Standin’

 We left Needles mid morning, and almost immediately crossed the Colorado River, the center of which is the border between Arizona and California.

Just a few miles into Arizona, we entered the Topock area of crags, fissures, and canyons.

 We eventually arrived in Winslow, Arizona, quickly set up at Arizona’s Homolovi Ruins State Park, and made arrangements to meet good friends Dave and Toni at the Relic Road restaurant, located a 100 feet from the famous Corner in Winslow, and on the southern side of the Mother Road, Route 66. Our friends have spent a good part of the winter in Yuma, Arizona, and are on the way home. It seems our paths cross most frequently in a restaurant on the way to somewhere!

What a great and positive evening! Laughs all around!

We decided to stay an extra day at Homolovi to relax and recharge. This park is situated among a number of well preserved Native American ruins, with moderate trails among them, and excellent signage explaining the sites. We have visited here in the past and anticipated another visit, but the 30 mph wind prevented us from venturing very far! The door to the trailer was almost impossible to open, putting us in mind of the phrase “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

We were treated to an Arizona sunset on our second night at Homolovi after a lazy day of listening to the wind blow…..

Leaving Winslow in the rear view, we headed east on I40. The eastern edge of Arizona is a beautiful area with awesome rock formations that once provided protection for local Native American groups.

New Mexico eventually showed up on the radar, complete with a fellow tourist.

We began to tremble at the thought of traveling on Interstate 40, as the section west of Albuquerque is historically a 35 mph road due to potholes and ruts. Well, we were pleased to find that New Mexico has actually been using gas tax money to improve the roads! 40 is now a decent highway! Wonder of wonders.

We slid in to site 1303 at the Route 66 RV Resort just a few miles west of Albuquerque in the afternoon. It’s a decent place, a bit overpriced, but what’s new. We’re here for a quick overnight stay before heading east in search of lower fuel prices…..

Until later!

A Boring Day

 Our second MLR day has been rather nondescript. Heading east from Bakersfield got us into the high desert of southeast California, the Mojave. From the failed real estate boomtown of California City to the Arizona/California border, the most exciting occurrence was when the wind gusted to 50 mph, as measured by the degree of white showing on our knuckles. We picked up Interstate 40 in Barstow, CA, and enjoyed many happy miles of undulating, potholed, overcrowded highway on our way east.

We are tucked into site 36 at Desert View RV Park in Needles, California. This desert park is unusual in that every site is separated from its neighbor by mature hedges. The sites are wide, have a concrete patio, and are protected from the wind. And the price is unusually reasonable. What’s not to like? Well…the wind continues at 10 to 25 according to the news.

High wind is predicted for tomorrow as well, so we’re hoping to get an early start and hopefully beat the midday dust up. Yeah, we’ll see how that works out! 

Here we go again!

Inaugural MLR, Bakersfield, CA

 We find ourselves in Bakersfield, CA, a city in the very heart of the Okie agricultural migration of the 1930’s. The famous community of Weedpatch, with its community facilities used for housing by depression era families, is just a few miles south. Bakersfield is also home of the “Bakersfield Sound” that was a country western sub genre popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Be that as it may, we’re here for a different reason…..

Our summer trip has officially begun, and after some serious and careful thought, we’ve decided on a name for it. Borrowing a thought from Pink Floyd, we’ve decided to call it

We’re heading due east from Bakersfield, and with a few stops along the way, hoping to arrive in Georgia in a month or so. A random decision could bring us back west along the Texas Gulf Coast and eventually to midstate Texas. If the wind blows in the proper direction, we’ll be back in Georgia and into North Carolina before turning north toward Minnesota, southern Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Got that?

Now you know why this trip is called “A Momentary Loss of Reason” tour.

We hope you’ll hop in and travel along with us. Here we go!

Lassen County

 Susanville is the county seat of Lassen county, and is known hereabouts as a micropolitan area. The entire population of the county is about 34,000, with Susanville comprising half of that. We decided to explore the area, but all the anticipation, we could only come up with two points of interest in town, the Fort Roop historical site and Inspiration Point. Off we went.

Fort Roop was located at a strategic crossroads during the great pioneer migration westward, and flourished as people settled in this fertile valley. Today the site is near a lovely public park and adjacent to the historical museum. It’s said that the trees surrounding the fort today were planted by the city’s namesake, Susan Roop.

This huge tree slab is indicative of the trees in the old growth forests in the area.

Another mile west on highway 36 brought us to Inspiration Point……road. Listed as a place to view the city and contemplate the universe, we instead found a lovely neighborhood of houses set among tall pines. No photos….nothing to see here, folks.

Our next venture was a daytrip to nearby Lake Almanor. Almanor is a power generating lake for the west coast utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric. The lake was created in 1914 by PGE’s predecessor, Great Western Power, and was named by the company vice president for his three daughters: ALice, MArtha and elaNOR. 

It’s about 30 miles from our “home” to Lake Almanor, and the road is a construction mess through old burn scars. With all the stops and one lane sections, it took us an hour and a half to get there.

At long last, Mt Lassen came into view. Not much snow this time of year!

Lake Almanor is a beautiful , 44 square mile surface area lake in Plumas County, California. At an average depth of 90 feet, it is a huge body of water used for power generation and water flow control in the Feather River. Of course, water sports and fishing are a big draw and used heavily by the residents of the many shoreline homes.

In the more shallow edges of the lake, waterfowl take a break from their trips north and south.

The little town of Westwood, just east of Lake Almanor, hosts a “Chimney Days” charitable day each year, and seeing signs advertising that event, we were puzzled. Another miles or so east, and we discovered the focus of the event.

And the story behind it.

After getting a close look, we decided: 1. We needed to back away, and 2. There may not be a festival next year.

After a close look at additional burn scars, we topped a hill and took a look at the valley that surrounds Susanville.

Tomorrow will be our next to last day on the road this summer. We expect to spend an overnight with friends in Auburn, CA, and head home the next day.

It’s been a trip of opposites. The weather started hot in June and has finished cool. We have seen close friends be happy, and have seen them angry. We started our trip with a trailer that was performing well, and ended it with a different rv, hopefully in better condition. But we have enjoyed the scenery, the great new friends, and spending quality time with each other! The Old Age Sucks Tour has been a success, and we’re already planning a trip for next year!

Like they say: Ya gotta go with the flow!

Nothin’ Serious

 We had three full days available to us in Tionesta, and after our day in Lava Beds we wondered what to do with the next two days!

We woke up to heavy rain, but a slight break in the weather sent us to the nearest town, Alturas, California. Alturas has a population of about 2800, and we were convinced that a restaurant or coffee shop would be a great diversion on a rainy day. We spent a half hour driving around this little agricultural town and found….exactly…..an ice cream shop. That was closed.

Alturas is 50 miles from Tionesta, and there isn’t much beyond that except Nevada, so we headed back north toward home.

Still looking for something fun to do, we passed Tionesta and went on another 30 miles to the town of Tulelake. Other than having a huge waterfowl wildlife observation area, Tulelake has the unenviable distinction of having been the site of one of the World War II Japanese incarceration camps. Nothing remains except an open field and a monument.

Still looking for food, we kept driving north into Merrill, Oregon, population 850. This is getting serious, we haven’t eaten in hours! Finally we found what turned out to be a food truck with absolutely wonderful burritos!

Ok, finally! And back to camp with full bellies! 180 miles for a burrito. Perfect.

Our last day in Tionesta, a Friday, was unusual in that we were the only campers in the park. We were in the country, no neighbors, no lights, and vultures circling overhead.

Next day, leaving the quietest, most unusual rv park we’ve ever stayed at, we started south on CA 139. Turning right near Alturas, we continued toward the Modoc National Forest.

Approaching Susanville, we got a good look at Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake is the second largest lake entirely in the state of California and is home to Osprey and Bald Eagles. The trout in the lake have adapted to the high alkaline water common in Modoc lakes and can reach a weight of 10 pounds and can live for 11 years!

We’re staying in Susanville, along with 17,000 residents. Originally known as Rooptown, it was renamed for the daughter of Isaac Roop. Farming, mining, and lumber were the early industries at what was the intersection of two pioneer trails in the 19th century. As those sources of livelihood declined, Susanville faced tough times. Between 1963 and 2007, three prisons were built in or near town, two state facility and one federal. Roughly half of the city’s population works at these facilities, which house about 6,000 inmates.

Susanville lies in a wide, fertile valley, and is a major source of Angus cattle.

We’ve landed in the Susanville RV Resort, site 63. This park is a bit old, but is well kept and immaculately clean. The checkin staff has been friendly and professional. We would recommend this park!

Now to find something to do tomorrow!