Long difficult driving today. We started off well: Shaun's friend Duncan slept over in our RV, but his dad, Ben, picked him up right on time, so we were able to leave just after 9am, as I had hoped.
The drive out of Williams was amazing. The scenery was just constant beauty. It changed from hilly alpine forests to rugged desert mountains. Just after crossing into California, we had to sit at an inspection booth for 15-20 minutes. Since we are an RV, they had to check our refrigerator for forbidden produce - which turned out to be the red peppers & apples we had purchased in Albuquerque. Then, because we came out of MA, they had to run a visual inspection of the entire chassis seeking out any possible Gypsy moth caterpillers (even though we left MA over a month ago). The inspectors were gracious, which helped to keep me from being frustrated over the lost travel time.
As it turned out, it was fortunate I had that rest break. About 200 miles outside of LA, I noticed that the expansive view was becoming hazy. "I can't believe the smog is so bad already!" I thought. About 20 miles later, I came to realize what I was really seeing - a dust storm. The wind had been strong all day, & I had been busy at times keeping the RV from moving sideways from the gusts. This, however, was overwhelming in its intensity. We were now alongside the Mojave Desert & the winds had kicked up huge dust clouds that carried up as high as the mountains, blocking the sunlight.
Looking off to the sides, the area towns were blurry as we passed by them. Visibility dropped, not dangerously, but I changed my lights from travel to full on. The wind blew so hard that I started to weave in & out of my lane, constantly correcting my course. I dropped my speed to 50 (the legal limit was 65). That helped me maintain control enough to stay in my lane, which was becoming very important as we arrived in Barstow - traffic was congested & moving fast. Unlike me, the smaller cars didn't seem to have problems with the wind.
Heading southwest on I-15 sent us into a headwind. All of this wind adversely affected my gas mileage, so I had to stop in Victorville, just outside of LA in the San Bernardino mountains, to refuel.
Finally, we made it down the mountains & back into calmer winds. The rest of the drive was actually easy, despite having to drive a 35' vehicle across LA during a Friday evening rush hour! We easily found the campground, Golden Shore, right along the water in Long Beach.
It was supper time, & I didn't want to cook! I knew of a sushi restaurant nearby (found it doing a google search of the area months ago). We walked off to explore & discovered something better. The Pike is the place to go for food or shopping or entertainment. Planned for easy walking, its streets connecting different sections are narrow & gently curved, as if walking through an older village, albeit one that has been seriously spruced up! We ate supper at a California Pizza Kitchen, then had dessert at a Cold Stone Creamery. Walking with cups in hand, we were able to follow the boardwalk all the way back to the campground. Pelicans were floating in a group underneath the overhead highway bridge. The bridge had colored lights set beneath it, casting down green, purple, blue & aqua lights to be reflected back by the water. It was very pretty.
This morning we saw tumbleweeds as we drove away from the campsite. This evening we could see palm trees swaying right above our heads. What a wonderful world.
No comments:
Post a Comment