Home From Quartzsite. 03-29-15

 

Leaving Quartzsite

We left Quartzsite around 9:00 Wednesday morning. We got onto Highway 95 heading north toward Parker, AZ.

I have been told that these mountains north of Parker look like a gorilla lying on his back. What do you think?

We continued north across the Colorado River to Highway 62 and turned west toward California Highway 95 at Vidal Junction.

Once on Hwy California 95 we drove north through some open desert

and passed some interesting rocky hills.

There were a lot of Ocotillo’s blooming along the highway.

Spending the night at Bullhead City

After about three hours we got to Bullhead City, AZ where we stopped for the day at the large parking lot across the river from Laughlin, Nevada and the casino’s. We took the free boat ride across the river to the Riverside Casino where we had lunch. After lunch Patti wanted to stay and play at the casino for a while so I took the boat back across the river and hung out at the RV.

By around 5:30 I was getting hungry so I called Patti to see what was up. As it turned out she was playing Black Jack and said she was having a ball. After several hours of playing she only lost $20.
We made arrangements to meet outside the casino and go to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. The dinner was very good but not as good as we remembered from the last time we ate there about four years ago.
Of course time has a way of enhancing some memories.

Bullhead city AZ to Lost Hills, CA

Thursday morning we left Bullhead City around 9:30. We followed 95 south to Needles, CA where we got onto I-40 heading west.

As we drove across the desert we could see Mount Whitney to the south west.

 

There were lots of yellow flowers blooming along the freeway.

At Barstow we got onto Highway 58 heading for Bakersfield.

We saw a lot of windmills just as we came to the east side of the Tehachapi mountains.

 

In the same area we saw a lot of large airplanes. I think this is Edwards Air Force Base.

We continued over the Tehachapi Mountains and got to Bakersfield around 4:00. I was pretty tired from driving so we decided to stop at the River Run RV Park but they were full so we got back on the road and drove to Lost Hills where we stopped at the Lost Hills RV Park.

As we pulled off the freeway at Lost Hills, there was a small traffic jam. I was surprised to see how many trucks and cars were trying to exit here. While we were waiting to get through the traffic, a road runner ran across the road and posed for Patti to get a picture. We have seen several road runners while we were in Arizona but they never stopped long enough to get a picture.

 

Once we got settled at the RV park we went to dinner at Denny’s; not one of my favorite places to eat but it was convenient.

Friday; Lost Hills to home.

In the morning we filled up the tank on Plan B at the Pilot Station and were on the road by 9:30.

The ride up I-5 was pretty boring as usual. We stopped at a rest stop near where I-580 goes of toward San Francisco. After lunch we continued on I-5 north toward Lodi where we turned west on Highway 12. We followed 12 to I–80 where we turned south and drove for about 3 miles where we got back on 12 heading for Sonoma County.

 

The closer we got to Santa Rosa the greener the country becomes.

 

It was refreshing driving through the vineyards even though they are just starting to leaf out.

The California poppies are also starting to come out.

We got home around 3:00 and began unloading the RV. Around 6:00 Joanne and Dave came by. They were in town to help Elisa and Matt get ready for Riley’s first Birthday party.

Riley’s First birthday party.

Saturday morning we continued taking stuff out of the RV.
Around 1:00 we drove over to Elisa and Matt’s to attend the birthday party.

Here are some pictures.

Riley the Birthday Girl.

Playing with her Grandpa;

Mom Elisa, Uncle Ryan, Dad Matt, Uncle Mike and Cousin Logan.

More of the group.

It was fun catching up with relatives after being gone for several months.

Okay that was our trip home. We will be unloading the RV for the next couple of days as we want to put it back in storage.