Wednesday – August 29, 2007 – Pyramid Lake

Let me tell you about hot. It is so hot at the south end of the San Joaquin valley, that the truck stops have air conditioning for the trucks! It’s true. Take a look at the first photo. Each truck pulls into a spot and connects the big yellow hose to a fitting in his window. Cool air is pumped in so the truckers don’t have to run their engine to stay cool. Way Cooool! They pay for the privilege of course, but what a great idea.

The golf car seemed out of place amongst the big rigs but I guess they needed cooling also?

The last photo is of the start of the San Bernardino Mountains before we started up the Grapevine grade. I turned off the dash air and ran the generator for roof a/c to minimize engine heating. We averaged about 35 mph going up the hill in 2nd gear. But made it to the Tejon Summit (4,142 ft) without incident.

The drive down from Santa Nella was about 215 miles – a little long by our norm. It was a hard drive. Even though we got away at 9:00 and beat the hottest part of the day (we arrived at about 2:30 pm), it was still tiring. The road (I-5) was smooth in places and rougher than H… in other places. Margaret said it was probably the most boring drive on the entire trip. Still not much to see in the San Joaquin (other than new groves of almonds, apricots, pistachios, and other unidentifiable crops. Lots of brown grass and shimmering mirages.

Our RV homesite tonight is near Pyramid Lake, just south of Gorman. Still in the hills (about 3,000 ft per my altimeter), but uncomfortably hot. The Rattlesnake warning sign at the entrance wasn’t reassuring. Just look carefully where I stick my hands tomorrow when I unhook!

It is still about 105 miles to the Yorba Linda, CA, RV park, but we will stay here until late morning and try to arrive just after the lunch hour traffic clears (if it ever does in LA). Then we get to see daughter and grandson!