We made it to Yuma fom Ridgecrest...another 420 miles!

 Yesterday started early and we were on the road with another 400 miles to go.  It was warm yesterday.  A usual mediocre breakfast from a very disinterested reception guy.  

 

Heading out of Ridgecrest.

Pretty but very stark!  The roads are straight and monotonous and the scenery is all the same.

We had the sun in our eyes and I had to wear Eric's cap as the visor didn't help.

Just a few buildings at the edge of the road here and there.

We're on I 40 heading east to Needles.  Tons and tons of truck traffic.

Fuel was getting low and Eric wanted a couple of insurance gallons...hard to see but it diesel was $7.49.9 a gallon!  Just ridiculous.

Heading south on 95 to Vidal Junction and Parker.

Love the rock!

          Hard to see but this is what I call the "ribbon candy" highway. The cars disappear in the dips and then pop Up! 

From here to everywhere sign where turn to go into Parker, AZ. 

The bridge.

Parker where we always stop to fuel up and diesel is $4.39.9 !

That's  $3 less than Needles.  Plus remember we convert US to Canadian so that $7.49 is $10.34 Canadian!

Pretty quiet in downtown Parker.

Coming through Quartzite...the huge "boondocking" area where hundreds of rigs park on BLM land.  But..what do they do all winter? Plus it gets cold here.  We stayed here 3 weeks back in March of 2009 and just about froze to death.  We bought a propane heater the next year...best investment Ever!

Quite a few out there already.

Yuma proving ground.

          On 95 coming into Yuma and the cotton harvest is in full swing.

Looks like cement powder but it's cotton, the summer crop here when it gets up to 120f.

Fields getting ready for fall crops of vegetables.

Brassica of some sort.

          Pretty with the palm trees and tractor.  The ground is very fertile 

here and they grow a lot of food.

We turned left of 95, up to E 32nd st. and the Ramada where we'll stay for three nights.  An oil change for the truck, some butter and cheese for Mexico and our vehicle import papers and tourist visas at the border.  We're both beat and a layover is a good thing.  Last night we had curry at the restaurant attached to the front office.  Good last time and good this time.

Susanville, CA to Ridgecrest, CA

 So how's it going? Well..a small blip here and there but in the end not too bad.  Last night in Susanville Eric went to get something from the truck and there was a puddle under it. After tasting the drip it turned out to be water from the condenser.  The defrost had been running all day and it was full..not a problem.  A little panic to start as the A/C has been repaired twice in the last five years.  

This morning we had to wait a bit as the truck and cargo trailer were jammed in.  Finally cleared enough we could get out.

We needed fuel and there was supposed to be a stop down the road but it didn't show up so...back to Susanville.  Fuel is deadly expensive in California and today in the small towns we passed it got up to almost $8 a gallon or...$11.34 canadian...yikes.  We paid over $6 US.  So many taxes in California I don't know how the average person manages.

So..continental breakfast at the motel..small muffin, yogurt and coffee and on the road.

 

This was our highest point.  You climb gradually and don't really notice.

On the road at 7:30 am.

So pretty.

Coming into Reno...lots of lanes but we stay in the middle and shoot through.

Small town USA.

We're starting to climb.

Sorry but the bugs are up here too.

Huge cottonwoods.

Heading up!

I just love the rock.

Most of the day was spent over 7000 feet.  As we climbed I felt like my head was in a vise!

Up, up, up.

Small town fuel prices.

 

We stopped for lunch around the Mammoth lakes at a rest stop.  Lovely and warm and about 10 degrees above normal.  In 2019 it was freezing!

Can you see me😁

Joshua trees in this area.

Here we're getting close to Ridgecrest where we're overnighting.  I remembered the Econolodge motel from 2019 as better than it is!  Dinner turned out to be avocados, cheese, apples and a bun as it's Friday night and I couldn't get a food delivery.  Not a problem as we're just sitting all day and ...how much food do we really need😁  The weather is warm, the drive was good and tomorrow Yuma and another 400 plus miles.

By the way..we'd never haul a RV up to Susanville. 8000 ft plus summit a long the way, not likely!  Also, I cleaned the windshield so the pics tomorrow will be better!