Still Driving South

We slept very well at the Flying J truck stop last night.  There were a total of 8 RV's boondocking and it seemed everybody had lights out early.  This morning we grabbed a cup of coffee, drained the gray water tank at the dump station and were on our way.

We had a lot of cars whiz past us from Oregon with "Go Ducks" painted all over their cars.  Oregon is playing in the upcoming Rose Bowl and the highway was full of loyal fans going down to Pasadena to see the game, and maybe the Rose Parade too.  We saw the Rose Parade in Pasadena twice.  That was enough, thank you very much.  The first time was in 1966 when Bruce and I were dating.  We drove up to Pasadena around 1:00 am and walked along Colorado Blvd until we found a good spot to sit on the curb and wait until 8:30 when the parade began.  It was cold and the curb was uncomfortable.  Ahhhh, youth.  Later, when we saw it the second time it was about 5 years later.  By then we were married and we bought grandstand seats.  We got there that time around 7:30 am, but I was still uncomfortable sitting on the hard benches for several hours.  Been there....done that....don't want to do it again.

Driving south on Interstate 5 through the lower San Joaquin Valley isn't a beautiful sight.   Brown, brown, and more brown.  This time of year the air is hazy and cloudy down on the valley floor.

We began the drive up the "Grapevine" and there were a lot of trucks slowly making their way to the top.  We stayed in one of the right 2 lanes as instructed by highway signs.

The trucks were so close I could have opened a window and almost touched them.

We passed Ft. Tejon and finally the Tejon Pass summit at about 4,000 ft.  Up there the air was crystal clear and the view was much better.  In the springtime these hills are covered with green grasses and some pretty wildflowers in places.

We continued down the other side of the mountain pass to the 210 Freeway, which pointed us in the direction toward Indio.  We have stopped for the night in a Camping World parking lot.  One last night of boondocking for a while.  Tomorrow night we are in Indio for 1 night, and then on to Winterhaven (near Yuma).  

It was 67 degrees today......hooray, we found it.....warmer weather!

Until next time.....so long for now!