20 Mule Team & more desert

Sunday, June 3rd

     Got off Rt 15 after many enjoyable days and veered more north toward Bakersfield, CA on Rt. 58 (with lots of trucks again:)

through what I found out was the Mojave Desert, past Edwards Air Force Base (the western home for the shuttles that couldn't land at Cape Canaveral), pass many wind mills clustered on top of all these funny little moguls 

Those aren't wheat fields, that's all sand/dirt

and into Bakersfield.   Unfortunately, not giving advanced notice to, I went to pay a surprise visit to my cousin Kathy Sue in Bakersfield and of course she was off to the beach but did get a chance to visit with her husband and get some valuable information about entering Sequoia National Park.

     In Bakersfield we got onto Rt. 99 and the whole route north to Visalia, the median was just overflowing with these pink and white flowering bushes - so pretty and so pleasant to look at.

   

      In Tulane, just shy of Visalia, we stopped at a CA Visitors Center and were surprised to also hit the:

Very nastolgic for me who visited my mother's family farm every year, in Western NY (and is still in the family and run by my cousin and wife and sons).  I hate to admit that I remember seeing all of these items on the farm and most of them being used at that time.

Have you seen what tractors look like today!!!

 
    We turned off onto Rt. 198 and drove through some beautiful country with hills, greenery, agriculture - fruit trees and grape vines and Kaweah Lake.  Beautiful!  Stopped at a great little fruit - fresh & dried & nuts - stand and had a charming visit with a young man learning English who gave us many samples of his apricots, white peaches, gold grapefruits, orange blossom honey, dried peaches.  And we bought it all.
     We found our campground in Three Rivers which again - pretty iffy but fine and the location is peaceful with the small rapids trilling on the river, hills, birds, and fresh fruit!

 Sequoia tomorrow!!  55 degrees, rain and snow at night!!  And I dared to complain about the heat:(

DATA:

mileage:  269                      gas:  $50  @ $4.25 (you can tell we're in CA)

Campground:  $27

Of interest:  Roads:  Twenty Mule Team (in the town of Boron) as in Borax for those old enough to                             

                                             remember

                                  Buck Owen Rd.

                                  Merle Haggart Dr.

           Gertie called  Hagaman Rd -- Hog in the Road - we just couldn't find one.