Saturday, October 29 to Tuesday, November 1, 2022 (Travel to Fortuna de Oro RV Resort, Yuma AZ)

We are finally back on the road after 2 weeks of renos on the trailer, and we couldn't be happier! After yesterday's rain, the day started out cloudy but eventually began clearing as we headed south...and we had 4 days of beautiful weather for our drive down to Yuma.

The South Umpqua River as we approach Myrtle Creek, OR...

Mount Shasta...

Black Butte...

Approaching what's left of Shasta Lake...

Bet the marina has had to move a few times...

We pulled into Rolling Hills Casino about 5:00...basically an 8 hour travel day. They have a nice campground here but we normally stay in the truckers lot. We went for a quick drink and ordered takeout as they still allow smoking, and we've had enough wildfire smoke in the last few months. We noticed last year in our travels some of the other casinos no longer allow smoking...

Sunday (Oct. 30) morning we went into the casino for coffee and a bite to eat before we hit the road. Steve took a picture of the front of the casino. Steve cast a long shadow in the early morning sunrise...

After fueling up the truck @ $5.90 per/gal, we were back on I-5 south. Going through Sacramento...

On the other side of Sacramento, emergency vehicles went blasting past us and stopped on the side of the highway. I couldn't figure out what was going on then saw the firemen running down the bank...

...to this truck and fifth-wheel that was stopped in the field. There was no road down there, so I think the driver had a medical emergency but managed to maneuver the rig down the embankment without rolling it...amazing!

We arrived at our destination for tonight, Harris Ranch, at about 3:00 after 5.5 hrs on the road...and were totally surprised to find almost half of the truck lot had been taken up with a huge Tesla charging station. Steve counted 80 charge stations! We managed to tuck ourselves back into a corner beside a semi to the left in the photo. 

The Harris Cattle Ranch feedlot is California's largest beef producer. It's a great overnight location. There is a Shell Station, a store where you can buy beef and order takeout BBQ, a hotel, and a high end restaurant. There's also a small airstrip next door where people fly in to dine... 

We picked up BBQ for dinner at Harris Ranch Express BBQ...yum! And had a rather noisy night beside the I-5.

Monday (Oct. 31) morning we were surprised to find the semi that was right beside us was gone, we didn't even hear it leave...crazy! We walked over to the travel station for coffee and a snack. 

We continued south on I-5 for about an hour and then made our way over to Bakersfield and highway 58 east...towards the mountain pass to Tehachapi...

The trains that run through the Tehachapi Loop spiral through 9 tunnels at a 2% grade with an elevation change of 77 feet. Any train over 3800 feet long passes over itself!

After stopping at the Pilot station in Tehachapi to fuel up @ $6.47 per/gal, we continued east. Obviously a windy area by the number of wind turbines there are! 

And across the Mohave Desert, passing Edwards Air Force Base. You can see one of the contrails to the left from the fighter jets that were dogfighting...

Our stop tonight is Peggy Sue's 50's Diner in Yermo, just outside of Barstow. We managed to park on the east side of the lot along the edge where we had parked last year on our way south. As we chilled for the rest of the afternoon, we were surprised by the number of RV's as well as truckers that pulled in. Last year we were almost by ourselves. A popular overnight stop!

If interested, here is a link to our drive south last year that include photo's of our walking tour around the ponds they have out back in their Diner-Saur Park. Scroll to the bottom of that blog...

Dinner was in Peggy Sue's 50's Dinner...a very cool, unique spot. The food here is great, inexpensive, with large portions!

Tuesday (Nov. 1) and our final travel day! We decided to take a secondary highway, 247, south/southeast, through Lucerne Valley, Yucca Valley, joining highway 62 down to I-8 at Palm Springs.

Joshua Trees...

A lot of downhill as we went from over 4800 feet down to about 450 feet...

Palm Springs is in the distance...

Entering I-10...

We went east on I-10, taking the exit to highway 86 south at Indio...and then east on I-8. Close to the Mexican border...see the border fence?

Imperial Sand Dunes...

A very popular OHV area that we have never tried riding in...

This lone mountain is known as Pilot Knob by pilots and is a free BLM camping area. We stayed there years ago...

Quechan Casino Resort at the turnoff to Los Algodones, MX...

Entering the Arizona State line over the Colorado River in Yuma!

We arrived  5.5 hrs later at Fortuna de Oro RV Resort around 2:00...and it was hot! We had reserved a site (949) that we have stayed in before...mainly because we know it and it has easy access for us. The one thing we had forgotten about, though, was how close the I-8 is! Oh well...it seems to quieten down at night.

We were getting all set up when Dave and Leslie arrived. After big hugs, we left them to get backed in and set up in the site beside us...and went back to our own work.

But of course, it wasn't long before we gathered for a beverage! 

Almost a gorgeous sunset behind us tonight...

So nice to finally be here and to have Dave and Leslie join us for the month...bonus!