue's. I didn't want to get on I-15, preferring to stay closer to I-40. It was a nice park with full hook ups although I only used electric.

What I did notice was the sound of train whistles throughout the night. In the past I've lived near enough to train tracks to hear them passing, and they don't usually bother me. But after two weeks of being in the desert with no noise at all, it was something I noticed.

The trip through the Mohave and up Tehachapi was easy with the TC. I decided to come up Highway 99 to Sac rather than drive way over to I-5. The lanes on Hwy 99 are much narrower (it is one of the original CA freeways) and there are a gazillion on and off ramps in all the little towns through the Central Valley. It brought me in the "back way" to Steve's house though, and I didn't have to drive the Friday afternoon traffic across the downtown area.

I took some things to my apartment this morning, and took a long hot shower by the way. I will pack up more items to take tomorrow morning and Lady and I will move back home. I hope to arrange a storage space on Monday, and Steve can bring the truck and camper over and meet me there, and he can disconnect it for me. I think Steve and Meg really like the camper, and I hope they will be able to take a few trips in it. I look forward to sharing it with any of my kids who are inclined to take a trip in it, and as they all love camping and the outdoors to begin with, I know they will enjoy it. I'm hoping summer will be a fun time for all of us.

My granddaughter gets home from college for Christmas break next weekend, and maybe we can get away for a couple of days in the El Dorado Forest or over on the Central Coast.

So I think that brings me up to date, and if I can get to the "Publish Post" button quickly before I lose it, I just may have an entry today. Thanks to the many readers who have suggested ways to post to prevent the accidental loss of all that work. A lot of folks recommended LiveWriter, and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that it isn't compatible with the Mac. I actually prefer composing and adding my pictures directly into Blogger as it is the easiest and fewest steps, barring accidents such as I have had. I have been in the habit of saving my work every few minutes, and especially after importing pictures. Whatever cleared my screen and left me with no entry must have happened seconds before the autosave feature took effect, so I had exactly three characters on the screen and available for edit.