A Long Travel Day For Us

Bakersfield, CA

54 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy in the morning, then overcast with a chance of rain. High of 77F. Winds from the NW at 5 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


We left Tecopa Palms just a little after 10:00 and headed back South on Rt. 127 to Baker. There, we turned West on I-10 and followed it to Barstow where I figured we'd stop for the night.

We didn't though, and instead, continued West on Route 58. I knew that Jim had marked an RV Park in Boron, but when we got close to there, Jim pulled me off onto a gravel area along the side of the road to take a break, and check tires and the tow bar. He also checked the map and then he and Linda decided that they didn't want to stop yet, so we continued all the way here to the Bakersfield Palms RV Park here in Bakersfield.

It was 2:15 when we pulled up in front of the office, so we were on the road for about 4 hours and 10 minutes and covered 233 miles.

A long travel day for us.

For the most part the roads were in pretty good condition but we did have some areas of construction and a few rough stretches. There was a lot of traffic, (probably week-end traffic), and I think that Jim thought it would only get worse, and that's one of the reasons he just kept driving. (Didn't want to deal with Saturday traffic).

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  here we are in Bakersfield. Jim and Linda have been to this park twice before. They didn't have the new section of sites built yet when they were hear last time, so we're in a different part of the park than they were before.

The new part is nice, with cement parking pads, paved streets and full hook-ups with 50 amp electric. But, whoever designed the layout didn't do their homework when it came to laying it out for 45' Motor homes. : (  Even though they're pull-through sites and plenty long, in order to get me into my site, Jim had to "jockey" me around because the turn into the site was too sharp and the entrance to the site too narrow.

I'm sure Jim will take some photos, so you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.

 Jim and Linda don't want to be out on the road over the holiday, so the plan is to stay here until after Easter. I am now registered for 1 week, and Jim will go back up to the office and register me for the additional days a week from now.

Oh, one small problem. When we pulled up in front of the office and Jim went to go out of me, my electric steps wouldn't extend when he opened the door!!! They worked fine when we stopped in Boron, but now they won't work at all. : (

Maybe it's just a fuse or a loose wire.

Jim was too tired to check it out yesterday, so today or tomorrow, he'll see if he can find the problem. In the meantime, he has a step stool out there to use.

Did you know that Bakersfield was founded by Colonel Thomas Baker in 1869?  It was located near (part of it "in") one of the forks of the Kern River, in reclaimed swampland. At one time called Kern Island, the city became known as Bakersfield after Colonel Baker's residence and field, which was used as a stop over for travelers (called Baker’s Field).