Sadly, it was time to leave Pismo Beach. Since February is a winter month, even in California, we checked the weather forecast. It said with a little luck we would not be driving in rain but more importantly, the passes were clear of snow and ice. (Several times this month the passes were reported closed due to snow.)
Since we were simply retracing our route everything was familiar. I believe I have finally figured out how to drive the steep grades without overheating the engine. Today we never exceeded an engine temp of 190 degrees.
The almond trees Bakersfield were in full bloom.
Terrible picture, but the only one where I managed to capture the tracks my grandfather used as an engineer in the 1940s.
When we reached Tehachapi we pulled into the truck plaza we had earlier found would provide easy off/on access to our route. We needed diesel before we could reach AZ but how little could we pump was my concern. Of course, the only reason it was even a question was the ridiculous CA fuel taxes. I did some figuring and crossed my fingers that we had enough to exit the state.
After we had a light lunch I decided it was far too early to stop for the night (it was only 1:00) so we pushed on towards Indio. It would have been a better plan if I had not forgotten about the Friday night exodus from LA. That meant we had the opportunity to spend about an hour in stop and go traffic on I-10.
We finally reached the Spotlight 29 Casino in Indio just as it was getting dark. Our driving total for the day was 367.5 miles (92,172.5 total). We both felt the need for a little reward after such a long day on the road so we treated ourselves to the prime rib buffet. Once again our timing could have been better as the extremely long line delayed our dinner by another 45 minutes. Still, well worth every minute of the wait.
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