Barstow Bound

After bidding goodbye to the Rojas and Fontaine clans after Labor Day weekend festivities, we finally got on the road at 1 p.m. and opted to head for Barstow by Highway 25 instead of chugging over Pacheco Pass and mixing it up with thousands of others on Interstate 5.

For those who have never been on the 25, it's a winding two-lane road through some beautiful country, filled with vineyards and cattle ranches of all sizes. There were more motorcycles than cars, but when you end up behind an RV on twisting mountain road, it tends to stretch out the trip.

Long stretch of Highway 25.

We weren't in a hurry, anyway.

We were on the lookout for wildlife, but only spotted some turkeys this time. 25 ends at 198, which took us to Colinga, where we headed down the 33, again in preference of heading East to the 5. The 33 runs parallel to 5 and we reached speeds of 75 or better with nearly no traffic all the way. We were again (we've been this way before) at the number of huge orchards and endless fields of cotton. Most people would probably be surprised to learn that this part of California is considered part of the cotton belt.

A sharp left turn at the 58 took us to Buttonwillow. We've only seen what we thought was Buttonwillow when speeding along the 5. What we thought was Buttonwillow is a few gas stations, McDonald's, a Starbucks and a few other odds and ends. What we discovered to be the real Buttonwillow is a thriving farming community, mostly concerned with cotton. We had never seen a cotton gin before, but there's a huge one in Buttonwillow.

After miles of orchards and fields of crops, we came on this

forest of oil wells. One of the ugliest places along the 33.

After another hour or so, we stopped at our first red light at mile 193 on the outskirts of Bakersfield. 58 hops on the 99 for a couple miles then heads East toward Tehachapi, which was the first, and I hope only disappointment of the trip. We stopped at Taco Bell to grab a bite to eat. It was by far the filthiest Taco Bell we've ever been in. It is the first time I (John) thought that I want to send a complaint to a corporate headquarters to complain. We wondered since there's a state prison there, if this was an indication of the kind of workers they get there.

Needless to say, we didn't hang around there very long. What was interesting about the place, though, was the hills that were covered with gigantic windmills, generating electricity.

Windmills cover many of the hills outside Tahachapi.

No idea what this is (near Tahachapi), but it is interesting.

The road to Barstow from there is a bit dicey. It's a very narrow two-lane and since this is one of the few ways people can travel from Central California eastward, it is very busy, particularly with 18-wheelers.

If you've ever heard of Borax, we pulled off to take a detour through the metro of Boron. High in the hills above this very poor city are the mines that have been mining Borax for more than 100 years. We might stop there again on the way home to visit the 20-mule-team museum. That could be the highlight of our trip if the Grand Canyon fails to impress us.

Borax mines near Boron.

Six and a half hours after leaving Hollister we reached the Holiday Inn in Barstow. It was 7:30 and 95 degrees. The first thing Diane did was conduct a bed bug inspection.

Bed bug inspection.

The view out our window this morning is a beautiful sunrise. Diane has already hit the gym and we're getting ready for that yummy free breakfast.