Poster at the Audubon Sanctuary
Lovely Forest at the Sanctuary
Forever the Recycler
Today we had another incredible drive. We left Barstow right after breakfast and eventually turned off onto Highway 395 at Kramer's Junction. Went through a number of little old mining towns, some with very quaint shacks and some with small, invitingly adorned cottages.
Not long after reaching 395, we stopped for photos because the rising, mountainous backdrop was so dramatic and filled with delicious shadows that defined the ridges and gorges. I needed to have something to hold onto the way this kind of sculpturing works.
Eventually we turned off onto 178 and began the ride up to Walker Pass. Before long the first signs of Joshua trees began showing up on both sides of the road. At about half way up to the top of the pass we stopped again and there began the coexistence of the Joshua trees and Pinyon Pines. I had to take more pictures at the top before starting down the back side of the pass which was very steep and long and soon revealed remote houses and out buildings tucked into various crannies and looking oh, so cozy. Huge Joshuas all around — some must have been given extra water by property owners — they presented themselves as large, super healthy, specimens.
Eventually we were driving along the south fork of the Kern River and that's where we first viewed the most spectacular Cottonwoods, sporting wild tones of yellow and growing along with reddish Willows. These trees followed the river and stood out as a wild, rough edged, curvilinear line containing gradations of all the yellows imaginable. Our destination along the river was the Kern River Audubon Preserve, We turned off the road and drove into this welcoming bird sanctuary. We ate a late lunch there, spent some time checking out the visitor's center and identified a flock of Junckos and the first house finches we've seen on the whole trip. Though we've seen a ton of ravens other places on this trip, we didn't see even one this day.
We eventually had to leave as evening approached. I got one more look at these amazing trees before heading for Lake Isabella and the steep rapids of the kern River. The preserve is said to contain the largest stand of Fremont Cottonwoods and Red Willow trees in California. The ride down to Bakersfield along the fast tumbling south fork of the Kern River was heart stopping. There really is nothing to compare with a fast moving, mountain river where boulders arranged like a Japanese garden alternating with seductive pools almost make you gasp they are so beautiful. A quickly descending, constantly winding roadway proved to be much more heavily populated with cars and pickups in both directions than we had expected. The road is so windy that oncoming headlights were enough to make you come to a stand still if they came three or four at a time.
We dropped at least 4000 feet from the time we left the preserve and eventually found ourselves passing a sign declaring the Bakersfield City limits. It seems to me that cities are claiming land further and further out from where people actually live and work. We had a rousing discussion about where to stop for the night and then exactly how to get there. We survived that short period with a few good laughs and finally signed into our fourth Motel 6 in the last few days, each containing interior details so similar that I begin to lose the sense of where I actually am. Same lively printed bed spread as last night even though the rooms are 300 miles apart. Spooky? Maybe a little. Obviously I'm ready to head for home. But the final word is that today has been filled with awesome sights and beauty. I'm really grateful to Art for introducing me to this part of the southern desert country and I'd love to explore this amazing area again soon. In the morning we'll make a run for it on Highway 5 and hope to get straight to Berkeley in time to see Laurie and Tom playing at the Freight and Salvage. See you soon.
The preceding paragraphs were written as a Text Edit draft when I didn't have wifi at hand. I'm now home and will write a trip summary sometime during this busy day. But just to clarify what we finally did Saturday, a few more words here.
We did take Highway 5 back almost all the way. A restful stop at Andersen's for the obligatory bowl of pea soup was full of good food and super good people watching. I seem to never tire of that. As we passed through Livermore it occurred to me that we actually had time to make a quick run for Burlingame even though we had planned earlier in the day to go straight to Berkeley so we could hear Laurie and Tommy. When I finally convinced Art that we could do that — it was his turn to convince me of a different change. He was constantly glued to our huge Atlas and it seemed quite obvious to him that my plan to make the decision when we reached the Bay Bridge was a way to waste precious time. Why not veer off onto 92 and take the San Mateo Bridge? Why indeed. Because that bridge is notorious for backups and I'm not at all familiar with the current approach and with the streets at the Peninsula end. Totally out of my comfort zone for making quick decisions regarding highway turns. He stuck to his guns. I finally gave in and said OK. Certainly not without reservations. So we get to the bridge just fine and the crossing is a piece of cake with Art actually seeing some fun birds in the shallow waters. We find the Burlingame/Broadway exit and are soon at the Red Shoe Hotel with the Dodge caravan in sight. And we actually had time to stop in the coffee shop for a cup of tea and a piece of pumpkin pie. So the group decision paid off and we had eliminated the need for returning to Burlingame Sunday. Fantastic. Art was right about following what the map was telling him.
But then the fun began. After a gas stop in Millbrae and some seeking of advice about getting out of where we were, we rejoined the highway. It had all seemed so easy. Then we reached the South San Francisco section leading to the Bay Bridge. Not too long after that was a nightmare like quagmire. I led because I know that road and its choices. Poor Art trustingly followed me in the van through many lane changes, bumper to bumper creeping along. We were finally on the bridge and the whole picture became brighter mile by mile. We made it to Richmond. Stashed the RV and arrived at the Freight in time to meet Chuck.
The night was fantastic after that. Jenny joined us, we met Tommy twice and I eventually was able to give Laurie a big hug at intermission time and buy some of her new CDs.
I think it was the best performance I've ever seen her do. She looks and sounds fantastic. KQED was doing a taping of the show in preparation for a profile they are going to do on Laurie and I'm sure that played into the endorphins she was obviously feeling. I was thrilled for them and it was really fun to introduce Art to their act. She had written a moving song about Barstow (Really!) and since we had just eaten our Thanksgiving dinner in a Denny's at Barstow, it hit a special note.
Easy trip up the coast taking 20 for the last hour. So good to be home even though there are a million things to catch up on. I hope to write a trip summary in the next day. So come on back in a while, OK?
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